Post by sclcookie on Jun 1, 2006 15:53:59 GMT -5
Families of Philippine Victims to Fight Abolition
In a highly controversial and surprise move this April, President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo commuted the death sentences of all the country's
convicts to life imprisonment.
Almost immediately some families of victims of violent crimes said they
would fight the move. While some said they would resort to vigilante
justice if necessary, others said they would lobby in congress against 4
bills endorsed by Arroyo that would make the Philippines the 123rd country
in the world to abolish the death penalty in law or practice.
Arroyo has asked congress to decide this year whether to repeal Republic
Act 7659, which reinstated the death penalty after the 1987 constitution
specifically banned it.
The move has quickly divided the country, with its deep Catholic roots.
Groups like the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines support
Arroyo. Families of crime victims vocally oppose it.
The constitution did allow for reinstatement under certain circumstances,
but the chief justice of the Supreme Court has said in several written
legal minority opinions that he did not believe current laws allowing the
death penalty were constitutional. Since Arroyo's Easter pronoucement, he
has called for a repeal of the laws.
Still, that does not mean that all Filipinos agree with Arroyo's Easter
move.
"As long as the laws exist, we want her to abide by it and not set it
aside." Teresita Ang See, the chairwoman of Movement for the Restoration
of Peace and Order (MRPO), one of the family victim groups told IPS.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), MRPO and other anti-crime
groups plan to lobby against the death penalty bills because they want
retribution.
"The proposed abolition of the death penalty is a highly emotional issue
especially for the victims of heinous crimes and their families," lawyer
Leonard de Vera told IPS. De Vera has helped VACC in filing cases against
alleged murderers and other serious criminals.
VACC member Lauro Vizconde, whose family was massacred in the 1990s, said
in a statement that he 'felt victimised all over again' because of
Arroyo's commutations.
The organisation intends to exhaust every legitimate avenue available to
them to "persuade the President and the members of Congress not to abolish
the death penalty," de Vera said.
Some VACC members were thinking of availing the services of vigilante
groups to exact justice from the alleged criminals because they felt
betrayed, De Vera said. Abolishing the death penalty, their logic goes,
favours criminals due to its retroactive effect, he said.
"(We) tried to dissuade them from doing such and encouraged (the VACC
members) to seek justice through legal means," De Vera added.
Officials at MRPO, which is composed of kidnap-for-ransom victims and
their families, said they were surprised by the president's timing.
Typically in the Philippines a wealthy and middle-class family member is
held captive until kidnappers receive a ransom.
"Our position is, if ever there is any commutation of death sentence by
the President, it should be on a case-by-cases basis and not mass
commutation," MRPO spokesman Emil Armas told IPS.
The commutation of sentences comes at a time when the number of kidnapping
cases appears to have skyrocketed. A report by the Pacific Strategies and
Assessments, a risk consultancy group, stated that the number of
kidnapping cases in 2005 was actually three times more than what was
officially reported by the government.
"We're alarmed because our members are increasing and it's not a good
sign," said Armas, whose own son was kidnapped about a year ago and whose
case is still unresolved.
Not all agree with VACC and MRPO.
Various groups lauded Arroyo's announcement, including the Catholic
bishops Conference of the Philippines, the European Union and Amnesty
International.
The current death penalty law passed Congress in 1994 after a spate of
violent crimes such as killings and kidnap-for-ransom cases, rose to
alarming proportions.
In 1987 under the new Constitution, former President Corazon Aquino
commuted all death sentences and reduced them to life sentences.
Seven years later, however, the clamour for the restoration of the death
penalty became stronger and congress reversed itself.
On December 13, 1993, under then President Fidel V. Ramos, Republic Act
7659 restored the death penalty.
The move to again abolish capital punishment came suddenly this Easter,
but appears to have caught momentum. To date, there are four bills calling
for the abolition of the death penalty in both the Senate and Congress.
It is expected that all these bills will eventually be consolidated into
one single resolution.
According to Amnesty International figures, more than half of the
countries in the world have abolished death penalty in law or practice.
Only 91 still use capital punishment.
As in China, Guatemala, Thailand and the U.S., the Philippines uses lethal
injection as a method of execution.
Anti-death penalty proponents point up that the death penalty victimises
the poor and marginalised sectors of society. Moreover, they said, studies
have not proved that death sentences reduce crime.
In a survey conducted by the Catholic Bishops conference in 1998, the
majority of 425 convicts in the Philippines were farmers and labourers.
Many of them only reached high school levels while the rest didn't even
finish elementary school.
As of April 25, 2006, there were 1,118 death row inmates in the National
Bilibid Prison. Of those, some 81 have run out of appeals and were
scheduled to be executed.
If the death penalty is abolished, the sentences of all death row inmates
could be reduced to 30 years imprisonment or less. They could also be
granted parole depending on their conduct.
