ASIA/PHILIPPINES - “STOP THE EXECUTION, THESE MEN ARE INNOCENT!”: MANILA PRISON CHAPLAIN FATHER OLAGUER, REAFFIRMS CATHOLIC CHURCH’S “NO” TO DEATH PENALTY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

Manila (Fides) – “We are against capital punishment in any case. However the executions of two prisoners scheduled for the end of the month must be postponed if not cancelled, one of the men in question is innocent, and the guilt of the other is only suspected”, Father Robert Olaguer, chaplain of the National Penitentiary in Manila told Fides. The Chaplain was referring to the cases of Roberto Lara and Roderick Licayan two of more than a thousand detainees on death row awaiting execution in Manila’s National Prison. The executions of the two men, charged with taking part in a kidnapping in 1998 and due to die at the hands of the executioner by a lethal injection on 30 January, would be the first since the death penalty moratoria (effective since 2000) was lifted last December by Philippines’ president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The forthcoming execution is provoking fierce protests throughout this mainly Catholic country. According to Observers the President’s decision was the result of lobbying by rich and influent persons, often victims of kidnappings and murders. The phenomenon of kidnapping is however spreading to involve families living just a little over the poverty line, targeted because they have family members abroad who send small sums of money earned back to the homeland.
“Both of the men scheduled to die could be innocent, Father Olaguer told all’Agenzia Fides. We collected evidence and documentation in their favour and I took it to the Public Attorney’s Office. After careful examination of the material, the head of the Office urged the Supreme Court to order a postponement of the executions citing . According to Public Prosecutor Persida Rueda-Acosta the case must be re-opened. When there is so much doubt, there can be no execution!”. As prison Chaplain, Father Olaguer, visits death row regularly. He said the two men in question are “terrified and isolated. They are not even allowed to see their families. I try to encourage them. I have told them that we are doing all we can to save them and that there is still hope!”
In the meantime the Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which comprises religious and civil associations and movements is organising prayer vigils and torchlight marches in view of 30 January, although everyone hopes the executions will be postponed.
The Catholic Bishops of the Philippines are presently in general assembly and many hope for an official statement from the Prelates on the case of Lara and Licayan. Recently, on the third anniversary of People Power II, Bishop Socrates Villegas, auxiliary bishop of Manila, voiced open condemnation of capital punishment. In December the Bishops issued a paper clearly stating their opposition to President Arroyo’s decision to lift the moratoria on executions and affirming the Catholic Church’s stance to defend the value of life, every human life.
(PA) (Fides Service 23/1/2004 lines 40 words 437)