The BBC's John McLean in Manila: Hopes have been raised for 800 death-row inmates

The reprieve for convicted child rapist Leo Echegaray was announced three hours before he was due to be put to death by lethal injection.

Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas said the government will ask the court within days to reconsider its decision and allow the execution, the first in more than 20 years, to proceed.

President Estrada: Rejected appeals to commute sentence

President Joseph Estrada, who had earlier rejected appeals for clemency, expressed deep dismay at the reprieve. He said he would veto any move to repeal the death penalty.

Mr Estrada, who took office in June, promised to make law and order a cornerstone of his administration and vowed to wipe out crime in six months. He was confident that the bid to abolish the death penalty would fail, saying his Lamp party which controls both the Senate and the House would back him.

"They will support my stand because they were the ones who passed this law. I do not think they will reverse themselves, especially at this point in time when there are so many rape cases, kidnapping cases," he said.

'First step' in abolishing the death penalty

About 100 opponents of the execution who had been staging a vigil at the New Bilibid Prison in southern Manila broke into applause when they heard of the reprieve.

Echegaray's new wife, Zenaida, praying for a stay of execution

Mr Echegaray's lawyer, Theodore Te, also hailed the decision.

"This is definitely a victory, a significant first step in abolishing the death penalty in this country," he said, adding that he would now lobby congressmen to change the law.

Mr Echegaray, a 38-year-old house painter, had been sentenced to death for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter.

Congress 'reconsidering death penalty'

The court made its ruling on the grounds that the country's lawmakers were reconsidering the wisdom of capital punishment.

Echegaray's execution suspended by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruling said: "There are signs that the legislative department is re-thinking the wisdom of imposing the death penalty in circumstances such as those obtaining in this case.

The death penalty was re-introduced in the Philippines five years ago for murder, rape, kidnapping and drug trafficking in response to a rising tide of violent crime.

The Philippines is one of only a handful of countries to have abolished and then restored the death penalty.

Victim wanted execution

Mr Echegaray's stepdaughter, who was 10 when she was raped, told a radio station on Sunday: "I want him to die."

The girl, now 15, visited President Estrada and pleaded with him not to pardon Mr Echegaray.

"I felt nothing but compassion for her," Mr Estrada said. "You can just imagine if she were your daughter."