The plenary hall of the House of Representatives. (Photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Just after the Senate had its own rigodon stripping Liberal Party (LP) members of their key posts, the House of Representatives is bracing itself for its own shakeup amid the looming railroad of the death penalty bill.
Opposition lawmakers said that even before the bill is approved on second reading, some anti-death penalty representatives from LP are already willing to give up their committee posts, a condition imposed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on majority lawmakers who would vote against the administration bill.
READ: Alvarez warns House allies: Back death penalty, or else…
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman named Quezon City Rep. Kit Belmonte, Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Batanes Rep. Henedina Abad and Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Sato as those willing to let go of their key posts in order to vote against the death penalty.
Belmonte chairs the committee on land use, Bag-ao chairs the committee on people participation, Abad chairs the committee on government reorganization, while Sato is a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments.
Lagman said some lawmakers who attended the LP caucus on Tuesday said they do not mind being removed from their committee posts for as long as they could vote against the restoration of capital punishment under House Bill 4727.
READ: House leadership forces vote on death penalty
“There are those saying they don’t care if they will be ousted from the majority coalition or if they would be stripped of their committee chairpersonship,” Lagman said in a press conference after the caucus.
Lagman said he expects the independent minority—now composed of seven lawmakers—to gain more numbers now that there is a brewing opposition in the lower House.
“Most probably next week, the ‘Magnificent Seven’ will be augmented,” Lagman said.
Reached for comment, Belmonte, the nephew of former Speaker Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said letting go of his committee post is a sacrifice he was willing to make to take his position against the death penalty.
“Nagpaalam na ako at nagsabing (I already asked permission and said) I will just have to take the consequences,” Belmonte said in a text message.
Two LP solons who are committee chairpersons said they are supportive of the death penalty despite the party position against capital punishment.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, chairperson of the Metro Manila Development committee, said the death penalty is “more palatable” now that the leadership is open to limiting the death sentence to drug-related crimes such as sale and trade.
The bill will also give the judge the choice whether to impose capital punishment or life imprisonment.
“It’s a principled yes. With crimes only related to drugs meted out with death penalty and the removal of mandatory execution, the issue has become more palatable,” Castelo said in a text message.
READ: Death penalty bill to be limited to drug-related offenses—Umali
North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco, chairperson of the Indigenous Cultural Communities And Indigenous Peoples committee, said she will also vote for the death penalty based on her survey among her constituents.
“I am voting for death penalty based on my survey in my district, not my party,” Catamco said in a text message.
The LP contingent in the House of Representatives held a caucus with their Senate counterpart on Tuesday, only to hold off its decision whether or not to bolt out of the majority coalition.
The LP asked for more time to make a decision that could possibly further decimate the ranks of the erstwhile ruling party.
The House is also mulling its next moves after the shakeup in the Senate where LP Senators Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Benigno Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV and Risa Hontiveros were stripped of their chairperson posts.
READ: LP members ousted from Senate majority
They were removed from their committee posts due to brewing sentiment they are against issues backed by the majority.
It also happened days after LP Senator Leila De Lima was arrested on drug-related charges. De Lima is a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, which started way back when she was human rights chief who investigated the vigilante killings in Davao City when Duterte was mayor.
From a dominant figure of 115 in the previous Congress, the numbers of the LP has since decimated to only 32 in the current 17th Congress.
Of the LP representatives today, 27 are members of the majority, which means they voted for the winning Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of the now ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.
There are only five LP representatives who are part of the independent minority, which means they did not vote for the winning speaker. RAM
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