Death Penalty

Members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate have voted to revoke the law that allows for the application of capital punishment for certain crimes. The bill is now on its way to the President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to be signed.

From the Financial Times:

'President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday said the move was a “clear proof that Filipinos respect and value the sanctity of human life”.
Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, voting separately late on Tuesday, revoked a 1994 law which had reimposed capital punishment for so-called heinous crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping and narcotics trafficking. The anti-death penalty bill is expected to come into effect in a few weeks.'

The decision will see the sentences of over 1000 people commuted to life imprisonment.

For more, see: “Philippine lawmakers abolish death penalty”