Vice presidential aspirant Dr. Willie Ong on Monday, Feb. 7, said he is not in favor of death penalty for now but is open to discussions.
During DZBB’s "Ikaw Na Ba: The Vice Presidential Interviews,” Ong said he is against the death penalty. However, he might still consider it especially in cases of heinous crimes.
"Ang stand ko naman talaga ay no tayo sa death penalty, kaya tayo doktor, tumutulong tayo sa lahat eh. Pero puwede ko i-consider 'yung death penalty sa special circumstance na hindi natin masabi eh, eh kung may heinous crime, may nagnakaw ng P10 billion, o kung may pumatay na 50 katao (I’m really not in favor of death penalty. That's why I'm a doctor, I help other people. But I can consider death penalty in special circumstances. We cannot say, what if there are those who committed heinous crimes, those who steal P10 billion or those who killed 50 persons),” he said.
"Sa ngayon, no tayo, pero hindi ko isasara totally. Puwede natin pag-usapan kasi sa ibang araw di natin masabi, baka may ibang panahon, sa ibang bansa may death penalty, baka makabawas ito. Makabawas din sa krimen pero sa ngayon, no muna tayo (For now, I'm not in favor of death penalty, but I'm not closing (my door) to it totally. We can discuss it in other days because we cannot say it may help prevent crimes in the future),” Ong added.
Ong also stressed that the justice system in the country must be fixed first, citing the inequality treatment between the rich and poor people.
“Sa ngayon, no muna tayo, alam naman natin ang justice system natin. Pag mahirap makukulong ka, pag mayaman hindi ka makukulong.. Pag naayos na natin ang justice system natin, tignan natin (For now, we know our justice system. When you're poor, you go to jail. When you're rich, you get away with it. When we have fixed our justice system, let's see).”