Asia Times: ANALYSIS: First execution in 23 years won't end debate



	February 06, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

ANALYSIS: First execution in 23 years won't end debate
By Johanna Son

MANILA - The Philippines on Friday carried out itsfirst death sentence in 23 years, but the act is unlikely to bethe last word in the heated debates about the utility of capitalpunishment in this country.

With the lethal injection of Leo Echegaray, convicted ofrepeatedly raping his 10-year-old daughter in 1994, the countrycrossed over into the dwindling ranks of nations still using thedeath penalty.

While countries that have capital punishment on the books arein the minority, the list of nations like the Philippines, whichabolished the death penalty and then restored it and used it, iseven shorter.

High drama and blanket media coverage preceded the 3:03 p.m.(0703 GMT) execution at the National Penitentiary south of Manila,with the run-up to it marked by protests by Church and humanrights activists.

Echegaray, who claimed innocence till the end despite aconviction upheld several times by the courts, was pronounced deadby prison officials at 3:19 p.m.

A witness to the execution, congressman Ralph Recto, saidEchegaray's last words were ''Forgive me, the Filipino people, forthe sin you accuse me of."

Before that, President Joseph Estrada had turned down last-minute appeals from the convict himself as well as from theCatholic Church, Pope John Paul II, the European Union and Canada,for a stay of execution or pardon.

''I've got to be firm. I have to send a message to these futurerapists that we mean business,'' Estrada said. ''No one willchange my mind."

Estrada said he had the presidential hotline to the deathchamber cut on Thursday, to show he had no plans for a last-minutepardon.

Echegaray's second wife, Zenaida, had lamented that thePresident had a ''heart of stone''. Her husband was one of morethan 900 people on death row, a good number of them convictedof rape.

Earlier, anti-death penalty advocates staged a run to protestcapital punishment and others took part in prayer vigils. OnThursday, groups of Church and religious workers marched to thepresidential palace wearing black masks.

''Don't kill for us,'' some placards outside the penitentiaryread, as religious leaders marched outside the penitentiary.

''Something in us has been broken today,'' said Monsignor DingCoronel, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of thePhilippines.

''Today's execution marks a huge step in the wrong directionfor human rights in the Philippines,'' Amnesty International saidin a statement. ''Leo Echegaray's execution could set in motion aconveyor belt of judicial killings in the Philippines, each ofwhich will further reduce respect for the most basic of all humanrights - the right to life."

Echegaray's execution had been an emotional issue since latelast year, when it became clear that all legal avenues forreconsideration had been exhausted.

He was first set to die by Jan 4, but the Supreme Court threehours before the execution issued a stay of execution to giveCongress time to reconsider or repeal the death penalty law.

The Court gave legislators until June to do so, but thedecision ran into public opposition that defeated any plans somelawmakers might have had of repealing the law.

The Philippine Constitution of 1986 had abolished the deathpenalty, which had not been used since 1976 under the governmentof Ferdinand Marcos. But Congress, as provided by theConstitution, enacted a law five years ago that reimposed thedeath penalty amid a spate of heinous crimes.

The last Filipino to die by execution was Lim Seng, a convicteddrug trafficker killed on the electric chair,

Echegaray was shepherded into the lethal injection chamberearly Friday, clad in orange prison clothes and a necklace with acrucifix dangling from his neck.

The execution was witnessed by prison and police officials,lawmakers, church leaders, Echegaray's relatives and 10representatives from various media organizations that had drawn lots to get intothe viewing room adjacent to the lethal injection room.

The run-up to the execution has been a combination of thedramatic, macabre and downright tasteless.

Local newspapers and tabloids ran detailed descriptions of theexecution room, down to the number of steps from the holding areainto it. Prison inmates had sung s song, entitled ''BorrowedLife'', for Echegaray, while sympathizers of the victim,composed a song to her as well.

Radio stations staked out Echegaray's house, and aired thewails of despair of his family shortly after three in theafternoon.

But the debate over the death penalty, which has had wildswings according to the dominant public opinion of the day, is notover. Perhaps it will never be.

This early, some members of the House of Representatives saythey will seeks review of the death penalty law.

''They say capital punishment will deter crime, but why docriminals continue to kill, rape and traffic in illegal drugsdespite the penalty of death corresponding to these crimes?''asked Assistant Majority Leader Rodolfo Albano.

''We hope something like this doesn't happen again and we willwork to see the death penalty repealed,'' Arno Sanidad, a lawyeragainst capital punishment, said.

At least six more death row convicts are supposed to be sent totheir deaths next month, media reports say.

(Inter Press Service)

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