Death penalty is last resort to punish criminals — military bishop

Bishop Jaime Florencio of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines (right) was in Cebu on July 31, 2019, to celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius de Loyola at the Camp Sergio Osmeña with the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas led by Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas (left). CDND PHOTO / Delta Dyrecka Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Bishop Jaime Florencio, vicar of the Philippine National Police (PNP) vicar and bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, said the teachings of the Catholic Church does not categorically say that the Church is against death penalty.

He said that the Catholic Church’s stand is to exhaust all means to rehabilitate and change a person, who is in conflict with law, and let him/her pay for the crimes.

“The stand of the Church is very clear. The Church does not categorically say nga dili na siya (death penalty) pwede. The Church would like us to understand that okay, we would like to take that (death penalty) as a means if all the other means have been exhausted,” said Florencio.

The prelate said that in the case of the Philippine Justice System, the government can still find more means to help people in conflict with the law and that death penalty should remain as the last resort to punish criminals who are “unchangeable”.

He said that death penalty should be conditional and should not become the standard of justice as this can easily be abused by people in more powerful positions.

“We need to have the exhaustion of all possible means because otherwise it will run counter to our ability to think. That would be an insult to that, when we still have other avenues and we resorted to it (death penalty),” said Florencio.

Florencio said death penalty be the final step in retributive justice only when everything has been done for a person in conflict with the law but yet the person remains to be a danger to the entire country/

Meanwhile, the bishop, who was in Cebu to celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius de Loyola, the patron saint of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), encouraged the public to forego their negative misconceptions agains the police brought about by the tragedies in recent years.

He said that the police are humans, who are working to keep the peace of the community.

Florencio described the police as “men and women with lives and families”.

The bishop encouraged the police force to keep working despite the negative feedback from the community over their conduct of duty.

He also urged them to do their duties with dignity and with a fear of God. / celr