MANILA, 6 December 2003 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said yesterday she would no longer stop executions of people convicted of serious crimes, amid a public outcry over a recent spate of ransom kidnappings.

Arroyo, who is opposed to the death penalty, imposed a moratorium on executions shortly after taking office in January 2001, winning applause from the influential Roman Catholic church and human rights organizations.

Later that year, she bowed to public pressure and said convicted kidnappers could be put to death; however, no executions have taken place since.

In her statement yesterday, Arroyo broadened her lifting of the moratorium to include other crimes for which the death penalty can be imposed, such as rape and murder, and said the move would start next year.

Deputy presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said 35 convicts, of more than 1,000 on death row, were scheduled for execution starting Jan. 30. The first two inmates to be put to death by lethal injection were convicted of kidnapping, he said.

A surge in ransom kidnappings mostly targeting wealthy Chinese-Filipino families has led members of that community to lobby for a stricter crackdown on kidnappers.

“I shall no longer stand in the way of the executions scheduled by the courts for January 2004,” Arroyo said yesterday.

“Much as I am averse, as a matter of moral principle, to the taking of human lives in this manner — the president must yield to the higher public interest when dictated by extraordinary circumstances,” she said in a statement.

She added, “I seek understanding from those who may detract from my decision.”

Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the president previously had believed that a more effective solution than the death penalty would be the strengthening of the prosecution and courts, improving the correctional system, the community and government relations. But the recent spate of kidnappings and other crimes had led her to waive the ban on executions, he said.

“The pain of victims of heinous crimes has spread all over the national community, and I shall not turn my back against the cry for just retribution under the law,” Arroyo said.

Metro Manila regional police chief Ricardo de Leon said lifting the moratorium on the death penalty was a “good way” to deter criminals.

Members of the Chinese Filipino community and business groups also supported the president’s decision.

Donald Dee, head of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, welcomed Arroyo’s decision, saying kidnapping incidents had prevented Chinese-Filipinos from moving freely to conduct business.

Joaquin Sy, the president of Filipino-Chinese group “Unity for Progress,” said criminals had become “too bold, too brazen” and “it is only fitting that the government impose tougher measures to ensure peace and order.”

The death penalty, abolished in 1987, was reinstated in 1994 for “heinous” crimes such as rape, kidnapping, murder and drug trafficking. Opposition by human rights groups held up executions until 1999. In early 2000, seven convicts were put to death, most for rape.

Consistent Vacillator

Church leaders, human rights groups and some legislators criticized the president for flip-flopping.

“This is obviously (intended) to get financial support from the Chinese community,” in the coming elections, said Rodolfo Diamante, founder of the church-based Coalition Against Death Penalty.

Diamante added: “She is a consistent vacillator — always vacillating between her conscience and her constituents. What can you expect from a leader who cannot stand her ground?”

Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, head of the House Committee on Human Rights, said she suspected the decision was linked to May 2004 presidential elections.

“It reflects on her hesitation or her inability to look at this as a question of policy. Is she out to please a particular sector?” Rosales asked, adding she would push for legislation to repeal the death penalty.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said Arroyo was turning back on her own announcement that executions are no deterrent to criminality.

“We are saddened. Death penalty is not the solution,” said Monsignor Hernando Coronel, spokesman of the bishops.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said lifting the moratorium was a mere “quick fix” to the resurgence of kidnapping and other organized crimes. He warned that unless the government implemented major reforms in the enforcement, prosecution and judicial systems, the death penalty would not solve the country’s peace and order problems.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Loren Legarda said the president’s move would be effective only if the crime kingpins themselves were made to pay for their “debts to society.”

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said solving criminality would take a “comprehensive approach, one that addresses the issues of law and order, poverty reduction and the general quality of life of our people.”

“Lifting the moratorium is a stop-gap measure. While we sympathize with victims of crime, we do so with the end in view that the solution to rising criminality isn’t imposing the death penalty but ensuring reforms that will lead to a more efficient police and justice system,” he added.

Lawyer Theodore Te, coordinator of the Free Legal Assistance Group that provides free services to convicts on death row, said “the right to life cannot and should not be placed on the altar of politics.”

He said the president “cannot proclaim that she is morally opposed to any measure that takes life and, at the same time, stand by while blood stains her hands.”