By MARIO CASAYURAN
Chances of the Senate passing a bill reinstituting the death penalty is practically nil.
This was the view of Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson, chairman of the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee, on pressures coming from the House of Representatives for the Upper Chamber to pass the death penalty bill.
‘’The death penalty bill cannot get majority a vote. Even Senate President (Aquilino) Pimentel is against the measure. So are some members of the (pro-Duterte) majority bloc,’’ he said.
‘’Not because the House has passed it, the Senate will pass it. We will vote on it,’’ he added.
Asked about the controversial death penalty bill, Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III said he has not feel any pressure on the passage or non-passage of the bill.
Sotto said he has been asking for a hearing on the issue since two years ago.
Boxing icon Sen. Emmanuel D. Pacquiao introduced the bill for Senate floor debate since last year.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said that the Senate has simply not acted on the death penalty bill as asked by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
He said many senators are against the bill and do not want the return of death penalty.
‘’Why should we be criticized for not passing that?’’ he asked.
Drilon, a former Senate President, that that position “is part of our duty to make a judgment.”
