MANILA, Jan. 5, 2015 — Mercy and compassion in action. This is how the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president sees Malacañang’s recent granting of executive clemency to elderly, long-interned and sick prisoners.
The call for president Benigno Aquino III to release elderly and sick inmates intensified in October 2014. (Photo: CBCPNews)
“The CBCP lauds the President’s action and sees it as a signal that we are indeed trying our best to be a nation of mercy and compassion as Pope Francis urges all nations to be,” said CBCP head Archbishop Socrates Villegas in a statement released earlier today.
According to the prelate, who also heads the Archdiocese of Lingayen – Dagupan, the “highest achievement” of the correctional system is the offenders’ reintegration into society after owning up to their crimes and not the suffering of prisoners.
“We pray for the maturation in our land of truly restorative justice,” Villegas added. (CBCPNews)
