The judge died before the verdict was carried out. Echegaray wasn't meant to be the first person executed in the Philippines since 1976. Fernando Galera was. Sentenced to die for rape and robbery in April 1994, Galera could have been killed as early as 1997, but at the last minute the Supreme Court ruled that he was innocent. His case is common enough.
Capital cases receive automatic review.
From 1995 to 1998, the Supreme Court ruled on 55 cases in which the death penalty had been decreed. Galera is suing for restitution, but the court can't return the years he spent on Death Row. The judicial process was no consolation to Carlos Gorbilla, a corn vendor who last month leapt to his death minutes after being sentenced to death for rape. Here, it's all in the process of development. Even at the Department of Justice no one can agree on how many men are on Death Row, their status, or how the review process is handled.