By Leslie Ann Aquino
Amid his continued push for the revival of the death penalty in the country, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday reminded Senator Manny Pacquiao why he was elected by the people.
(photo courtesy of CBCP)
CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care executive secretary Rodolfo Diamante told Pacquiao he was elected to protect life and not to extinguish it.
“He was elected by the people to protect and improve the quality of life of people and not to extinguish it,” he said in an interview.
The CBCP official also lamented the senator’s wrong interpretation of the Bible to back his position on the matter.
“It is just unfortunate that Sen. Pacquiao has a wrong interpretation of the Bible,” said Diamante.
He added that such wrong interpretation is “dangerous” as this would mislead the public.
“He is actually misleading the public on his own understanding of the scriptural passage,” Diamante said.
“This is what is dangerous,” he added.
Diamante advised the senator to ask his staff to do some solid “research” before sharing his thoughts on any issue.
Earlier, Pacquiao said he will push for the Senate’s approval of death penalty this year.
He reiterated that capital punishment is in the Bible.
“It is stated there (Bible) that the government has the right and authority to enforce death penalty to those who commit heinous crimes,” Pacquiao was quoted in a report.