The Manila Times - Rick Halperin News

PHILIPPINES: Gloria shrugs off Church stand on death

President Arroyo has hang tough on her decision to lift the freeze on executions, particularly of prisoners convicted of kidnapping for ransom, despite objections from the Catholic Church and human rights groups.

 At her weekly press conference yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said she would not even attempt to hold a dialogue with Church leaders to explain her decision to them.

 "I cannot convince them. That is their moral belief. These matters are subject to debates just like killings in war," she said.

 Commutation

 The President also said she would try to reverse the commutation by ousted president Joseph Estrada of the death sentences on 6 kidnapping-for-ransom convicts which had been affirmed by the Supreme Court.

 She ordered Justice Secretary Hernando Perez to study the possibility of reversing the commutation of the sentences of Roberto Gungon, Benedicto Ramos, Zoilo Borromeo, Rommel Deyang, Melvin Espiritu, and Nicson Catli.

 She also said that 2 convicted kidnappers sentenced by the Marikina Regional Trial Court 272 in 1999 would be the 1st to die by lethal injection.

 "We will carry out the law without fear. We will prepare the lethal injection chamber for the forces of evil, for the sake of our own safety," Mrs. Arroyo said.

 The President on Monday announced that she would lift the moratorium on capital punishment and instructed Perez to speed up Supreme Court affirmation of the sentences of 95 kidnapping-for-ransom convicts.

 Mrs. Arroyo announced a moratorium on executions after she took over as president early this year.

 Rising criminality

 She explained that the moratorium led to the increase in criminal activity, with kidnappers killing their hostages even after ransom was paid.

 "It is time for us to stop these crimes. We should not hear the complaints of the victims, and their families. Let us hear the voices of the people asking for justice," she said.

 Her decision drew a rebuke from the Church and human rights groups. Other sectors suggested that she should not single out kidnapping convicts.

 Mrs. Arroyo said the reimposition of the death penalty does not conflict with church teachings.

 "I am very good Catholic even now...you can interpret a Church law conservatively or liberally. I think I've studied religion and theology long enough for me to know that there are ranges of interpretation," she said.

 "We have a law, a Heinous Crime Act, that imposes death on dreadful crimes. I have taken this course because of my duty as President," she said.

 Mrs. Arroyo said her decision to enforce the death penalty was not a turnaround from her previous announcement, but that she was merely following the dictates of her conscience.

 She said she chose to have the capital punishment carried out initially to kidnappers because of the gravity of the crime and because it is the most widespread.

 "And also the impact that is has beyond the victims themselves and the investment climate. It actually goes beyond the victims," the President said.

 She said she was also considering expanding the application of death penalty to drug dealers.

- October 18

Philippines Brings Back Death Penalty

 MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo lifted a moratorium on the death penalty on Thursday, and said the first executions would be of kidnappers.

 In a nationally televised news conference, Arroyo said criminals have been emboldened by her suspension of the death penalty after she took office in January.

 ``Let us now listen to the voice of their victims,'' she said. ``I will implement the law without fear, especially against kidnappers who have no conscience, who kill their victims despite receiving ransom payments.''

 She said she ordered the Justice Department ``to study how the cases against kidnappers could be sped up so that they could be executed as soon as possible.''

 A crime watchdog group has counted 93 kidnappings in which 202 people have been abducted between January and September, including three Americans and 17 Filipinos seized by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf in May.

 More than half the kidnappings occurred in metropolitan Manila, and most of the victims were wealthy Chinese-Filipinos. The group estimated that kidnapping gangs have collected about $2.75 million in ransom.

 In a recent incident, a Chinese-Filipino businesswoman and her police bodyguard were killed by their kidnappers shortly after her family and the kidnappers failed to agree to a ransom amount. Their bodies were dumped by a roadside in a northern Manila suburb.