MANILA— Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led a trilateral dialogue among the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Cambodia at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday to encourage other Southeast Asian nations to abolish capital punishment.

DOJ Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said the discussions centered on strategies to persuade other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to adopt laws prohibiting the death penalty and, if possible, enshrine the prohibition in their constitutions.

“We discussed how to champion abolition strategy to convince other ASEAN countries to follow anti-death penalty laws and if possible in their constitution,” Vasquez said.

“We agreed to initiate efforts, an information campaign, person to person, as well as meeting with like-minded groups and individuals,” he added.

The Philippines, Timor-Leste and Cambodia have abolished the death penalty, but expanding the practice across ASEAN remains difficult because of differences in political systems, legal traditions and cultures, Vasquez said.

He also cited the Philippines’ participation in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which took effect in 1976 and has 170 signatories. Its Second Optional Protocol seeks to abolish the death penalty, he said.

During her presidency, Arroyo signed Republic Act 9346 in 2006, prohibiting the imposition of capital punishment in the Philippines. The law repealed Republic Act 7659, or the Death Penalty Law, and Republic Act 8177, or the Lethal Injection Act, as well as other conflicting laws, decrees and executive orders.

Under RA 9346, penalties for offenses previously punishable by death were replaced with reclusion perpetua, with a maximum term of 40 years, for violations covered by the Revised Penal Code, or life imprisonment for offenses covered by special penal laws.

The law also bars parole under RA 4103, or the Indeterminate Sentence Law, for persons convicted of offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua or whose sentences have been reduced to that penalty. (PNA)