Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has lifted a moratorium on the death penalty, opening the way for executions to resume in January. The decision, which comes ahead of presidential elections in 2004, follows a series of kidnappings which have particularly targeted the ethnic Chinese community. Mrs Arroyo has appeared to waver over the moratorium, which was first imposed by her predecessor following pressure from the powerful Catholic Church. Her decision to lift the freeze follows a number of high-profile abductions for ransom. These included the murder in November of Coca-Cola executive Betti Sy, a Filipino-Chinese whose body was found by a roadside. Three days later, a 10-year-old ethnic Chinese girl was abducted outside her school in Manila. Full Story