BACOLOD, Philippines -- Philippine President Joseph Estrada, threatened with removal from office for alleged corruption, announced on Sunday he would commute to life terms all death sentences that have been imposed by local courts.
The presidential directive would affect more than 1,200 prisoners who have been sentenced to die by lethal injection since the country restored capital punishment in 1994.
"I will order tomorrow all those who are sentenced to death will all be commuted to life imprisonment," Estrada said in remarks during mass in the central Philippine city of Bacolod on Negros Island.
He made the remarks on International Human Rights Day.
The powerful Roman Catholic Church in the largely Christian country has strongly opposed the restoration of the death penalty in the Philippines.
It has also been at the forefront of demands for the resignation of Estrada, who is undergoing an impeachment trial in the Senate for allegedly taking bribes from illegal gambling syndicates.
(Rueter)