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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Friday, March 3, 2017
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ILOILO City – Four Iloilo congressmen voted in favor of the death penalty bill that the House of Representatives approved on second reading early Wednesday evening.
The four were Cong. Jerry Treñas of this city, Cong. Richard Garin of Iloilo’s 1st District, Cong. Arthur Defensor Jr. of the 3rd District, and Cong. Raul Tupas of the 5th District.
House Bill 4727, which calls for the reimposition of the death penalty on drug-related crimes, will be put to a final vote on the third reading Wednesday next week.
Cong. Ferjenel Biron of the 4th District and Cong. Arcadio Gorriceta of the 2nd District will make public their stand on the bill on that day.
Under the House’s rules, nominal voting is observed on the third reading for the approval or disapproval of a bill. Lawmakers will be called one by one to explain their vote.
“Yes, I voted in favor of the reimposition of the death penalty for drug-related offenses like manufacturing, importation and distribution of large-scale drugs,” according to Treñas, a member of President Rodrigo Duterte’s PDP-Laban party.
On the other hand, Defensor said he voted in favor of the bill as member of the majority bloc in the House controlled by the President’s party.
“Kon sa mayorya ka and you are working with the administration, of course your work will reflect the agenda of the administration. That is the experience of all congressmen,” said Defensor.
He supports the government’s war on drugs, Defensor said, and that he also believed his constituents wanted the return of the death penalty.
Defensor dismissed insinuations that congressmen in favor of the death penalty were puppets of the executive branch of government.
“It is just natural for the majority (bloc in the House) to work with the (Duterte) administration…that is how branches of government work, we’re not totally separate from the executive branch,” said Defensor, a lawyer.
Garin, meanwhile, tried to be philosophical with his vote. He stated: “When the promise of youth is snuffed out because of insatiable greed, when the future of our country is needlessly put in jeopardy by a few whose desire of gain defeats imagination, when mothers weep because someone needs to accumulate wealth at the expense of his brother Filipino, the equal opposite reaction should be the matter at hand. Cosmic law in its most basic form.”
House Bill 4727 imposes the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million in addition to absolute perpetual disqualification from any public office, on any public officer or employee who misappropriates, misapplies, or fails to account for seized dangerous drugs.
“Any elective local or national official found to have benefited from the proceeds of the trafficking of dangerous drugs as prescribed in this Act, or have received any financial or material contributions or donations from natural or juridical persons found guilty of trafficking dangerous drugs as prescribed in this Act, shall be removed from office and perpetually disqualified from holding any elective or appointive positions in the government, its divisions, subdivisions, and intermediaries, including government-owned or controlled corporations,” the House bill added./PN
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