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ALVAREZ WELCOMES SC, PALACE MOVES ON 2 DEATH CONVICTS
January 22, 2004
TRUTH must be allowed to shine everywhere, especially on those who need it to go on with their simple lives and also on influential people who must face its consequences because of serious offenses.
Former Sen. Heherson T. Alvarez said this yesterday as he welcomed Malacanang's announced stand lauding the Supreme Court's 'intervention' in the case of two convicted kidnappers scheduled for oral arguments on Monday.
He said that while he has been at odds with the Palace "over certain political developments that prompted my resignation as spokesman of the Lakas-CMD, I am very happy that my views about the high court's position coincided with those articulated by" President Arroyo's spokesman.
"Indeed, the permanence of death and the need for truth to surface should be the prime considerations when we begin to entertain doubts about the guilt of men sentenced to death. Life is sacred and no one must be condemned to die where there is an iota of doubt about his guilt," Alvarez said.
He said he was not questioning the wisdom of the President's decision to reverse her stand on the death penalty, noting that it was her prerogative as Chief Executive, possessing as she does certain intelligence data unavailable to ordinary citizens, to act to protect the State.
"But since certain developments have surfaced that now cast doubts on the fairness of the verdict pronounced the two convicts scheduled for execution by lethal injection on Monday, we urge a thorough review of their case and a stay in their execution until the truth is ascertained," Alvarez said.
"Unless there is a stringent qualification before the death penalty is imposed, then the death penalty can be a dagger against innocents who may be convicted because of the judicial system. In this case where a new testimony may prove a convict's innocence, the imposition of death should be stayed until all the facts and testimonies on the issue are fully ventilated," Alvarez added.
He lauded the efforts of Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta of the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) without which, he said, the possibility of the convicts' innocence may never have been known.
"Truth must shine everywhere and each of us must help make it so - be it on convicted but innocent men who need it desperately to go on with their poor and simple lives or on an influential felon who is doing everything in his power to prevent its harsh light from shining through," Alvarez said.
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