MANILA, Philippines—Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago warned on Wednesday that the proposed re-imposition of the death penalty in the country would be met with “very stiff opposition” from European countries and it would not sit well with the upcoming visit of Pope Francis next month.
“We will have very stiff opposition from the European countries,” Santiago said, reacting to Senator Vicente Sotto’s renewed call to re-impose death penalty particularly on high-level drug trafficking.
“I remember during my time in the Senate, when there were movements to abolish the death penalty, those who were strongest in its favor for abolition of the death penalty were the European countries and they worked on the Filipinos in trying to persuade us as much as they could.
“So first of all, if we’re about to make a U-turn here, we have to contend with the opposition of the European countries plus it will not sit well with the coming visit of the Pope…The Church has always been anti capital punishment,” Santiago said.
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