Former President and lawmaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may be replaced as House Deputy Speaker by pro-death penalty solons supporting the reimposition of capital punishment in the country.
The idea of replacing Arroyo cropped up because of her opposition against the measure that seeks to impose capital punishment for heinous crimes.
“We will have to replace her as deputy speaker,” according to House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez after the majority gathered for a caucus on Wednesday afternoon.
Alvarez has earlier said lawmakers who cannot support House Bill No. 4727 will be replaced and that includes Arroyo of Pampanga’s 2nd Congressional District.
Under the Arroyo administration, death penalty was abolished in 2006 through Republic Act 9346.
Arroyo has made known her opposition to the reimposition of death penalty with President Rodrigo Duterte.
The talks about the reimposition of the death penalty bill heat up in both the Lower and Upper House. The Senate is expected to water down the death penalty bill even if the majority of lawmakers mostly supporters of Duterte in the Lower House approve it.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has opposed the reimposition of death penalty in the predominantly Christian country.
The CBCP has already called on the Catholic faithful to join the grand procession dubbed as “Walk for Life” on February 18, in opposition to the extra judicial killings that apparently killed more than 7,000.
The CBCP lashed out at Duterte’s “reign of terror” and his government’s bloody war on drugs.
In a video message, CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas urged the Filipinos to join the ‘Walk for Life’ procession. “I am inviting you to come out on February 18, 2017, at the Quirino Grandstand from 4:30 in the morning until 7 in the morning. Let us walk for life,”
“Let us fill our streets not with blood, not with dead bodies, but with prayer, with courage, to walk, to stand up for life.”
In Angeles City, two huge white banners emblazoned with the words “Yes” or “No” and bible verse “5:44” were posted at the twin towers of the Holy Rosary Parish Church.
In the bible, the Matthew 5:44 verse indicate “Love your enemies.”