Death by "mysterious means," not by lethal injection,...

Death by "mysterious means," not by lethal injection, is slowly decimating the ranks of death-row convicts.
According to Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., more convicts have died under "mysterious circumstances" than through execution by lethal injection since the death penalty was reinstated in 1994.
"The number of death row inmates who died while awaiting final conviction is three times the number of convicts executed by lethal injection in 1999 and 2000," he said.
A total of seven convicts have been executed by lethal injection since 1994. Pimentel said 22 convicts have died for "mysterious" reasons during that same period-three of them in this year alone.
The solon, who is against the death penalty, disclosed that most of those who have died were in their seventies. According to prison rules, convicts who have reached 70 years of age must be automatically removed from death row.
Pimentel asked the Bureau of Corrections to explain the circumstances of their deaths. "Even if they died of natural causes, prison officials still have the duty to report these to the proper authorities," he said.Bureau of Corrections Director Ricardo Macala, however, clarified that only 14 of the 967 prisoners on death row have died before their appointment with the lethal injection, most of them from various diseases.
He did not specify what diseases have caused their demise.
"No one among the dead lethal injection candidates have already been confirmed by the Supreme Court. Many of them died while their case was on appeal," he stressed.
The ages of these dead convicts ranged in age from 23 (Pedro Rosario, who died on Oct.19, 2001) to 73 (Paquito Basaysay, who died on Nov. 5, 2000).
Though Macala did not admit to it, some say the deaths may have been due to overcrowding.