The Philippines abolished the death penalty in 2006 following staunch opposition from the Catholic Church, the religion of 80 percent of Filipinos. Manny Pacquiao defends restoring the death penalty in the Philippines. Addressing critics of the proposal, Pacquiao said: "God allows the death penalty to discipline the people and to punish those wrongdoers." He said he saw no contradiction between his beliefs and his support for the death penalty. But he did not answer questions on whether there were any studies showing that the death penalty led to lower crime rates.

Source: Bangkok Post August 08, 2016 10:41 UTC