TRAGEDY IN CAVITE. Police officers talk to a relative of a victim following a shooting rampage in Kawit, about 40 kms (25 miles) south of Manila on January 4, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JAY DIRECTO

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has not changed his position on death penalty in spite of more calls for capital punishment to be reinstated for certain crimes, the Palace said on Sunday, January 6.

"The position of the President as far as the death penalty is concerned has not changed. He is not for the death penalty," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte noted during a radio interview.

Valte insisted that Aquino believes the current laws should be enough to deter criminals, even after the shooting rampage in Cavite that left 8 dead and 9 wounded on Friday, January 4.

"The position of the President always when it comes to any form of crime is to deter. The effective deterrent of crime would be the knowledge that there will be certainty of punishment," she said.

Certainty of punishment, according to Valte, is the best deterrent to crime.

"A person should think, 'I shouldn't do this because I will definitely be caught and imprisoned,'" she said in Filipino. - Rappler.com