<P> When the Philippines had the death penalty, male inmates condemned to death were held at New Bilibid Prison and female inmates condemned to death were held at Correctional Institution for Women (Mandaluyong). The death chamber for inmates to be electrocuted was in Building 14, within the Maximum Security Compound of New Bilibid . The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Museum previously served as the lethal injection chamber . </P> <P> On 15 April 2006, the sentences of 1,230 death row inmates were commuted to life imprisonment, in what Amnesty International believes to be the "largest ever commutation of death sentences". </P> <P> Capital punishment was again suspended via Republic Act No. 9346, which was signed by President Arroyo on 24 June 2006 . The bill followed a vote held in Congress earlier that month which overwhelmingly supported the abolition of the practice . The penalties of life imprisonment and reclusion perpetua (detention of indefinite length, usually for at least 30 years) replaced the death penalty . Critics of Arroyo's initiative called it a political move meant to placate the Roman Catholic Church, some sectors of which were increasingly vocal in their opposition to her rule . </P> <P> The Philippines subsequently signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . The Optional Protocol commits its members to the abolition of the death penalty within their borders . </P>

When did the death penalty stop in the philippines