Phillippines: President Rodrigo Duterte promises death penalty for drug possession

On Monday, the Philippine president declared in his annual address that the country will continue its war on drugs. «No matter how long it takes, the fight against illegal drugs will continue, because they are the cause of so much evil and suffering,» he assured Parliament.

He also called for «action on all pending legislation to reinstate the death penalty for ‘heinous crime’». The president is referring here to the Bill 4727 which highlights the reintroduction of the death penalty for several crimes, including «possession of dangerous drugs».

A «slanderous» bill»

Under this bill, a person in possession of drugs in excess of 10 grams of cannabis resin, or any quantity of opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine will be sentenced to death.

The bill was proposed last January, and was approved by a majority of the Philippine House of Representatives. All that's missing now is Senate approval for this sordid law to come into force.

Rodrigo Duterte stressed during his speech that revenge was one of the main motivations for reintroducing the death penalty. He stressed: «It's time for us to fulfill our mandate and protect people. For a long time, we had to react unanimously to this controversial issue. Capital punishment is not just about deterrence, it's also about retribution. He also insisted that capital punishment was the only option for certain crimes.

However, the president's anti-drug policy is very popular with the country's citizens, despite its violence. Since Duterte's election last year, the head of state's anti-narcotics drive has claimed more than 5,200 lives.

No fewer than 3,000 of these victims were killed by police action, while a further 2,000 were killed by masked men on motorcycles, described by human rights organizations as «militias linked to the government».

Mehdi Bautier