No laughing matter

Dave Achondo

 BY now, you’ve heard of neophyte Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s stand on the death penalty. He is not against it either and he fully supports the idea as do I. But the way he backs it up is a bit too primitive for my taste.

Regardless if the one receiving the death penalty is a psychopath and deserves the worst of the worst capital punishment that can be served, I still think that as human beings, lethal injection is the way to go. It’s more humane even though their actions that got them there were not.

I am not a very religious person but I can tell what is right from wrong. I do not condemn the teaching of my church (Roman Catholic). I still believe.

But Mr. Senator, death penalty is not a laughing matter; it has never been. Most probably, you are now backed by the millions of fanatics who enjoy a public and publicize execution. It is still not right.

“Having read the Bible on a regular basis, we need to clarify that from then until now, the Constitution never barred the imposition of the death penalty, especially in the eyes of God,” said Pacquiao.

“The death penalty is lawful, moral and sanctioned governmental action, ” he said.

Yes, Sir, the Constitution never did. God cannot confirm nor defend the second line though. I am being sarcastic because I strongly believe that the church should always be separated from the state and butt out from national issues although I agree with some points that God shouldn’t be too merciful and that He should bring justice.

“I am convinced that God is not just a God of mercy, but also a God of justice,” said the boxer and Christian preacher.

Pacman’s idea of capital punishment is the same as Duterte’s “quick, efficient and cheap but inhumane” methods.

His preference is either by hanging or by firing squad, and these were his exact words that drew laughter from the crowd: “Sisipain lang po ’yung upuan.”

So I guess, it is safe to say that his fellow lawmakers wont shy from it, and most probably agree with him on that one.

May I just point out that we are now a civilized world, and primitive methods such as stoning and hanging belongs to the old civilization.

Kudos to Sen. Kiko Pangalinan (not your fan either) for standing up and point out that the death penalty wasn’t a laughing matter, and he is right.

I wonder what will the Church’s reply to Pacman’s speech and stand. Is he even talking about the same god here? Is Pacman really quoting the words of the right god or not? Let’s hear CBCP’s reply. I’m sure they won’t take this sitting down.

If the capital punishment is reinstated, we should not forsake our humanity. We still should be human enough to be better than the one who will be executed for his bad acts.