(source: IPS News)
In a highly controversial and surprise move this April, President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo commuted the death sentences of all the country's
convicts to life imprisonment.
Almost immediately some families of victims of violent crimes said they
would fight the move. While some said they would resort to vigilante
justice if necessary, others said they would lobby in congress against 4
bills endorsed by Arroyo that would make the Philippines the 123rd country
in the world to abolish the death penalty in law or practice.
Arroyo has asked congress to decide this year whether to repeal Republic
Act 7659, which reinstated the death penalty after the 1987 constitution
specifically banned it.
The move has quickly divided the country, with its deep Catholic roots.
Groups like the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines support
Arroyo. Families of crime victims vocally oppose it.
The constitution did allow for reinstatement under certain circumstances,
but the chief justice of the Supreme Court has said in several written
legal minority opinions that he did not believe current laws allowing the
death penalty were constitutional. Since Arroyo's Easter pronoucement, he
has called for a repeal of the laws.
Still, that does not mean that all Filipinos agree with Arroyo's Easter
move.
"As long as the laws exist, we want her to abide by it and not set it
aside." Teresita Ang See, the chairwoman of Movement for the Restoration
of Peace and Order (MRPO), one of the family victim groups told IPS.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), MRPO and other anti-crime
groups plan to lobby against the death penalty bills because they want
retribution.
"The proposed abolition of the death penalty is a highly emotional issue
especially for the victims of heinous crimes and their families," lawyer
Leonard de Vera told IPS. De Vera has helped VACC in filing cases against
alleged murderers and other serious criminals.
VACC member Lauro Vizconde, whose family was massacred in the 1990s, said
in a statement that he 'felt victimised all over again' because of
Arroyo's commutations.
The organisation intends to exhaust every legitimate avenue available to
them to "persuade the President and the members of Congress not to abolish
the death penalty," de Vera said.
Some VACC members were thinking of availing the services of vigilante
groups to exact justice from the alleged criminals because they felt
betrayed, De Vera said. Abolishing the death penalty, their logic goes,
favours criminals due to its retroactive effect, he said.
"(We) tried to dissuade them from doing such and encouraged (the VACC
members) to seek justice through legal means," De Vera added.
Officials at MRPO, which is composed of kidnap-for-ransom victims and
their families, said they were surprised by the president's timing.
Typically in the Philippines a wealthy and middle-class family member is
held captive until kidnappers receive a ransom.
"Our position is, if ever there is any commutation of death sentence by
the President, it should be on a case-by-cases basis and not mass
commutation," MRPO spokesman Emil Armas told IPS.
The commutation of sentences comes at a time when the number of kidnapping
cases appears to have skyrocketed. A report by the Pacific Strategies and
Assessments, a risk consultancy group, stated that the number of
kidnapping cases in 2005 was actually three times more than what was
officially reported by the government.
"We're alarmed because our members are increasing and it's not a good
sign," said Armas, whose own son was kidnapped about a year ago and whose
case is still unresolved.
Not all agree with VACC and MRPO.
Various groups lauded Arroyo's announcement, including the Catholic
bishops Conference of the Philippines, the European Union and Amnesty
International.
The current death penalty law passed Congress in 1994 after a spate of
violent crimes such as killings and kidnap-for-ransom cases, rose to
alarming proportions.
In 1987 under the new Constitution, former President Corazon Aquino
commuted all death sentences and reduced them to life sentences.
Seven years later, however, the clamour for the restoration of the death
penalty became stronger and congress reversed itself.
On December 13, 1993, under then President Fidel V. Ramos, Republic Act
7659 restored the death penalty.
The move to again abolish capital punishment came suddenly this Easter,
but appears to have caught momentum. To date, there are four bills calling
for the abolition of the death penalty in both the Senate and Congress.
It is expected that all these bills will eventually be consolidated into
one single resolution.
According to Amnesty International figures, more than half of the
countries in the world have abolished death penalty in law or practice.
Only 91 still use capital punishment.
As in China, Guatemala, Thailand and the U.S., the Philippines uses lethal
injection as a method of execution.
Anti-death penalty proponents point up that the death penalty victimises
the poor and marginalised sectors of society. Moreover, they said, studies
have not proved that death sentences reduce crime.
In a survey conducted by the Catholic Bishops conference in 1998, the
majority of 425 convicts in the Philippines were farmers and labourers.
Many of them only reached high school levels while the rest didn't even
finish elementary school.
As of April 25, 2006, there were 1,118 death row inmates in the National
Bilibid Prison. Of those, some 81 have run out of appeals and were
scheduled to be executed.
If the death penalty is abolished, the sentences of all death row inmates
could be reduced to 30 years imprisonment or less. They could also be
granted parole depending on their conduct.
(source: IPS News)