Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Manny Pacquiao reiterated their support for the reimposition of death penalty for heinous crimes.

During Senate’s regular session on Wednesday (July 29), Pacquiao said reinstating death penalty in the country will not be illegal in the eyes of God.

The Senator previously filed a bill that would impose death penalty on heinous crimes which include manufacturing and trafficking dangerous drugs.

“Hindi po labag sa mata ng gobyerno, sa mata ng Panginoon. Dahil biblically po, allowed po ang gobyerno (It is not illegal in the eyes of the government, in the eyes of the Lord. Because, biblically, the government is allowed to do so) the authority, which is established by God to impose heinous crimes especially death penalty,” Pacquiao said.

Meanwhile, during his privilege speech, Dela Rosa reiterated that reimposing death penalty would be the solution in stopping drug lords and the continuing drug activities inside detention facilities.

The Senator also noted that crime rate has dropped when death penalty was imposed in 1993. He also said that the drug problem is also considered as a global pandemic which should also be prioritized.

“It is also considered a global pandemic itong drug problem. So, hindi naman siguro ibig sabihin na porke tayo may kinakaharap na global pandemic na COVID-19, hihinto na lang tayo sa paggawa ng ibang batas para sa ibang mga issues na kinakaharap ng ating lipunan (This drug problem is also considered as a global pandemic. Just because we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic does not mean we would stop making laws for other issues faced by society),” he said.

Dela Rosa was appointed as a member of a Senate panel under the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights after Senator Sherwin Gatchalian relinquished his seat.

The said Senate panel will vote on bills including the reimposition of death penalty in the country. However, panel chairman Senator Richard Gordon said the bill should be discussed at the proper time.

“I will not sponsor it because I do not believe in it. We will take it up at the proper time,” he said. AAC (with reports from Harlene Delgado)

MANILA, Philippines — Pag-IBIG Fund has allowed a 30-day grace period to all its borrowers as a relief measure while the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is in effect and in compliance with Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020. 

But according to the agency’s Vice President for Public Relations and Information Services Group, Atty. Kalin Franco-Garcia, the accumulated amount of premiums must be settled through one-time payment once the ECQ is lifted.

“Pagkatapos ng ECQ sa first working day ay kailangan na po ninyong bayaran ang lahat ng (amount) due habang naka-ECQ ka [After the ECQ, on the first working day you need to settle all unpaid dues while on ECQ],” the Pag-IBIG official said during an interview with UNTV’s public service program, Serbisong Bayanihan.

The show’s host, Kuya Daniel Razon, noted however that while under ECQ, workers are presumed to have no income as jobs were put on hold. 

“Kasi po there is a presumption na na-stop ako ng work kaya kung halimbawa, immediately pagbalik magbabayad ako kaagad parang, it defeats the purpose of the Bayanihan Act, right? ” he asked.

To which, Atty. Franco-Garcia argued that it was the reason why Pag-IBIG Fund approved a ‘friendlier’ option for its borrowers.

“That is exactly po ang nakalagay sa Bayanihan Law but nonetheless po that’s why we came up with the moratorium that is friendlier in terms po, payment reprieve,” she said.

In addressing similar concerns, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has directed owners of residential and commercial establishments to also grant a 30-day grace period to their tenants on the duration of the ECQ.

But the accumulated amount of unpaid rent, according to DTI Undersecretary Ruth Castelo, should be paid on a staggered basis within six months. 

“Kapag na-lift na po ang ECQ hindi pa sila pwedeng singilin [Once the ECQ is lifted, the tenants cannot be forced to pay yet],” Castello said in an interview on Wednesday (April 29).

“Kapag siningil na sila pwedeng i-divide into six installments ang mga rental na nag-accumulate during the ECQ period [The amount of accumulated rentals within the ECQ period may be divided into six installments]” she added. 

Atty. Franco-Garcia explained, however, that should it become difficult for the borrower to pay in full after the ECQ period, he may apply for the 3-month moratorium. 

But one of the principal authors of the Law, Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy wants Pag-IBIG Fund to revise its guidelines to clarify the issue.

“Nananawagan ako sa Pag-IBIG Fund. Dapat kayo po ang numero unong nakikisama sa ating mga kababayan. Dahil hindi mo pwedeng i-expect na pagbalik, bibiglain nyo ng 2 months worth ang babayaran nila, 3 months worth. Hindi po yan makatarungan at hindi yan naaayon sa batas na ipinasa natin,” Rep. Herrera-Dy said. 

[I am calling on Pag-IBIG Fund. You should be the first to help our people. You cannot expect them to pay the 2-months, 3-months worth of arrears in one full payment. That is injustice and it violates that law that we authored.]

“We’ve asked credit companies to help us. We’ve asked landlords to help us. Tapos kayo pa ang manggigipit sa mamamayang Pilipino [Then here you are adding pressure to Filipinos]. Please don’t do that,” she appealed. – MNP (with reports from Rey Pelayo)

TOKYO, JAPAN – An inmate convicted and sentenced to death in Japan over the murder of four people was executed on Thursday, the country’s justice ministry said.

In a press conference, Justice Minister Masako Mori announced the execution of Wei Wei, a Chinese national aged 40.

His death sentence was handed out in 2005 but finalized after an appeal on Nov. 10, 2011 for the murders carried out in June 2003 in the southwestern city of Fukuoka.

The four victims, members of the same family including two children, were allegedly killed by being thrown in the sea tied to weights.

The execution was ordered by Mori on Monday and carried out on Thursday in the city of Fukuoka.

In the press conference, Mori called Wei’s case “extremely savage and cruel,” recalling that the victims included a boy aged 11 and a girl aged 8, along with their parents.

She said that the decision to give the death penalty in the case had been “well-examined” during the trial.

Wei Wei was the first person to be executed in Japan since Aug. 2, also marking the 39th execution during the uninterrupted reign of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since 2012.

Abe had also served as prime minister for a short duration between 2006 and 2007.

This was also the first execution since Mori was appointed minister of justice on Oct. 31.

On Aug. 2, two inmates who were sentenced to death over separate charges of the rape and murder of women were hanged.

A total of 15 death-row inmates were executed in 2018, including Shoko Asahara, the founder of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult that carried out a deadly Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

Another 12 members of the cult were also executed, and in December 2018, two death-row inmates who were convicted over the murder of a company president and one of the firm’s employees in 1988 were hanged.

Japan is the only industrialized and democratic nation apart from the United States that carries out capital punishment, and death-row inmates are kept in solitary confinement and informed about their execution just hours before they are hanged.

The Asian country currently has 112 convicts on death row. EFE-EPA