IL PRESIDENTE ANNUNCIA CHE A GENNAIO CESSERA' LA MORATORIA

MANILA, 5 DIC - La presidente delle Filippine, Gloria Arroyo, ha annunciato oggi che a partire dal prossimo gennaio revochera' la moratoria sulle esecuzioni capitali in vigore nel paese dal 2000, cedendo cosi' a forti pressioni innescate da una recente ondata di rapimenti. 

''Non mi opporro' piu' alle esecuzioni programmate dai tribunali per il gennaio 2004'', ha dichiarato la Arroyo in un comunicato.

L'ex presidente Joseph Estrada aveva imposto la moratoria nel marzo 2000, dopo pressioni esercitate dalla chiesa cattolica. La Arroyo, fervente cattolica, aveva mantenuto la moratoria, ma di recente aveva avvertito che avrebbe permesso l'applicazione della pena capitale per le persone riconosciute colpevoli di rapimenti a scopo di estorsione, molto aumentati negli ultimi tempi, con almeno 150 casi registrati dall'inizio del 2003. In particolare il fenomeno ha colpito l'influente minoranza di origine cinese, che controlla numerosi centri commerciali, banche e fabbriche.

Centinaia di membri della comunita' avevano manifestato alla fine dello scorso novembre a Manila chiedendo la morte per i rapitori e assassini di una donna di 32 anni, Betti Sy, responsabile della Coca Cola nel paese.

Il prossimo maggio sono previste nelle Filippine elezioni presidenziali e la questione del ripristino della pena di morte e' diventata tema centrale della campagna elettorale.

Xinhua News

PHILIPPINES: Philippine president agrees to implement death penalty

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Friday she would no longer block the implementation of the death penalty starting next month, saying she was "dictated by extraordinary circumstances."

"I shall no longer stand in the way of executions scheduled by the courts for January 2004 much as I am averse as a matter of moral principle to the taking of human lives in this manner," Arroyo said in a presidential palace statement.

"The pain of victims of heinous crimes has spread all over the national community and I shall not turn my back against the cry for just retribution under the law," she said.

"The President must yield to the higher public interest when dictated by extraordinary circumstances," she added.

The Chinese-Filipino community has asked Arroyo to lift the moratorium on capital punishment after a recent wave of kidnappings claimed the lives of 3 Chinese-Filipinos.

However, Arroyo initially rejected the call, maintaining that the implementation of the death penalty in the past failed to deter crime.

Arroyo suspended the executions of death penalty due to the relentless opposition of the Catholic Church and pro-life advocates when she took over the presidency from Joseph Estrada, who was ousted in January, 2001.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has lifted a moratorium on the death penalty, opening the way for executions to resume in January.

The decision, which comes ahead of presidential elections in 2004, follows a series of kidnappings which have particularly targeted the ethnic Chinese community.

Mrs Arroyo has appear ed to waver over the moratorium, which was first imposed by her predecessor following pressure from the powerful Catholic Church.

Her decision to lift the freeze follows a number of high-profile abductions for ransom.

 These included the murder in November of Coca-Cola executive Betti Sy, a Filipino-Chinese whose body was found by a roadside.

Three days later, a 10-year-old ethnic Chinese girl was abducted outside her school in Manila.

Public pressure

In the past, Mrs Arroyo has used her powers as president to grant clemency to those sentenced to death by the courts.

But on Friday Mrs Arroyo said in a statement: "I shall no longer stand in the way of executions scheduled by the courts for January 2004."

"Much as I am averse, as a matter of moral principle, to the taking of human lives in this manner, the president must yield to the higher public interest when dictated by extraordinary circumstances," she said.

The change of heart will be welcomed by leaders of the Filipino-Chinese community, who have criticised the government's record on tackling violent crime.

They say many kidnappings go unreported because families do not trust the police.

A BBC correspondent says the support of the economically-powerful Filipino-Chinese would certainly help Mrs Arroyo's campaign for election.

Commentators say the death penalty moratorium has risked making the president seem soft on crime in the run-up to next year's election.