Drilon: Death penalty bill ‘dead’ in Senate

The proposed death penalty bill is "good as dead” in the Senate, with at least 13 senators likely to vote against it, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Wednesday. 

“By my own estimate, there are at least thirteen senators who will block the passage of the death penalty bill, including the six-member minority group and seven from the majority bloc,” Drilon said.

Aside from Drilon, the other members of the minority are Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Leila De Lima, Benigno Paolo “Bam” Aquino, who are members of the Liberal Party (LP); and Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV and Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros.

Another LP member, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, had also said that he will vote against the proposal.

“It’s dead and the chances of resurrecting it before we even bring it to a vote are very slim, if not zero, at least in this Congress,” Drilon said.

Drilon noted that only five senators have openly signified support for the bill, including Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senators Manny Pacquiao, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Cynthia Villar.

Seven death penalty proposals are still pending at the Senate justice committee chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, who is against the said proposals.

The House of Representatives and the Senate must agree on all provisions of a death penalty proposal before it is sent to Malacañang for the President's signature. —LBG, GMA News