THE PHILIPPINES. CBCP RESTATES CALL TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY

reiterating its call for the government to abolish death penalty, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care (CBCP-ECPPC) pushed for reforms in the current penal system and called on the faithful to be more compassionate towards their brothers in prison.
“The CBCP sees the death penalty as an affront to the human dignity of those on whom it is inflicted upon and those in whose name it is employed. Killing people is a rejection of God’s call to "love one another as I have loved you," said Bishop Pedro Arigo, chairman of the CBCP-ECPPC.
He added that the CBCP understood the need to punish offenders and to deter crime. However, he said, there were moral standards to be followed under the teachings of the Church.
Arigo said the main goal of imprisonment should not be to avenge or punish, but to “reform an erring member of society."