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- Pope Francis expressed his disagreement on death penalty and promised to abolish the punishment worldwide.
- Manny Pacquiao contradicted the Pope’s sentiments and said that even God has given the government the power to use capital punishment.
A few days ago, Pope Francis has once again expressed his strong opposition on death penalty.
The Church doctrine has previously accepted the death penalty as “the only predictable way” to defend lives, however, the Pope said executions are unacceptable in all cases as they’re “an attack” on human dignity.
Vatican announced on Thursday, August 2, that the Church is determined to abolish capital punishment[s] worldwide.
On the other hand, Senator Manny Pacquiao has stated his argument that the scripture allows the government to impose death penalty. He added the Constitution as a form of justification for the re-imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines.
In an interview with dwIZ, Pacuiao said: “This is not about me or what I want but this is in the Bible and also in our Constitution, so there is no problem,”
In another interview, he answered “Ano ba basis mo to oppose? Because of your religious beliefs or because of the Constitution? Siguro naman the Constitution allows death penalty for heinous crimes.
“And then sa Panginoon, biblically, binibigyan ng Panginoon ng karapatan ang government to use capital punishment. Even Jesus Christ nga nasentensyahan nang kamatayan dahil ang government nag-impose talaga ng kamatayan.
“You are not a good leader if you are making decisions with your own conscience. ‘Di ito sa pakiramdam mo eh. Ang titignan mo ‘di pansarili mo kundi sa sambayanan.”
Pacquiao said that someone is not a good leader if they base their decisions over conscience alone.
“You are not a good leader if you are making decisions with your own conscience. ‘Di ito sa pakiramdam mo eh. Ang titignan mo ‘di pansarili mo kundi sa sambayanan”
This is not the first time that the boxer-turned-senator expressed his approval of death penalty as he previously filed three bills to revive death penalty.
