Reelected Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is reviving his pitch for the restoration of the death penalty, bolstered by the fact that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte supports the capital punishment.
Sotto said the restoration of the death penalty can happen within a year especially if the president and Congress leaders are in favor.
“I had difficulty passing it in Congress because the leaders then were against,” he added.
But Senate President Franklin Drilon was unsure. He said one can’t speak for the Senate at this point. He said committees in the Senate in the 17th Congress have not been even organized.
Drilon said he “will listen to all sides.”
In a separate text message, Senator Sonny Angara said he is unsure about the new senators’ stand on death penalty although he knew a few of his colleagues are rallying behind it.
“I will listen carefully to the arguments for and against,” he said.
He said Congress should also prioritize measures that would improve law enforcement and the justice system alongside any death penalty proposals.
Two senators-elect have expressed their support for the reimposition of the death penalty as proposed by Duterte.
Former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority chief Joel Villanueva said he supports death penalty for heinous crimes.
Villanueva, the son of Jesus is Lord movement founder Eddie Villanueva, placed second in the May 9 senatorial race.
Seventh placer and world boxing champion, outgoing Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao believes the death sentence is “not wrong in the eyes of God.” “
“I am in favor of the death penalty. I want to explain. In the eyes of God, it is not wrong. Actually the death penalty is biblical. I can explain that properly in our laws and in God’s law why there should be a death penalty),” he said.
Pacquiao said it is not Duterte who would decides who will be sentenced to death, but instead, it is the government.
With the implementation of the death penalty, he said reforms in the justice system should also be carried out.