Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa is optimistic that a measure imposing death penalty on large-scale illegal drug trafficking would be passed in the Senate this 19th Congress.
Bato said Senator Francis Tolentino, who will supposedly head the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, is "open to discussing" the measure on death penalty.
The situation would be unlike the previous Senate, where the former committee chairperson, Senator Dick Gordon, was "unluckily" anti-death penalty.
"I'm sure magkakaroon ng hearing dito... lalo na this bill (There will be a hearing on this, especially since this bill) is limited to high level drug trafficking offense," he said Wednesday in an interview with CNN Philippines.
The bill seeking the imposition of capital punishment or death penalty for large-scale illegal trafficking is a priority bill of Dela Rosa's.
Large-scale traffickers pertain to "drug lords" who have huge participation in the proliferation of illegal drugs, as well as those who will be caught with around one kilo of illegal drugs, he said.
But Dela Rosa said they are open for discussion with law enforcers, particularly the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), in case they prefer to lower or increase the minimum volume of illegal drugs caught to warrant the penalty.