On August 16, a court ordered prison officials to execute...

On August 16, a court ordered prison officials to execute by lethal injection Josefina Esparas, 45, a woman convicted of a drug offense. She was sentenced to death in 1995 for attempting to smuggle 20kg of the banned stimulant methamphetamine hydrochloride, known popularly as "Ice," into the Philippines the previous year. The Supreme Court had already upheld her conviction and death sentence.