Philippine President Arroyo signs law abolishing death penalty

“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.

Noting that she was signing the law a day after a car bomb killed six people in the southern Philippines, she said, “We will never be intimidated by these treacherous acts, and we shall fight terror as seriously as we embrace peace and development.”

“We will not relent until the total defeat of terrorists in every part of the country,” she said. “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 imperatives dictated by God to walk away from capital punishment.”

Papal Nuncio Archbishop Fernando Filoni, the Vatican’s envoy to Manila, congratulated 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.”

Arroyo signed the law shortly after returning to the presidential palace from a hospital where she went Thursday with acute diarrhea.

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 to Spain, where she will hold talks with King Juan Carlos III and President Jose Luis Gonzalez Zapatero.

Maria Socorro Diokno, secretary general of the Free Legal Assistance Group, said that — depending on the specifics of cases — death sentences will be replaced by up to 40 years in prison without parole, or by life imprisonment with the possibility of a presidential pardon.

She said one reason for halting the death penalty was the possibility of wrongful execution. The Supreme Court has overturned seven out of 10 lower-court death sentences since 1993.

Congress two weeks earlier had approved a bill abolishing capital punishment, despite protests from anti-crime activists who believe Arroyo, a staunch Roman Catholic, rushed its approval to please the pope.

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