On January 4, 3 hours before the time set for the Leo...

On January 4, 3 hours before the time set for the Leo Echegaray's execution the Supreme Court (8 to 5) ordered it be delayed until after June 15, 1999. Leo Echegaray was a 38-year-old decorator convicted of raping his 10- year-old step daughter (see 1999 Report). Echegaray's lawyer, Theodore Te, had asked the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order on the execution because bills and appeals were pending in Congress to re-examine the death penalty: a resolution at the Senate had requested President Joseph Estrada not to execute Echegaray, and another pending bill was before the House to review the death penalty. The Supreme Court voted for the reprieve to allow Congress to resolve the proposals calling for abolition of the death penalty. After hearing about the decision, more than 100 Catholic priests, nuns and human rights activists erupted into cheers and a church bell rang outside the national penitentiary in the Manila suburb where Echegaray was awaiting death. Nearby, relatives of crime victims who had come to show their support for the death penalty were shocked. Echegaray's rape victim bitterly criticized the court's decision to give her step-father another chance to live. "What about me?" she said in tears. "I want to be the voice of abused children, I want to be an eye opener." President Estrada, who had accused the court of usurping political powers, vowed to veto any new law abolishing capital punishment and his administration had petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider, arguing that only the President has the constitutional power to grant Echegaray a reprieve. A day after the court's decision, bomb threats sent police squads to the Supreme Court building. Unsigned leaflets scattered outside the building warned of a rise in anti-crime vigilantes. More than 9,000 students and teachers from a Manila school attended by Echegaray's victim urged death for the man convicted of raping their schoolmate. A rally, organized by the Commonwealth High School student council, also kicked off a drive to gather one million signatures urging the authorities to execute Leo Echegaray by lethal injection. This counters a bid to collect one million signatures calling for an end to the death penalty, a campaign announced by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, the governing body of the Church.