Transgender congresswoman Geraldine Roman on Wednesday broke her silence to criticisms online following her vote to approve the death penalty bill on final reading. ADVERTISEMENTREAD: House approves death penalty bill with 217 yes votesRoman said she had to bend to the views of her constituents in Bataan who favored the restoration of death penalty. As much as I would want to follow my conscience to vote against the death penalty, I have the interests of the constituents, of my constituents in Bataan in mind,” Roman said. Roman said she held a survey among her constituents and found out that 85 percent of them were in favor of restoring the death penalty. She cited the threat of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that lawmakers who would vote against the death penalty would be stripped of their committee positions.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 08, 2017 09:14 UTC