Death Sentence

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo received nods of approval from the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) – which has been issuing statements increasingly critical of her policies – for her recent declaration commuting all death sentences to life imprisonment. She wants to come across as a strong president with a humane side. But there can be no fooling anybody, as state forces under her watch have continued to kill activists with impunity. The virtual death sentence on activists remains.

Salungguhit literally means to underline; figuratively, to underscore or highlight.