THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and anti-death advocates vowed to exert efforts to stop the reimposition of the capital punishment, by courting senators to oppose the bill which hurdled the Lower House in an overwhelming 216-24 vote.
CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care executive secretary Rodolfo Diamante said there was no room for complacency after Congress passed the measure.
The CBCP and the coalition of various groups are working against the reimposition of the death penalty to win the battle at the Senate.
The strategies include talking to senators individually to lobby against the passage of the measure, especially to the 16 senators identified as either in favor or still undecided.
“We might be able to get some of them…We just need to talk and appeal to them,” Diamante said.
The Anti-Death Penalty Task Force of the Free Legal Assistance Group of the Philippines (FLAG) already listed at least eight senators who openly signified they would oppose the bill.
The list includes Senators Bam Aquino, Leila de Lima, Franklin Drilon, Francis Escudero, Riza Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, and Antonio Trillanes.
On the other hand, the legislators in favor of the death penalty are Alan Peter Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquiao, Tito Sotto, and Joel Villanueva.
Based on the list, there are 10 lawmakers whose positions are still unknown.
They are Senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Nancy Binay, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda, Aquilino Pimentel, Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Cynthia Villar and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Diamante said the list was based only on their previous positions, votes on abolition of capital punishment, recent public pronouncements, and on the assessment of the Task Force last June 2016.
Diamante, among those who fought for the death penalty abolition in 1996, believes some of the 16 senators might still change their minds, especially those claiming to be pro-life.
“For example, Sen. Sotto said before that he is pro-life that’s why he is against the Reproductive Health bill. Another is Sen. Villar who is a member of the Couples for Christ,” he said.
The House of Representatives on March 7 approved the death penalty bill, although it is limited to drug-related offenses only.
