President Arroyo signs law scrapping death penalty

Saying government must yield to the “high moral imperative" of God, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law the measure abolishing capital punishment on the eve of her trip to the Vatican, but vowed she will not relent in battling terrorists and criminals. Even as she sought to allay fears that the law will encourage heinous crimes, the President Arroyo said she will tell Pope Benedict XVI of the new law when she meets him during her trip. “We have taken a strong hand against the threats to the law and the Republic but at the same time we yield to the high moral imperative dictated by God to walk away from capital punishment," she said. Mrs. Arroyo formally signed into law Republic Act 9346, an act prohibiting the death penalty in the Philippines, before applauding lawmakers and members of the Diplomatic Corps. She thanked Congress for expressing the moral and spiritual force of the Filipino, and the Church for the beacon of grace and discernment. “When I meet the Holy Father soon in the Vatican I shall tell him that we have acted in the name of life for a world of peace and harmony," she said. On the other hand, she sought to allay the fears of those who believe the abolition of the death penalty opens the floodgates to heinous acts. The President said the government will “devote the increasing weight of our resources" to crime prevention and control. “We shall continue to devote the increasing weight of our resources to the prevention and control of serious crimes rather than take the lives of those who commit them," she said. But it seemed that not all Catholic bishops appeared elated over the death penalty abolition. Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Oscar Cruz said the "killing galore" of activists and journalists is still going on with neither break nor reserve. "The ceremonial denials of the administration and ritual investigations of public authorities infallibly follow. But the end results are so predictable. So many individuals are killed yet no killers are placed behind bars. There are hundreds of assassinations still no assassin has yet been identified, tried and imprisoned," Cruz said. He said Malacanang has virtually decreed those it brands as leftists lost the right to live because they are destabilizers and must be neutralized like contagious diseases, exterminated like deadly virus. On the other hand, journalists are killed because they "forget that truth is considered one very dirty thing that the government does not want to hear, does not want the public to know about." As for farmers, he said government deems even the social economic minimum of tilling their own soil should not be theirs. "If farmers so love the soil they cultivate, then let them be buried in it," he said. Even Protestant ministers are killed because they do not think, speak and behave as spelled by the administration, he said. "Who are next? Catholic priests, religious fathers, bishops? These people mean trouble when they cross swords with the government on socio-ethical issues. They are supposed to see nothing, say nothing and do nothing when human rights are violated, when injustice is committed, when people are lied upon and cheated. When what is rightfully theirs is stolen and taken away. Are they next in the killing spree?" he said. Papal Nuncio Archbishop Fernando Filoni, the Vatican's envoy to Manila, congratulated Mrs. Arroyo and legislators who approved the measure. “This could be another very important nice step to go on in showing that the culture of life is very alive and important in this country," Filoni said. “We cannot speak about human rights when death penalty is imposed." Mrs. Arroyo signed the law shortly after returning to the presidential palace from a hospital where she was taken late Thursday, suffering from acute diarrhea. Congress two weeks earlier approved a bill abolishing capital punishment despite protests from anti-crime activists, who believe Mrs. Arroyo, a staunch Roman Catholic, rushed its approval to please the pope. Mrs. Arroyo was set to leave for the Vatican on Sunday. She is scheduled to meet separately with Pope Benedict XVI and Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano before traveling on to Spain, where she will hold talks with King Juan Carlos III and President Jose Luis Gonzalez Zapatero. The Philippines' 1987 Constitution abolished the death penalty, which the government of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos used to execute about a dozen people convicted of rape and drug charges. But Congress restored the death penalty in late 1993 for crimes such as murder, child rape and kidnapping. Seven people have been executed since then. The lives of more than 1,200 death-row convicts -- including at least 11 al-Qaeda-linked militants -- will be spared due to the abolition of capital punishment. - GMANews.TV with a report from the Associated Press