Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa wants to impose the death penalty if over 50 grams of illegal drugs are confiscated from drug suspects.
“We agree that it can be on the terms of those who are really involved to a certain degree higher than the ordinary peddlers on the streets… It’s really up for the Congress and Senate to determine the degree of which death penalty…” Gamboa told ANC on Wednesday.
“In the now campaign of the Philippine National Police, actually ang ginawa kong sort of leverage for them is possibly to confiscate 50 grams and above because 50 grams and above, it would entail a lot of work and a lot of surveillance and a lot of effort… Siguro maglalaro doon, from 50 to 1 kilo… I think that’s enough na dapat iimpose ‘yung death penalty,” he explained.
Gamboa also emphasized that reimposing the death penalty would be a big help in the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
“We believe that this is a deterrent… this is a revelation coming from those who are apprehended and counterparts from other countries. Sinasabi nila doon din sa kanilang mga lugar, ganoon din, hindi rin masyadong napipigilan’ yung droga dahil walang death penalty,” Gamboa said.
(They said they can’t control the illegal drug activities in their areas because they don’t have the death penalty.)
Also read: Bato ‘happy’ on Duterte’s push for death penalty vs. drug offenses
President Rodrigo Duterte brought back the call for the death penalty for drug offenders during the 5th State of the Nation Address on Monday.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Tuesday they fully support President Rodrigo Duterte’s renewed call to impose the death penalty for drug offenses.
PDEA chief Director General Wilkins Villanueva emphasized in a statement that the absence of the death penalty favors drug personalities who continue their illegal drug operations even inside jails.
The PDEA chief said the quantity of the seized illegal drugs could be the determiner if the death penalty would punish a drug convict by lethal injection. He added big-time drug traffickers should be given capital punishment and not street-level drug pushers.
“I strongly suggest that seized drugs weighing one kilogram or more should be the threshold amount,” Villanueva said.