2006年VOA标准英语-Philippines Abolishes Death Penalty

By Douglas Bakshian
Manila
26 June 2006

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo¹, center, signs into law the bill abolishing death penalty as Senator Juan Flavier, left, and House Speaker Jose De Venecia applause during a ceremony Malacanang palace in Manila  
  

The Philippines has become the 125th nation to abolish the death penalty, with President Gloria Arroyo signing a law ending capital punishment following its earlier passage by the legislature.

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At a signing ceremony in the Presidential Palace, Mrs. Arroyo hailed the new law as a big step forward for the Philippines, but also assured critics she will remain tough on crime.

"I allay² the concerns of those who think that the abolition³ of the death penalty opens the flood gates to heinous⁴ acts," said President Arroyo. "We shall continue to devote the increasing weight of our resources to the prevention and control of serious crimes rather than take the lives of those who commit them."

it. It is a flagship bill," said Rosales. "I know that the direction and the trend is towards more rehabilitative⁵ and restorative justice rather than pure punitive⁶ justice. And this is the trend of civilized⁷ nations, and I am happy that the Philippines has taken a step forward in that direction."

Ricardo Saludo, secretary in charge of the Cabinet, says a change in the social and legal climate likely influenced the Congress to finally pass the legislation.

"It has really emerged that what is important in fighting crime is the quality of enforcement and cooperation between the community and the police, rather than the strictness of the penalty," noted⁸ Saludo. "On top of that, this year, the Supreme⁹ Court came out with its own ruling that the death penalty is against the constitution."

The opinion of the Catholic Church may also have influenced the issue. The Philippines is a predominantly Roman Catholic nation and the Vatican's envoy¹⁰ to Manila has congratulated the president and lawmakers for abolishing capital punishment.

But not everyone is happy. Leaders of anti-crime groups say the government acted without consulting them. Dante Jimenez, whose brother was killed by a drug syndicate in 1990, heads Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption¹¹. He says the move comes at a bad time, when terrorists, criminal syndicates and kidnappers¹² are active and the police and justice system is weak.

"Victims of heinous crimes do not have, any more, the legal weapon to penalize¹³ those who have hurt them, who have inflicted¹⁴ harm to their loved ones," commented Jimenez.

Jimenez says he is mobilizing victims, urging people to arm themselves against criminals and to pursue preventative measures to fight hard-core criminals.

Violent crime is rife¹⁵ in the Philippines. The murder rate is high, with guns and explosives being readily available and often used to settle disputes. Kidnapping for ransom¹⁶ is also common.

With the new law, the Philippines becomes the 25th country in the Asia-Pacific region to end capital punishment in law or in practice, according to Amnesty International. However, the death penalty is still in place in many of Asia's biggest nations, including Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and China, which executes more people than any other country

1 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

2 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

3 abolition   

n.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They declared for the abolition of slavery.他们声明赞成废除奴隶制度。
• The abolition of the monarchy was part of their price.废除君主制是他们的其中一部分条件。

4 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

5 rehabilitative   

使复原的，复职的

参考例句：

• Objective To desacribe self concept and sub concept of rehabilitative schizophrenic patients. 目的探讨恢复期精神分裂症病人的自我概念。
• Objective To desacribe self concept and concept of rehabilitative schizophrenic patients. 目的探讨大学生自我概念与心理健康之间的关系。

6 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

7 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

14 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

15 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

16 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。