miniZibaldone

Philippine Star  "Still on Death Row" It took only a few months for the court in Yogyakarta to convict and sentence Veloso following her arrest. The Indonesians aren’t going to wait forever for the Philippine courts to do their job. Last year Indonesians themselves staged rallies in Jakarta to pressure their government to grant Veloso a reprieve. Those last-minute appeals to save Mary Jane must not be wasted.  [full text] Sun.Star Cebu  "Sacrificed for family" FOR the family” is the common pretext made by women who stay in an abusive relationship, preferring to risk their sanity and safety, as well as that of their children, than separating from a partner whom they depend on for survival.  Inequality is at the root of poverty, which spiked the number of crimes committed against women and children last year.  The public servants that deserve the votes must answer the long-denied demand of women: “for regular jobs and decent wages,” “for access to social serv...

From an address I have contemplated and I have allowed myself to be gazed upon by She who carries imprinted in her eyes the gaze of all of her children, gathering up the sorrows caused by violence, kidnapping, assassinations, the violence against so many poor people, against so many women. [...]  I desire that this conference [For a World Without the Death Penalty] might give new strength to efforts to abolish the death penalty. An increasing strong opposition to the death penalty, even as an instrument of legitimate social defense, has developed in public opinion, and this is a sign of hope. In fact, modern societies have the ability to effectively control crime without definitively removing from the criminal the possibility of redeeming himself. The issue lies in the context of a perspective on penal justice that is ever more conformed to the dignity of man and God’s design for man and for society. And also penal justice open to the hope of being reintegrated in society. The...