The newly elected senators have floated the reimposition of the death penalty and some health-related legislation as among their priority agenda in the Senate after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed the 2019 midterm elections’ winners in Pasay City.
While saying he is “pro-life”, newly proclaimed lawmaker-elect Ramon “Bong” Revilla said he considers supporting the bill to reinstate capital punishment.
“Pag-aralan nating mabuti ‘yan. Ako, ever since naman pro-life, pero siyempre i-consider din natin kung ano ‘yong epekto ng ginagawa nitong mga tao, minsan abusado talaga (I will study it carefully. Ever since I am a pro-life but of course, I have to consider also the behavior of the people, some are really abusive),” Revilla said.
The same goes for neophyte Senator Bato dela Rosa, the country’s former top cop, who said he would push for the reimposition of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.
Senate President Tito Sotto III had earlier floated the possibility of the restoration of capital punishment for high-level drug trafficking entering the next Senate, which is among the Duterte administration’s pet bills.
Meanwhile, Senator-elect Bong Go, who garnered the third most numbers of votes at 20.6 million, said he would focus on health and education-related bills.
“I will focus on health and education.”
“I want to improve health services throughout the country. I will focus on health and education and I will continue the campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte against corruption in the government, criminality, and illegal drugs,” Go said.
Meanwhile, Senator-elect Francis Tolentino said he will push for more disaster-related legislation and push for amendments in the Local Government Code.
Dela Rosa, Go, Revilla and re-elected Senators Sonny Angara and Grace Poe as well as Senator-elect Imee Marcos, who ranked eighth in the 2019 senatorial elections, have all assured that the Senate will be independent.
“Rubber stamp? Definitely not. I am cooperative and supportive, but not under the dictates of Malacañang,” Dela Rosa said.
Revilla echoed similar sentiments saying he will make sure the upper chamber would stay independent.
Go, for his part, said he will maintain independence even as he supports the legislative agenda of the Executive Department.
“I will be an independent but will support the legislative agenda of President Duterte.”
“Of course, magiging independent po ako subalit susuportahan ko po ang legislative agenda ni Pangulong Duterte dahil alam ko po na ginagawa lang niya ang tama (I will be an independent but will support the legislative agenda of President Duterte because I know he is just doing the right thing),” he said.
In an interview, Angara said he believes “most of the senators are independent-minded.”
“We want to help the President succeed, we want to help the people also, they expect the independence of senators,” he said.