The Philippines' Supreme Court agreed to consider new...

The Philippines' Supreme Court agreed to consider new evidence that could prove the innocence of Roberto Lara and Roderick Licayan, two men on death row who were convicted of kidnapping and were scheduled for execution on January 30.
The Supreme Court set the hearing for January 25 after the Public Attorney's Office presented fresh evidence and called for the executions - the first since 2000 - to be deferred.
The head of the Public Attorney's Office, Persida Rueda-Acosta, said she has reason to believe that the two may be innocent. Earlier in the month, two co-accused men were arrested, one of whom allegedly cleared Lara for the 1998 kidnapping of a Chinese businessman and his assistant.
In her motion to the Supreme Court, Rueda-Acosta asked: "What if one or both of them are executed but later acquitted?"
She also noted allegations that Lara was tortured into confession. The two were convicted of kidnapping in 1999 and sentenced to die by lethal injection.
Two years later, the Supreme Court affirmed their convictions and sentences.