Gordon: Bato is biased, will not lead hearings on death penalty

Senator Richard Gordon said he would not let Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa lead the hearings on the death penalty bill, calling the former PNP chief “biased.”

Dela Rosa volunteered to lead a justice subcommittee if Gordon does not want to hear the 10 pending death penalty bills in the Senate.

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“Sasabihin niya dahil ako ay against death penalty, sasabihin niya biased ako, lalong hindi ko ibibigay sa kaniya dahil siya ang biased talaga. Sinasabi niya aggressively na siya ay for the death penalty,” Gordon said.

(He tells me I am against the death penalty, that I am biased. I will not really give it to him because he is really biased. He was aggressively saying that he is for the death penalty.)

“I’m calling him down now, huwag mo namang sabihin na ida-drag namin ang feet namin dito. Hindi ko ginagawa ‘yan,” he added.

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Senator Gordon, who is also the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, is not in favor of reinstating the death penalty in the Philippines.
Dela Rosa, meanwhile, is President Rodrigo Duterte’s ally and is pushing for death penalty law in the Senate.
Bato said he was happy that Duterte again pushed for the death penalty by lethal injection for drug offenses during the fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“I am the chairman of the committee; I will chair fairly. Makikita nyo sa akin lahat tatawagin ko. Pero ito sasabihin ko, unang-una is it timely?” Gordon said.

(You’ll everyone will be called. But first, is it timely?)

“‘Yung death penalty ba ibig sabihin nun busy tayo araw-araw, imbes na nagbabakuna, papatay tayo? Kung halimbawa makapasa, iisponsoran ko at magdedebate tayo,” he added.

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(The death penalty means we are busy every day, instead of giving vaccines, we will kill? If in case it would pass, I’ll sponsor it. We will debate.)

Gordon earlier expressed his reluctance to hold hearings on the death penalty.

“I’m not gonna hold a hearing, I don’t believe it. If they insist, then I’ll probably hold a hearing first and if inaakala nila hindi ako fair ibibigay ko sa kanila,” Gordon had said.