True to his campaign promises, reelected Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa started his second term reviving his call for the passage of bills reinstating death penalty for large-scale traffickers, mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and amending the Party-list System Act.
In refiling the bill reimposing capital punishment against large-scale traffickers, the former Philippine National Police slammed the proliferation of illegal narcotics in the country, saying it is a “fuel that ignites the commission of other heinous crimes”.
“This bill has become more than a campaign promise or a legal stand, but the realization of our commitment to those families left behind by the victims of crimes involving drugs.”
“This bill has become more than a campaign promise or a legal stand, but the realization of our commitment to those families left behind by the victims of crimes involving drugs,” dela Rosa said.
“It is our continued declaration of war against drugs that has destroyed our country and have caused violence, and national insecurity,” the veteran legislator added.
Consistent with his mission to reduce the cases of drug use across the country, the senator also filed a bill seeking to institutionalize the Anti-Drug Abuse Council (ADAC) of the local government units, which he believed to be an effective preventive measure against the proliferation of illegal drugs through a whole-of-nation approach.
The seasoned lawmaker, who vowed to continue reforming policies on national security and public order, called again for the passage of the bill that will make the ROTC program mandatory.
The bill, which only reached the period of debates in the last Congress, adopted the version of the measure that was sponsored by Dela Rosa in the Senate plenary.
The senator also prioritized the filing of the bills institutionalizing the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and proposed another measure that will prohibit party-list groups affiliated with local terrorist groups from seeking a seat in the House of Representatives.
The proposed council under the ELCAC bill will be tasked to harmonize peace efforts and implement a national peace framework, while the proposed amendments to the Party-List System Act will prevent the infiltration of groups linked with rebels in the government.
He also refiled the proposed Jail Integration Act which already passed in the Senate during the 19th Congress.
The measure seeks to transfer the control and supervision of local jails to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Another measure that Dela Rosa wanted the 20th Congress to approve was the bill reclassifying the ranks in the Bureau of Fire Protection and the BJMP.
This bill, which remained on second reading during the 19th Congress, seeks to address the inequalities in the rank classifications among personnel in the two agencies.
“It is my hope that the Senate will give utmost importance to the bills I filed.”
“It is my hope that the Senate will give utmost importance to the bills I filed. These measures are aimed to address the pressing needs of our society and our country as a whole,” he concluded.
