Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III vowed to allow thorough debates on the proposals to revive the death penalty as he expects stiff opposition despite its being pushed by President Duterte.

The pending bills to reimpose the penalty in the country for certain heinous crimes, he said, are “really going to be contentious.”

“That (death penalty) is a priority for discussion in the Senate and I feel that there’ll be many who will oppose that but we need to talk about it… we’ll give everyone time to discuss it,” Pimentel said.

He described the reimposition as a “conscience issue” among the 24 senators, of whom he counts five to seven opposing it. He himself is undecided as he pointed out that the PDP-Laban, which Duterte leads, is also divided on the issue.

“I’ve kept an open mind on it and if the death penalty will be revived, it should be only for the most heinous of crimes, or for only one crime, about drugs,” Pimentel, president of PDP-Laban, said.

Duterte earlier said he wants five to six executions daily if the death penalty is imposed.

Sen. Grace Poe said she was still studying the issue even as she found Duterte’s pronouncements “unsettling.”

“We can consider this. But then again, what I want to see is reform in our judicial system. Our courts need rehabilitation, both physically and manpower-wise,” Poe said, adding that the court should be seen as fair by punishing its own corrupt judges.

With the current woes afflicting the judicial system, she said, only poor and innocent individuals may be executed.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao was one of those who filed bills seeking the death penalty, saying he has personally witnessed the deadly effects of illegal drugs when he was still a struggling boxer.

Among those expected to oppose the bill are Sens. Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima.

This early, some Catholic bishops already intend to write to their diocese’s congressmen to convince them not to support the passage of the death penalty.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on the Laity, also said they would continue with their campaign for life.

“We would continue with our campaign against death penalty… We would continue with our anti-death penalty campaign and inform the politicians that this is not the solution to our problems,” Pabillo said.

He said that they would also encourage the lay faithful to write to their congressmen.

Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles admitted he had communicated to the lawmakers representing the province.

“I am confident that all the Batangueño congressmen and women will oppose the re-imposition of the death penalty. Batangas is pro-God, pro-life; pro-people and pro-environment,” he said.

Activist priest Robert Reyes said the congressmen who would allow the death penalty are those who “are addicted to power and money.”

He believes that the primary change the country needs is a “change on politics, not on drugs.”

Sociology professor May Racelis said the Duterte administration’s war on drugs could have adverse effects on children, youth and women from the urban poor – making them think that “violence is the new normal.” – With Evelyn Macairan, Ghio Ong