Manila - Philippine President Joseph Estrada tried and failed to stop the execution of a rapist on Friday, calling the death chamber too late to save his life.
An official at the death chamber frantically shouted "hold! hold!" minutes after the executioner had injected real estate broker Eduardo Agbayani with a poison that stopped his heart. "There was a call [from the presidential palace] but it was over," prisons director Mr Pedro Sistoza told reporters.
