PNP chief backs death for drug lords

The death penalty is not an outright solution to deter the commission of heinous crimes but it should be implemented at once since it is mandated by law, the chief of the Philippine National Police said yesterday.

"I think the death penalty will be more effective if it will be done the soonest. We have to review the process and we cannot set aside the human rights and legal considerations," PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said.

The PNP chief said that he shares the view of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Undersecretary Anselmo Avenido Jr. that implementing the death penalty will also boost the government’s anti-drug campaign.

But the death sentence should be implemented only after the Supreme Court has finally given its clearance, he said.

Ebdane disclosed that President Arroyo is now inclined to lift the moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers, kidnappers and other criminals.

He explained though that while the implementation of capital punishment has the so-called "chilling effect" to would-be criminals, it is not the real solution to address the alarming upsurge of street and heinous crimes.

"To a certain extent, it is a deterrent, but based on global studies and consultations with our counterparts around the world, it is not actually the final solution," Ebdane said.

He stressed that community cooperation with authorities is still the best way to address criminality.

"The real solution to the increasing crime volume should come from the community along with the appropriate partnership with the police force and other pillars of the justice system," he said.

Ebdane debunked reports that he is unfit to head the police force and was hospitalized following an alleged scolding from the President over a traffic problem in Laguna during her visit on June 24.

He said he merely underwent an executive checkup at an undisclosed hospital on July 8 and that his doctors had given him a clean bill of health.

Ebdane, who celebrated his first year in office last July 4, is set to submit to the President an outline of his accomplishments for the past year on July 12.