Bato to ask Marcos to certify as urgent death penalty for drug lords bill

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa will not hesitate to ask President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to certify the death penalty bill for high-level drug traffickers as urgent if  he will given a chance to talk with the chief executive.

"Given the chance, I will do it. Kung papansinin tayo," Dela Rosa told reporters in a phone interview when asked about the possibility.

Dela Rosa has refiled a bill in the 19th Congress which seeks the imposition of death penalty on against convicted large-scale drug traffickers.

In lobbying the measure to the president, Dela Rosa said he will narrate his personal experience at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and as a former law enforcer.

"Based on personal experience, nakausap ko talaga yung mga drug lord doon sa loob ng Bilibid at isa sa kanilang rekomendasyon para talagang mahinto yung drug trafficking sa ating bansa ay kailangan talagang bitayin yung mga drug lord na nagta-traffic ng droga dito sa ating bansa.  'Yun ang sabi nila," Dela Rosa said.

"Kasi kung hindi bitayin, nakakulong lang sila sa loob ng Bilibid, nandu’n pa rin. Continue pa rin yung kanilang negosyo. Walang hinto. So kung binitay 'yan, tapos na. Hindi na makapagpatuloy," he added.

Prior to his Senate stint, Dela Rosa served as the chief of the Philippine National Police under the Duterte administration, After his retirement, he was appointed as the director-general of the Bureau of Corrections.

Dela Rosa, who was tagged as the chief architect of Duterte's bloody drug war, maintained that the former president was able to bring the drug lords to heel in the last six years.

However, he noted that there were huge drug shipments in the country during the time that Duterte is about to step down from his post.

The lawmaker expressed confidence that the death penalty bill will have higher chances of being approved in the 19th Congress with Senator Francis Tolentino as chairman of the Senate Justice Committee.

"Sa akin naman, regardless kung sino ang magiging chairman ng Justice Committee ay i-refile ko pa rin yan dahil adbokasiya ko talaga ‘yan at alam ko na kailangang-kailangan ‘yan," Dela Rosa said.

"Eh lalong-lalo na ngayon kung si Senator Tolentino ang magche-chairman ng Justice Committee, isa ring advocate sa ganung death penalty for high-level drug trafficking then malaking tiyansa na makalusot ito ngayon this Congress," he added.

In the 18th Congress, several death penalty bills were filed but these were only referred to the Senate Justice Committee which was then chaired by former Senator Richard Gordon.

Dela Rosa said Tolentino has already gave a commitment that the bills on capital punishment will be tackled in the Senate Justice Committee.

"Sinabihan ko siya na 'Oh yung death penalty natin Tol, ikaw na ang pumalit kay Sen. Gordon ngayon. Dapat makalusot na Death Penalty natin.' Eh tumango naman siya. So signal ‘yun na okay," he said.

Although some 19th Congress senators, including Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is expected to be the next Senate president, expressed their reservations and opposition to the death penalty bills given the health and economic crises in the country, Dela Rosa said the Senate cannot "limit" its mandate to only one area of concern.

"Multi-tasking naman ang Senado. Hindi naman tayo pwedeng diyan na lang magconcentrate. Kailangan lahat-lahat ng issues na affecting our daily lives ay i-address natin. Hindi natin pwedeng ilimit lang sa isang aspeto o area ng concern ang ating legislation," he said.

Should the Senate tackle the death penalty bill, Dela Rosa said his proposal will push for capital punishments that are approved by international standards and a method that is "universally and humanly acceptable" such as the use of lethal injection.

In an interview Wednesday, Zubiri said the Marcos administration did not ask yet for the passage of any "controversial" bills.

But he said they will wait for the Marcos administration's priority bills, which will be laid out on his first State of the Nation Address on July 25.—LDF, GMA News