Philippines president-elect wants to bring back the death penalty

The Philippines' new president-elect is upholding his campaign vow to bring back the death penalty to the Southeast Asian nation -- much to the Catholic Church's chagrin.

Rodrigo Duterte, who ruffled feathers on the campaign trail with his fiery speeches, said Monday he would ask Congress to reintroduce executions for serious crimes such as drug trafficking, rape and murder.

The Philippines had previously practiced capital punishment by lethal injection, but stopped in 2006, because of strong opposition by the dominant Roman Catholic Church. Official data pegs over 80% of the country's population as Catholic.

But Duterte also wants the method to be death-by-hanging -- with an additional "double" hanging clause.

Duterte wants death-by-hanging, with an additional gruesome "double" hanging clause.

Criminals convicted of killing along with robbery and rape should be meted "double the hanging," he said.

"After the first hanging, there will be another ceremony for the second time until the head is completely severed from the body," he said.

This makes the punishment far more gruesome than that practiced in neighbouring countries like Singapore. The latter executes via the "long drop" method, where the body is measured to be dropped from a height that will break the neck but is not so forceful as to decapitate the person, or insufficient so the person struggles and suffocates.

Human rights groups and the Catholic Church have issued opposition to Duterte's plans.

Commission on Human Rights Chairman Chito Gascon said his agency opposes the death penalty and would block any attempt to reimpose it, adding that the constitution forbids cruel and degrading punishments like hanging.

"In a country where the rule of law has so many loopholes and problems, what will happen is the possibility of a mistaken conviction," Gascon told the AP.

Amnesty International's Philippines Chairperson, Ritz Lee Santos III, told CNN it was cruel, inhumane and degrading, regardless of crime or method of execution. He added that studies have found it doesn't deter crime.

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AFP quoted Father Lito Jopson, head of the Catholic bishops communications office as saying: "As people of faith, we do not adhere to capital punishment because we do not have the right to judge who should live and who should die."

And there'll be opposition from within government, too. Leni Robredo, who is the leading vice presidential candidate to serve together with Duterte, has said repeatedly she rejects the death penalty.

Opinion online is split, with many worried about what it means for the country's image:

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Some think the death penalty is a good idea:

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Duterte plans to press Congress after he's sworn in officially on Jan. 30.

Additional information from The Associated Press.

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