MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Ambassador-designate to the United Nations Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr said he opposes the death penalty, which Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to revive as part of his war on drugs.

Locsin also said the spate of killings in the Philippines should stop. 

In a rare instance when an ambassador-designate contradicts the country’s chief diplomat, Locsin said in a tweet on Tuesday, December 20, “Death penalty demeans us.”

Locsin, who served as Makati City congressman from 2001 to 2010, said lawmakers should “withdraw that barbarous bill reimposing death penalty because it doesn’t work and it is messy.”

He also said that “killings have to stop.” He said that killings “are disgusting and serve no purpose” but to undermine the “sure economic progress” of the next 6 years under Duterte.

“End the killings. There are US methods of ‘disappearances’ which are more tasteful and do not invite international notice,” he added without elaborating. 

Locsin’s statement comes as more than 4,000 people have died in extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings while Duterte wages his war on drugs.

More than 2,100 others have been killed in police operations as of December 20.

At the same time, Duterte is pushing for the death penalty as a form of retribution. “Magbayad ka sa ginawa mo sa buhay na ito,” the President said. (You should pay for what you did in this life.)

Locsin’s nomination as Philippine representative to the UN was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on December 13. 

Locsin was known as a news commentator for broadcast giant ABS-CBN. He also worked as speechwriter and spokesman for then president Corazon Aquino. – Rappler.com