Court orders first execution under GMA

The Legazpi City court has ordered a convicted rapist to be put to death by lethal injection on Oct. 16 in what could be the first judicial execution under the watch of President Arroyo.

Under the Heinous Crimes Law passed in 1994, only a presidential pardon or commutation can save the life of death row convict Alfredo Nardo.

Sources said the lower court set Nardo’s execution date a year after the Supreme Court (SC) upheld his death sentence. Under the law, death row convicts must be executed within 18 months after the High Court ruling.

The government executed seven prisoners, including four rapists, in 1999, but then President Joseph Estrada later ordered an indefinite moratorium amid pressure from the Catholic Church.

After Estrada was ousted last year, his successor, Mrs. Arroyo, declared that she would not veto the judicial execution by lethal injection of convicted kidnappers.

Bureau of Corrections officials said 17 prisoners are due to be put to death this year, unless the President pardons them. Fourteen are rapists while two are kidnappers Roderick Licayan and Roberto Lara. The other one was convicted of robbery with homicide.

The SC upheld the sentences of Licayan and Lara in November 2001, meaning they must be executed not earlier than November this year, but not later than May next year.

Rapist Rolando Pagdayawon was supposed to be the first convict executed after the conviction of the Davao court was upheld by the SC in March 2001. However, the court has not set a date yet.

The other prisoners awaiting execution are rapists Nonelito Abenion, Castro Geraban, Alejandro Guntang, Sandy Hinto, Juan Manalo, Alejo Miasco, Ireneo Padilla, Roberto Palero, Reynaldo Rebato, Pablo Santos, Ramshad Thamsey and Ramil Velez-Rayos.

Meanwhile, pro-life lawyers have urged the President to stop all executions.

In a statement, the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) said capital punishment as a deterrent to crime "is an experiment that has failed."

"FLAG calls in President Arroyo to stop the executions... In the face of a clear majority in the Senate and large numbers in the House asking for the abolition of the death penalty, the decision to allow the execution is arrogant undemocratic and smacks of gross political grandstanding," said FLAG official Theodore Te. – With AFP