Manila (AsiaNews) - The Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, has stayed the execution of Roberto Lara and Roderick Licayan planned for Friday, January 30th. The two men were accused of membership in a kidnap-for-ransom gang which held a Filipino-Chinese businessman and a woman as hostages in 1999. They were found guilty by a lower court and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Yet, last Monday, January 26, the court heard the appeal of Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta, head of the Public Attorney's Office, who asked for a temporary reprieve for the defendants and requested the reopening of the case against them. Acosta likewise presented affidavits from two individuals who are said to have masterminded the hostage-taking. They claim that Lara and Licayan had nothing to do with the crime.
The decision of the Supreme Court came as a surprise. Today prison officials at the national penitentiary were going to raffle 10 slots to the media, to observe the live execution. Two spaces are reserved to foreign media.
"Our commission is very happy and grateful, firstly to the Lord, and secondly to the Supreme Court for the order of staying this execution" said Bishop Pedro Arigo, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Pastoral Care, upon hearing the news.
"But we will continue advocating for the abolition of the death penalty law further. The Church is definitely against the death penalty law, on the grounds that it may be legal, but definitely immoral because it is against God's law."
Coordinator of the Coalition Against Death Penalty, Jesuit Father Silvino Borres, commented about the 30-day hold, saying, "The court's decision on the suspension of the execution shows that it is not indifferent to truth and fairness.
In a manner befitting the dignity of the highest in the land, the justices have shown us that our pursuit of justice must be tempered with mercy and compassion." (SE)