The European Union called on President Gloria Arroyo...

The European Union called on President Gloria Arroyo toabolish capital punishment as the Philippines prepared for its firstexecutions since a moratorium on them was lifted in December 2003. EUambassadors made the call during a visit to the national penitentiary tocheck on the condition of its 17,000 inmates, more than 1,000 of whom wereon death row with convicted kidnappers Roberto Lara and Roderick Licayan dueto be executed on January 30. They would have been the 8th and 9th peopleexecuted since 1999. European Commission ambassador Jan de Kok said thatwhile European countries respected Philippine laws and did not wish to"unduly influence" government policies, they were nonetheless concernedabout the situation. Arroyo said the position of the EU envoys was welltaken. "But we are also expecting them to respect the president's stand onthe issue as an internal matter with respect to the Philippine justice andthe rule of law," Arroyo stressed in a statement.