Manila - The Philippines Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the death sentence for a convicted child rapist should go ahead in what will be the country's first execution since 1976.
"Good, so the death sentence will proceed," President Joseph Estrada said after being informed of the court's decision to scrap its own restraining order, which had postponed the execution. The court's ruling followed an overwhelming vote in the lower house of parliament to retain capital punishment, which the Philippines had abolished in 1987 but reinstated in 1994 because of a surge in violent crime.
The Supreme Court voted 11-2, with two judges abstaining, to lift the January 4th restraining order on the execution of Leo Echegaray, a 38-year-old house painter.