Senator Christpher “Bong” Go has renewed his support to proposals to revive the death penalty for heinous crimes related to illegal drugs and plunder saying he believes it is an effective deterrent to criminal activities.
Go emphasized that the reinstatement of the death penalty is in line with former president Rodrigo Duterte's crusade against illegal drugs, criminality and corruption.
“Dapat talaga may takot. Isang pamamaraan is death penalty. Bakit ka naman matakot sa death penalty kung wala ka namang kasalanan, kung sumunod ka naman sa batas. Wala kang dapat ikatakot (There must be fear. One method is death penalty. Why should you be afraid of the death penalty if you are not guilty, if you obey the law. You have nothing to fear),” Go said in an interview over the weekend.
Go, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, also lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for continuing former president Duterte’s fight against illegal drugs.
“Ako naman po’y masaya dahil nabanggit po ni Pangulong Marcos na labanan po ang iligal na droga. So, kung anuman, kanya-kanyang pamamaraan po ‘yon sa paglaban sa iligal na droga (I, on the other hand, am happy because President Marcos mentioned the fight against illegal drugs. So, if anything, it's their own method in the fight against illegal drugs,” said Go.
“At ako po ay may tiwala kay Pangulong Marcos, bigyan natin siya ng sapat na panahon na ipagpatuloy ‘yung kampanya na labanan ang iligal na droga. Dahil ako po ay naniniwala ‘pag bumalik ang iligal na droga, babalik po ang korapsyon sa gobyerno, babalik po ang kriminalidad (And I have confidence in President Marcos, let's give him enough time to continue the campaign to fight against illegal drugs. Because I believe that when illegal drugs return, corruption will return to the government, criminality will return),” he added.
Go said lawmakers should also consider adding other criminal activities punishable by death penalty.
“So pabor po ako sa death penalty at pag-aralan natin kung ano pa ‘yung pwedeng idagdag diyan sa death penalty (So I'm in favor of the death penalty and let's study what other crimes can be added to the death penalty),” Go said.
“Plunder isama mo na. Kailangan talagang takutin mo. Kung walang takot ‘yung iba, hindi titigil sa paggawa ng krimen (You can include plunder. You really need to scare them. If others have no fear, they will not stop committing crimes),” the lawmaker stressed.