The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) asked President...

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to lift the moratorium on the execution of death row convicts. In a press conference, IBP national president Jose Anselmo Cadiz said that it had become imperative to lift the moratorium because of the resurgence of kidnap-for-ransom cases in the country, particularly against Chinese-Filipinos in Metro Manila. Cadiz also said personal opinions should not hinder the implementation of the Heinous Crimes Law which took effect on December 31, 1993. Since then, more than a thousand death penalties have been imposed by the trial courts, 140 of which were affirmed by the Supreme Court.