By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) condemned the House of Representatives after they passed House Bill 4727, which sought to reimpose capital punishment.
In a letter released by CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, he said, “The House of Representatives has given its consent for the state to kill.”
He said they are deeply overcome with grief, but are not defeated nor will be silenced.
“In the midst of Lent, we prepare to celebrate the triumph of life over death, and while we grieve that the Lower House has voted for death, our faith assures us that life will triumph,” Villegas said.
The bishop called on the Catholic faithful and all Filipinos who stand for life to continue opposing the death penalty.
He also urged the Catholic lawyers, judges, and jurists to “allow the gentleness of the Gospel of Life to illumine their reading and application of the law.”
“It is indeed that we may have life to the full that the Lord came into our midst,” he said, adding, “They may have won but it does not mean that they are right.”
Earlier, the Diocese of Bacolod also issued a statement saying those who voted for the measure were “succumbing to partisanship, fear, or pressure.”
However, diocese social communications head and San Sebastian Cathedral rector, Rev. Fr. Felix Pasquin, said they are praising those who voted against the bill, calling them “the brave ones” who “followed their conscience.”/WDJ