Members of the Philippine Congress attends reading of the death penalty bill on March 7. (Photo: Xinhua)
Hanoi (VNA) –▨ Philippine lower house lawmakers on March 7 approved there-imposition of capital punishment for eight d🐻rug-related crimes.
Voting216 to 54 with one abstention, members of the House of Representatives passedthe bill in the final reading. The first draft prescribed death penalty or lifeimprisonment for 21 offences. However, the figure was reduced to eight in thesecond reading. Thebill will be submitted to the Senate and will become law whenPresident Rodrigo Duterte signs it. The Philippines abolishedthe death penalty in the 1987 Constitution and became the first Asian country todo so. The death penalty was restored in 1993 under President Fidel Ramos,before being scrapped again in 2006 by President Gloria Arroyo. President Duterte expressedhis wish to restore the penalty since he took office in June 2016, claiming it is an effective deterrent against crime.-VNA
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Members of the Philippine Congress attends reading of the death penalty bill on March 7. (Photo: Xinhua) 
