Manila: A senator has said that the passage of a measure bringing back death penalty to the country is unlikely to get support from senators.

“By my own estimate, there are at least thirteen senators who will block the passage of the death penalty bill, including the six-member minority group and seven from the majority block,” Senator Franklin, senate minority leader, said.

The Philippine Senate has 24 members.

Last March, the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading House Bill 4727, a measure that seeks to bring back the death penalty in the country.

The proposal, got the support of 217 of the 293 member House with 54 against.

The measure however, limits the punishment of death for those whose cases are drugs related such as large scale selling and distribution of prohibited substances.

Also, while support for the bringing back the death penalty appear is overwhelming in the Lower Chamber, it is not likely to pass in the Senate.

“It’s dead and the chances of resurrecting it before we even bring it to a vote are very slim, if not zero, at least in this Congress,” Drilon stressed.

Right after he assumed his term as President in the middle of last year, Duterte said he would will push hard for the passage by the Congress of the death penalty which he considers a part of his administration’s campaign against drugs.

This is despite reports of thousands of suspects getting killed under questionable circumstances during the campaign.

The president’s support for the death penalty also caused for him the loss of a key ally, former president Gloria Arroyo who is a member of the House.

Arroyo, during her presidency, had worked for the removal of the death penalty, which was imposed by the administration of president Joseph Estrada in 1999.

According to Drilon, anti-death penalty senators believe that the measure would not be effective in deterring criminals from engaging in drugs. He added that a brutal campaign versus drugs only widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots and that the issue could be better addressed instead by improving the system of delivering justice in the country.

“It will be detrimental to the poor who will be made victims of this cruel and inhumane punishment due to the inefficiencies of our judicial system,” he added.

“We are ready to lead the fight against the death penalty bill. We believe that a death penalty law was not and will never be an effective deterrence against crime,” Drilon said.

Drilon noted that there are only five senators who have openly indicated support for the bill through the media led by Senate majority leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senators Manny Pacquiao, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Win Gatchalian, and Cynthia Villar.

“It does not appear to have the votes it needed. It is the end of the road for the proposal,” Drilon said.