MANILA – The death penalty bill to be tackled before the Senate would only target high-level drug traffickers, according to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
In a radio interview over the weekend, Sotto said the controversial measure was identified as a priority by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) but its version will be limited in focus.
“Priority naman talaga ‘yun sa listahan namin because of Ledac. Kaya lang syempre may mga technicalities like karamihan ng batas naka-refer sa committee on justice, ang chair ayaw niya made-delay ng konti handa naman siya ipasa sa iba kung sino gusto mag-sponsor,” Sotto said in an interview over DWIZ.
Sotto added that limiting the scope of the measure will likely increase its chance of passing before the Senate panel.
“Ang problema pumapatak sa isyu na dinadala ko, doon na lang sa high-level drug trafficking, mas malaki ang tsansa. Kasi through the years, mula 1992, wala sa mga kasama ko ngayon ang kasama ko doon sa debate namin,” Sotto said.
“Ang punto ko high-level drug trafficker lang, ibig sabihin drug lord lang, walang drug lord na mahirap. So ‘di pwedeng anti-poor,” he added.
“Pangalawa, pagdating sa mga krimen, ang ibang krimen kasi pinagdurusahan, kunwari murderer ka, andun ka sa loob, karamihan ng krimen napagdudusahan except high level drug trafficking,” he further said.
The Senate President also noted that it is just logical to punish high-level drug traffickers since some of them are still able to continue their operations even behind bars.
“Sila ang dapat i-inhibit natin. ‘Pag ni-lethal injection mo, you inhibit them. ‘Yun lang kasi ang krimen na nakakulong na nakakapag-operate pa,” he said./PN
