Good Morning Judge: The Asean on death penalty

SEVERAL weeks ago we voiced out our stand against the imposition of the capital punishment of death even in plunder cases and other heinous crimes. We said then that “statistics x x x support the reality that capital punishment is in fact not a deterrent to crime. Its dehumanizing effect in society causes more crimes to be committed.” We quoted Robert Ratoul, Jr., then a Massachussetts legislator, who once said that “After every instance in which the law violates the sanctity of human life, that life is held less sacred by the community among whom the outrage is perpetrated.” We are glad to note that we are not alone in our stand on the issue as the Association of East Asian Nations (ASEAN) of which the Philippines is a member, recently ventilated its stand against the imposition of death penalty on all crimes, as reported by national television and print media. As debates in both the Senate and the Lower House progresses, it would seem that the probability that the death penalty bill may breeze through in the Lower House, its chances of passage in the Senate is slim. We are glad that we still have independent minded senators who would not be coerced to do the bidding of the administration leadership. We hope that the Catholic church leadership in this country will continue to be firm in its stand against the death penalty despite Malacanang’s obvious harassments. TRIVIA: Congratulations to Lily Aklan and Olive Crescini-Bahillo, who are members of USI high school batch ‘55 who will jointly celebrate their Nth birthday anniversary with a luncheon-fellowship with their batch mates in Olive’s residence in Pili this coming Saturday, February 18. Congratulations also to the officers and members of the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines (REBAP), Naga City and Camarines Sur Chapter, for the upcoming Induction of 2017 Chapter Officers on February 18, at the Villa Caceres Hotel at 6:00 p.m. CRB Romeo M. Delas Alas is the in-coming President. My spouse Minda was the founding president of the Association and presently its Legal Officer. Congratulations also to the Knights of Columbus, Council 7995, which will be celebrating its 36th Foundation Anniversary on Sunday, February 19. It will also be the induction of the Officers for Columbian Year 2017-2018. Dinner-fellowship will follow after the induction. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK : “THE GOOD LIFE IS ONE INSPIRED BY LOVE AND GUIDED BY KNOWLEDGE.” BERTRAND RUSSELL FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE: “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL NEVER WALK IN DARKNESS BUT WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE.” JOHN 8:12