“Before the faith of our people in government is completely eroded, and the trust in its ability to maintain peace and order is totally undermined, it is incumbent that we reimpose the death penalty upon the power people at the top who bring in and distribute large amounts of illegal drugs – those who enrich themselves with blatant disregard to the disastrous consequences of the growing drug trade, happy to corrupt the most essential fibers of Philippine society for their disgusting personal gain,” Gatchalian said in the explanatory note of Senate Bill No. 1294.
Senate Bill No. 1294 seeks to amend Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, to provide a quantitative standard in meting out the penalty of death to people responsible for the distribution of illegal drugs in large quantities.
Specifically, the bill would amend Section 11 of RA 9165 to impose the death penalty on persons convicted of possession, sale, distribution, importation, and manufacture of the following drugs in the prescribed quantities:
- 10,000 grams or more of marijuana;
- 1000 grams or more of shabu;
- 200 grams or more of opium, morphine, heroine, cocaine, cocaine hydrochloride, marijuana resin, marijuana resin oil, ecstasy, and LSD, and other drugs as determined by the Dangerous Drugs Board.
Senate Bill No. 1294 would also increase fines and penalties imposed for offenses under RA 9165 involving smaller quantities of drugs.
A long-time anti-crime advocate as a former three-term Mayor of Valenzuela City, Gatchalian described his bill as a concrete manifestation of his commitment to the Duterte administration’s War on Drugs.
“President Duterte and I are both mayors at heart, so we come from the same perspective. As local chief executives, we have both seen firsthand the kind of damage the illegal drug trade can do to entire communities if drug lords and king pins are allowed to continue their despicable operations with impunity. Passage of this law will stop the illegal drug trade in its tracks and make sure that these despicable people will pay the ultimate price for their crimes against the Filipino people,” said Gatchalian.