Duterte House Speaker To File New Bill To Include Plunder, Rape In List Of Crimes Punishable By Death

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez says he plans to file another death penalty bill to include other crimes as soon as the current one, which covers only drug crimes, makes it through the lower house.

This developed after President Rodrigo Duterte said he would ask lawmakers why rape was removed from the list of crimes punishable by death in the House version of the controversial bill.

Speaker Alvarez, who co-authored the proposed law, explained on March 06 that the list was narrowed down to just drug-related crimes – except mere possession – in order to speed up the process.

There would be less objections and shorter debates if only drug crimes would be included first.

Justice Committee Chair Rey Umali had given similar reasons for taking out rape from the bill.

However, he said other crimes could be included later on via amendments.

“We would like to have an output right away. Because the (bill) is controversial, let’s add other crimes one at a time,” Speaker Alvarez said.

The House Chief said another bill for rape and plunder could be filed immediately after this first one becomes law.

Source: CNN Philippines