Drilon predicts death penalty will fail at the Senate

Senate President Franklin Drilon (Photo from Drilon’s official Twitter account)

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon had predicted that the death penalty will fall short of votes in the Senate. As there will be at least 13 senators who will “likely vote” against it.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Drilon said, “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 block.”

“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.”

“We are ready to lead the fight against the death penalty bill. We believe that a death penalty law was not and will never be an effective deterrence against crime.”

“It will be detrimental to the poor who will be made victims of this cruel and inhumane punishment due to inefficiencies of our judicial system.”

Other minority members who would most likely vote against the death penalty are Deputy Minority Leader Bam Aquino, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Leila De Lima, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Risa Hontiveros.
Drilon also mentioned that Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senators Manny Pacquiao, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Win Gatchalian, and Cynthia Villar are the only five senators who had been vocal about their support of the bill.