Three executions to push through

President Arroyo has rejected an appeal by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for another moratorium on the execution of death convicts.

The President said that while she was bred in a convent, the Catholic teaching of retribution should apply in the cases of the three death convicts awaiting execution at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City.

"Even if I was practically raised in the convent, I understand that if crimes are that serious, the death penalty should apply," Mrs. Arroyo, an alumna of Assumption College, said.

She indicated that carrying out the executions was a better alternative to having vigilantes or summary executions by law enforcers.

In appealing for a stay of death convicts’ executions, the CBCP claimed the 1994 Death Penalty Law has been ineffective in stamping out heinous crimes such as rape, kidnappings for ransom and murder.

Mrs. Arroyo imposed a moratorium on the execution of prisoners after she assumed the presidency in January last year.

She lifted it in the wake of a resurgence of major crimes, notably kidnapping for ransom victimizing mostly members of wealthy Filipino-Chinese families.

The President gave her stamp of approval to the first judicial killing under her administration.

Alfredo Nardo, who was sent to the death chamber by a Legazpi City court for kidnapping, is set to be executed on Oct. 6.

Seven death convicts were executed by legal injection under the administration of deposed President Joseph Estrada, who later yielded to pressures to stay further executions in conjunction with the Christian Jubilee Year in 2000. — Marichu Villanueva