Lacson officially withdraws authorship of bill reviving death penalty

Presidential aspirant and Senator Panfilo Lacson has officially withdrawn his authorship of a bill seeking to reimpose the death penalty for heinous crimes in the country.

In a letter to Senate Secretary Atty. Myra Villarica dated November 8, Lacson requested the secretariat to halt further deliberations of Senate Bill No. 27 which he filed in July 2019.

“This is to respectfully inform your good office that I am withdrawing my authorship of Senate Bill No. 27 or ‘An Act Re-Instituting the Death Penalty in the Philippines,’ filed on 01 July 2019 and accordingly, request that the bill be no longer considered for deliberation by the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, and Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes,” Lacson wrote.

Last week, Lacson, who is eyeing the country’s top post in Eleksyon 2022, and his running-mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III announced that they are no longer supporting the reimposition of death penalty in the country.

This move was welcomed by the Catholic  Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Apart from Lacson, another author of a death penalty bill, presidential aspirant and Senator Manny Pacquiao also changed his mind on the revival of capital punishment in the country.

Pacquiao stressed the need to fix the country's judicial system first. —KG, GMA News