Philippine President Gloria Macapagel-Arroyo (pic­tured) ordered the com­mu­ta­tion of all death sen­tences to life in prison, an order that will spare the lives of the 1,205 peo­ple on death row. As her nation marked Easter Sunday, she issued the clemen­cies: ​“I wish to announce that we are chang­ing our pol­i­cy on those who have been imposed the death penal­ty. We are reduc­ing their penal­ty to life impris­on­ment. Anyone who falls and makes mis­takes has a chance to stand up and cor­rect the wrong he has com­mit­ted.” Since Arroyo became President in 2001, no death sen­tences have ben car­ried out and she has repeat­ed­ly issued stays to those fac­ing exe­cu­tion. The Philippines abol­ished the death penal­ty in 1987, but it was reim­posed by Congress in 1994. Since 1999, when exe­cu­tions resumed, sev­en peo­ple have been exe­cut­ed by lethal injec­tion. The Catholic Church in the Philippines has opposed the death penal­ty. (Bangkok Post, April 17, 2006). 

See International Death Penalty and Life Without Parole.

Citation Guide