The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading the controversial death penalty bill.
House Bill No. 4727, which seeks to reimpose capital punishment on seven drug-related offenses, sailed past third and final reading with 217 affirmative votes.
Fifty-four other lawmakers, including former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, voted against the measure, and one abstained.
A total of 272 lawmakers were present during Tuesday’s session, said to be the largest number of plenary attendees for this Congress.
Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas got right down to business, immediately moving for the third and final reading of HB 4727.
One of the bill’s staunchest opponents, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, responded by with an attempt to block the vote. According to Lagman, voting on Tuesday would be “patently premature,” as copies of the final version of the bill were handed out on March 2, a day after the measure was approved on second reading.
Based on the number of session days, he said the House leadership failed to meet the required three-day interlude after distribution, and the bill should thus be scheduled for final approval next week.
Fariñas, who heads the Rules committee, interpreted the requirement differently, including in his count Friday—a non-working day at Congress—and the weekend. He moved to put Lagman’s objection to a vote, where it lost.
From there, the House proceeded to the third and final reading, which was done via the required nominal voting.
But unlike previous practice, Tuesday’s session had lawmakers cast their votes first—just yes, no, or abstain—either through a hand gestures or announcing it on the microphone.
Presiding officers were thus able to announce that the death penalty bill had secured final approval by the House just before 6 p.m.
Only after the matter was settled were those who wished to explain their vote given three minutes to do so.
‘Voice of the people’
House Justice Committee chair Rey Umali, one of the bill’s sponsors, said he was “relieved” the majority supported the measure.
“It was a difficult ordeal that we went through, pero ‘yung mga pinagdaanan naman namin were clearly dilatory,” Umali said after the vote.
The Oriental Mindoro representative added that the resounding approval of the measure reflected the “voice of the people.”
“Ito, boses ng tao ito. Kahit sa sariling bayan ko, ‘yung karamihan ng mga constituents ko, kababalik ko lang mula doon, lahat sila pabor. Marmai sa kanila—majority—are supportive of the measure to restore death penalty,” he said.
“This is really the sentiment of the people and I feel reassured na ‘yung mga dapat pa nating gawing gawin… we have to work hard to make sure that we reform the criminal justice system nang sa gayon, sa tingin ko, ‘pag na-reform na natin ang criminal justice system, we may no longer need death penalty as a penalty.”
‘Blood on our hands’
While the House leaders’ hold on the super-majority was proven at the proceedings, some of its prominent members nevertheless still voted the measure - among them, Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Arroyo, who as president signed the bill abolishing death penalty in 2006, went up to the mic to say “I vote ‘no,’” a pronouncement received by applause from observers at the gallery.
Joining her in the "no" vote were several committee heads, including Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto—who was also applauded by observers—and members of the Makabayan bloc, party-list lawmakers allied with the super-majority.
When it came time to explain their votes, lawmakers who voted ‘no’ underscored the consequences of reimposing the death penalty.
Quezon City 6th district Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte said the House’s approval was like putting “blood on our hands.”
“I cannot fathom the idea that our 17th Congress, through its foresight, would take blood into its own hands. I cannot accept the thought that we, the members of the House of Representatives, will allow fellow human beings to be killed by our own government," he said.
"Stripped of its nomenclature as a penalty, imposing the death penalty is allowing state-sponsored killings. A person killed by the state in its death chambers is blood on my hands, Mr Speaker. It is blood on our hands. I refuse the idea that I allowed our government to kill in my name, in our name," he added.
Another of the bill’s loudest opponents, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, reiterated that the bill violated international obligations and the Constitution.
He also scored the House leadership for violating “the rights of the members of Congress when [they] did not allow [other members] to speak freely, fully, and ventilate [their] sentiments.”
HB 4727 will now be transmitted to the Senate, where it is expected to have a difficult time securing passage.
Meanwhile, some of the bill’s opponents at the House have vowed to challenge it before the Supreme Court should it be signed into law.
SOURCE: GMA