Drilon: At least 9 senators oppose reimposition of death penalty

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon. JOAN BONDOC/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon said he has counted at least nine senators, including him, who are against the proposed reimposition of the death penalty in the country.

“Nine or 10, kasama na ako, mga ganung numero (Nine or 10 including me, around those figures),” Drilon said on Wednesday after the proposed measure hurdled the committee level in the House of Representatives.

“(My) Conservative (estimate) is nine,” he said.

Senator Antonito Trillanes IV, member of the Senate minority bloc, said he would oppose the measure as he warned that any additional power would just be abused by the present administration.

“I will oppose it. If you give more power to the state under this administration, it will be abused so kailangang bantayan natin (so let us be on guard),” Trillanes said in a separate interview.

Senator Francis Panglinan, acting president of Liberal Party, also expressed his opposition on the proposal, saying it would not address lawlessness and criminality in the country.

“Sabi nga ng kanta (As that song goes), let’s give love on Christmas Day. Huwag naman (Not) death penalty,” Pangilinan said in a statement after the measure’s approval in the House.

READ: House justice committe approves death penalty bill

“Reimposing the death penalty will not lead to more convictions, nor will it ensure that cases will be decided swiftly and the guilty punished. Death penalty will not address lawlessness and criminality when convictions are few and cases drag on for years,” he said.

Modernizing justice system, he said, is the key to end lawlessness and criminality.

“It is swift punishment and the immediate disposition of cases pending before our courts, regardless of penalties involved, and not the reimposition of death penalty, that will restore respect for the rule of law in the country,” Pangilinan added.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said he remained “supportive” to the proposed restoration of the death penalty but he would like to see if there is still a necessity for it if the present administration would succeed in its fight against criminality.

“I’ve always voted for it but I also see ‘yung mga problema (those problems) like our justice system, yung problema ng mahihirap (the problems of the poor) so I hope that by the time it reaches us here sa floor ng Senate, which maybe first or second quarter next year, sobrang tahimik na parang Singapore na (it’s as peaceful like Singapore), na yung crime solution is so high na hindi na kailangan (that the crime solution is so high we won’t need that),” Cayetano said.

“Kasi remember ang death penalty is a deterrent parang panakot mo sa kriminal, pero kung lahat takot na, hindi na kailangan ng pananakot (Because remember the death penalty is a deterrent [to crime], like a scare tactic versus the criminals but if they are afraid already, we won’t need to scare them more)…” he added. TVJ

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