_WORLD WATCH______________________________
___________________PHILIPPINES__________________
Death sentences commuted
President’s motives in question
Philippines President Joseph Estrada commuted 1,200 death sentences to life imprisonment and granted freedom for 200 dissidents on December 10 in a surprise move. Estrada, who faced impeachment on corruption charges, announced this as a final Jubilee Year measure. The president, who was once a strong proponent of capital punishment, also promised to work for the repeal of the country’s death penalty.
After attending Sunday Mass, President Estrada made his unexpected statement, surprising even emeritus Bishop Antony Fortich of Bacalod, who celebrated the Mass and in his homily had called on the president to issue a decree freeing all political prisoners as a Christmas gift. In reaction to the president’s announcement, the bishops’ conference issued a statement welcoming the decision calling it a “great step forward to defending life.” The statement noted: “The bishops choose not to question the motives or implications behind this move, but rather accept it as a humanitarian gesture to conclude the Great Jubilee.” Observers said Estrada made the move in hopes of softening the stand of bishops, who had been calling for his removal on the grounds of corruption.
Priest killed
Rebel group is suspected
A priest on his way to a store to buy Christmas presents was shot by a Muslim rebel on the southern Philippine island of Jolo on December 28, according to police reports.
Father Benjamin Innocencio, OMI, was shot as he entered a car behind the island’s cathedral. The suspected Abu Sayyaf rebel who fired two shots at Father Innocencio also wounded the priest’s driver, reported Jolo police chief Mohammad Noh Alamia. Police officers who had been nearby ran to the scene and opened fire, killing the rebel after a brief chase. A bystander died after being hit in the exchange of shots, and two other people were wounded, police said. It was not immediately clear whose shots hit the bystanders.
The Muslim extremist separatist Abu Sayyaf rebels have frequently targeted Catholics on Jolo. Bishop Benjamin de Jesus was shot to death outside the same cathedral in 1997. The cathedral itself has also been frequently fired upon, stoned, and attacked with grenades. The rebels also had kidnapped dozens of Catholic students and teachers earlier in the year, killing several before eventually releasing the others.
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