Last week, the European Parliament has set a motion asking for the immediate release of Senator Leila De Lima. And while she has not yet been set free, the 57-year-old already had her sights set when she gets out of prison.
In a written statement distributed to local media outlets, De Lima expressed her eagerness to vote for the very controversial death penalty bill that is being discussed in the Senate after it was successfully passed in the House of Representatives.
“With the grace of God, I fervently plead for my early freedom from this most unjust detention based on false and fabricated charges. I am desirous of a change to participate in the Senate deliberations on the death penalty once sessions resume and to cast my vote thereon,” she wrote.
“My vote is an absolute and unqualified no to death penalty. From any standpoint, ethical, moral, philosophical, legal and constitutional, the death penalty is wrong, hence, unacceptable.”
With or without De Lima’s vote, however, the proposed reinstating of the death penalty is already facing a massive uphill battle in the upper house with a number of lawmakers openly opposed to the idea.
