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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Editorials: Ramos-Horta on death penalty
When an authentic hero for the because of freedom and peace speaks about such a controversial issue as the death penalty, it is difficult to walk away.
Jose Ramos-Horta is not just minister for foreign affairs and cooperation of Timor-Leste, he was co-winner of the Nobel Peace prize in 1996 with Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, his comrade in the struggle for East Timor’s independence.
It was a struggle that left an estimated 200,000 East Timorese killed during 24 years of Indonesian occupation, including four of Ramos-Horta’s 11 brothers and sisters.
“In our nascent democracy and in spite of a long history of horrific violence, our Constitution bars the death penalty and our longest prison term is 25 years,” Ramos-Horta told participants of the international counter-terrorism conference held in Cebu.
He noted that despite Timor-Leste’s violent history, no one in their constitutional assembly was in favor of capital punishment.
One can ask the how a people seeking justice and apparently thirsting for vengeance against the perpetrators of the killing orgy could be prevailed upon to accept a moderate policy against convicts.
But then again, when one has seen the worst in man’s primitive nature, it would no longer be difficult to want to become more humane.
Restoring sanity in probes
The Supreme Court ruling as unconstitutional Executive Order 464, which bans cabinet and military officials from testifying in congressional inquiries, should hopefully restore sanity in the conduct of such investigations.
The decision is not as much as a reminder that Malacañang has exceeded the bounds of its constitutional mandate as it enlightens everybody, including Congress, on the proper way to conduct those inquiries.
There is no denying that because of the perceived mishandling of some of the “resource persons” especially in high-profile congressional inquiries, Malacañang was provided a reason for issuing Executive Order 464.
The Supreme Court ruling should therefore prod the Arroyo administration to exercise transparency by cooperating in congressional inquiries while at the same time push legislators to straighten up their act in the handling of those investigations.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 22, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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