Unit 1012 awards the Rayner Goddard Act of Courage Award to Manny Pacquiao for defending the death penalty. In
this blog post, we thank him for defending the death penalty as a Christian.
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 09 August, 2016, 2:32am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 09 August, 2016, 2:32am
Philippine boxing
icon-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao used the Bible to defend restoring the death
penalty for drug traffickers as “approved by God”, backing a controversial
proposal of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The eight-division
champion and devout evangelical Christian used his first senate speech to argue
for capital punishment, calling it lawful and moral “especially in the eyes of
God”.
“When the
government punishes, it’s not an individual act. That’s approved by God. That’s
what the Bible says”, Pacquiao said.
“Having
read the Bible on a regular basis, I am convinced that God is not just a God of
mercy but he is also a God of justice.”
Pacquiao was elected
to the senate in May on the back of his popularity as a sports star among
Filipinos, who consider him a national hero.
He and Duterte are
political allies and both hail from the southern Philippines.
Duterte has declared
a bloody crackdown on crime, especially illegal drugs, telling police to shoot
drug suspects.
Since Duterte assumed
office on June 30, police have reported killing over 400 drug suspects while
the country’s largest broadcaster ABS-CBN put the death toll at 852 to include
reported summary executions.
The Philippines
abolished the death penalty in 2006 following staunch opposition from the
Catholic Church, the religion of 80 per cent of Filipinos.
But Duterte has vowed
to introduce executions by hanging for “retribution”.
Pacquiao said on
Monday he also preferred death by hanging or firing squad to reduce
drug-related crimes.
Asked by a colleague
if this was because hanging was cheaper than lethal injection, Pacquiao said in
jest: “You’ll just kick the chair. We can also say the chair was just knocked
down.”
Pacquiao said he
filed several bills on the death penalty including for drug crimes, rape and
murder because Philippine laws “lacked teeth”.
But he did not answer
questions on whether there were any studies showing that the death penalty led
to lower crime rates.
In his 20-minute
speech, Pacquiao repeatedly quoted Bible passages, prompting another colleague
to refer to him as a “pastor”.
He said he saw no
contradiction between his beliefs and his support for the death penalty.
Addressing critics of
the proposal, Pacquiao said: “God allows the death
penalty to discipline the people and to punish those wrongdoers.”
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2001022/god-allows-death-penalty-philippines-pacquiao-preaches
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INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.christianpost.com/news/manny-pacquiao-cites-bible-in-call-to-restore-death-penality-in-philippines-168252/
Manny Pacquiao Cites Bible in Call to Restore Death
Penalty in Philippines
By Samuel Smith , CP
Reporter
August 19, 2016|12:27 pm
 |
|
(Photo: Reuters/Erik De Castro)
Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and Senatorial candidate for May 2016
national elections speaks to his supporters during election campaigning in San
Pablo, Laguna in the Philippines, April 28, 2016.
|
Popular
Christian boxing icon and Filipino senator Manny Pacquiao has called for drug
dealers and other perpetrators of serious crimes to be put to death, saying
that the Bible has given the government authority to do so.
The 37-year-old Pacquiao, one of the most revered
boxers and Christian celebrities on the planet, gave his first speech as a senator
during a legislative session last week. The "Pacman" called for the
restoration of capital punishment, saying that doing so would benefit many of
law-abiding Filipinos.
Although the death penalty was repealed in the
Philippines in 2006, Pacquiao talked about the destruction and
"havoc" that the illegal drug trade is causing in the Philippines.
"My first ever speech as a senator
will focus on one of the biggest issues plaguing our country," Pacquiao said. "I speak before you because of the signs of urgency on
the issue of drug problem which has become alarming as it gets worse each
day."
In calling for the death penalty to be restored,
the devout born-again believer cited several verses from the Bible to justify
the morality in the government taking the life of criminals.
"[The] death penalty is lawful,
moral and sanctioned governmental action. Having read the Bible on a regular
basis, I am convinced that God is not just a God of mercy, but He is also a god
of justice," Pacquiao
asserted. "So, on the issue of the death penalty,
I could not help but consult the Bible."
"I
found numerous verses and here are some," Pacquiao
added.
Pacquiao
first cited Genesis 9:6, which states: "Whoever
sheds human blood, by human shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God
has God made mankind."
Pacquiao
then moved to Exodus 21:12, which reads: "Anyone
who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death."
In shifting
to the New Testament, Pacquiao cited Romans 13:4.
"For
the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be
afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason,"
the verse reads. "They are God's servants, agents
of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."
Pacquiao
warned congress that the drug trade is such a problem that "even innocent
citizens who renounce drugs can be a victim once an addict goes out to street
and wreak havoc."
"Drug addicts
are addicted to drugs, while drug lords are addicted to money," he added.
"We must speak to the criminal minds in the only language they understand.
They must understand that our government will put a stop to impunity. They have
profited from the blood of thousands upon thousands of Filipino youths. It must
stop now."
He cited
data from the 2015 Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which found that 26.91
percent of the neighborhoods in the country are considered "drug
affected." However, that number increased to 92.44 percent of drug
affected neighborhoods in the national capital region as of June 2016.
Although
Pacquiao is calling for capital punishment, he stressed that the rights of
suspects to fair trials must be respected. He also stressed if the government
is not doing enough to hold criminals accountable, citizens might be liable to
take the law "in their own hands."
It is a bit
ironic that Pacquiao cites the Bible to restore the death penalty even though
the repeal of the death penalty was signed into law by the nation's former
President Gloria Arroyo right before she
went to visit Pope Benedict XVI, who called
on countries around the world to end capital punishment.
The death
penalty in the Philippines was originally repealed in 1987 but was reinstituted
in 1993 before being repealed again in 2006.
Manny
Pacquiao's first privilege speech on death penalty (FULL VIDEO)
Published on Aug 8, 2016
Senator Manny Pacquiao on
Monday gave his privilege speech pushing for death penalty on heinous crimes in
a bid to end the "cancer of the society."
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VIDEO SOURCE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzpzlANgqHI
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