All death sentences commuted in Philippines

Continuing the themes of religion and capital punishment (discussed recently here), Easter brings interesting death penalty news from the Philippines.  As this article details:

With the resurrection of Christ as a backdrop, President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday announced that all death row convicts would be spared and the maximum penalty commuted to life imprisonment.

"As we celebrate and rejoice in Jesus' resurrection, I wish to announce that we are changing our policy on those who have been imposed the death penalty.  We are reducing their penalty to life imprisonment," the President said in an Easter message released by Malacañang....

Malacañang issued a statement saying the new policy would benefit roughly 1,000 convicts on death row.... The top three crimes of those on death row are rape (471), murder (192) and kidnapping for ransom (157).  Other cases involve, among others, robbery with homicide (72), rape with homicide (71), violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act (41), and kidnapping with serious illegal detention (38).