bills, bills, bills

in less than 24 hours since the hostage crisis ended, two bills are being pushed by the legislative department. one is the re-imposition of the death penalty and the other is a news blackout for hostage taking situations and other probably similar sensitive police operations. i dont agree with both. i dont think the death penalty is a deterrent. my position has always been that death is a favor, not a punishment. savage criminals arent afraid to die. Mendoza, allegedly (since i dont know if he really said it or not, this was what some news item said), was prepared to die. people who commit heinous crimes arent afraid of death (i think some petty criminals arent afraid of death. they resort to a life of crime because they've already been pushed to their limit. some are just plain lazy and just wants a quick buck). i still think life imprisonment is a much worse punishment than death penalty (although i dont think penal instutitions are effective deterrents or truly useful for rehabilitating people, its the best humans can come up with at the moment). as for the news blackout, its too much. i think the better option is for the media and the PNP to set-up a protocol or procedure that must be followed in covering such situations (like not airing a live broadcast of the incident). the media should be more responsible with their actions and be given guidelines and not be unduly restrained. the reason im not in favor of a news blackout is because one always has to assume that anything can be abused.

point is, dont pass laws that arent well thought or didnt undergo in some kind of research or consultation that reflects it will actually accomplish what it seeks to remedy or cure or something to that effect. it just muddles up the philippine legal system and its really annoying to learn laws that arent well made. but if these bills were products of research and consultations (or some other valid ways that aid and substantiate proposed legislation), then i guess there's really nothing much to oppose about it since the presumption is that the data that supports it means it good and worthy to become law.