Philippines Supreme Court Orders First Execution in 23 Years
January 20, 1999 - 0:0
MANILA -- Supreme Court justices on Tuesday ordered the first judicial execution in the Philippines for 23 years, withdrawing a six-month reprieve for death row convict Leo Echegaray. The Supreme Court, voting 11-2, ordered a lower court to "set anew the date of execution" of Echegaray who was found guilty of raping his then 11-year-old daughter in 1994, clerk of court Luzviminda Puno told reporters.
The Supreme Court had given the 38 year-old decorator a six-month stay on January 4, three hours before he was to have been administered a lethal injection of potassium chloride by prison authorities. The lower court said it would wait for an official copy of the Supreme Court order before setting the date of execution. President Joseph Estrada welcomed the Supreme Court change of mind and urged the lower court to set a date "as soon as possible." Echegaray's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.
The Supreme Court granted the original stay to give Congress time to review the capital punishment law after several legislators filed bills seeking its abolition. However the House of Representatives voted to uphold the death penalty law after a 10-hour debate which ended at 2 a.m. Tuesday. The legislators passed a resolution saying the House "does not wish to review" the 1994 law, said representative Roilo Golez, the proponent of the resolution.
The House vote technically rules out abolition or amendment of the death penalty law since both the House and the Senate must approve a bill before it can become law. Golez said over radio station DZRH that 148 members of the 220-member body voted in favor of the pro-death penalty resolution. The House and Supreme Court votes took place amid intense public debate on capital punishment, during which the Supreme Court was flooded with bomb threats and hate mail.
Estrada had rejected appeals from the Vatican and the European Union to spare the life of Echegaray, saying the death penalty deterred crime. A nationwide survey released this month showed overwhelming support for capital punishment, with the Roman Catholic Church presenting the only significant opposition. The Philippines executed 100 convicts by electric chair, hanging and firing squad between 1924 and 1976, including 17 Japanese war criminals who were put to death five years after the end of World War II. Echegaray's lawyers warned on Monday that at the rate lower courts were handing down death sentences, the number of death row inmates could swell to more than 50,000 within five years.
There are currently more than 800 inmates on death row. (AFP)
The Supreme Court had given the 38 year-old decorator a six-month stay on January 4, three hours before he was to have been administered a lethal injection of potassium chloride by prison authorities. The lower court said it would wait for an official copy of the Supreme Court order before setting the date of execution. President Joseph Estrada welcomed the Supreme Court change of mind and urged the lower court to set a date "as soon as possible." Echegaray's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.
The Supreme Court granted the original stay to give Congress time to review the capital punishment law after several legislators filed bills seeking its abolition. However the House of Representatives voted to uphold the death penalty law after a 10-hour debate which ended at 2 a.m. Tuesday. The legislators passed a resolution saying the House "does not wish to review" the 1994 law, said representative Roilo Golez, the proponent of the resolution.
The House vote technically rules out abolition or amendment of the death penalty law since both the House and the Senate must approve a bill before it can become law. Golez said over radio station DZRH that 148 members of the 220-member body voted in favor of the pro-death penalty resolution. The House and Supreme Court votes took place amid intense public debate on capital punishment, during which the Supreme Court was flooded with bomb threats and hate mail.
Estrada had rejected appeals from the Vatican and the European Union to spare the life of Echegaray, saying the death penalty deterred crime. A nationwide survey released this month showed overwhelming support for capital punishment, with the Roman Catholic Church presenting the only significant opposition. The Philippines executed 100 convicts by electric chair, hanging and firing squad between 1924 and 1976, including 17 Japanese war criminals who were put to death five years after the end of World War II. Echegaray's lawyers warned on Monday that at the rate lower courts were handing down death sentences, the number of death row inmates could swell to more than 50,000 within five years.
There are currently more than 800 inmates on death row. (AFP)