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II. COVERAGE
A. GENERAL RULE: All persons convicted of certain crimes under Philippine courts
B. EXCEPTIONS (Sec. 2): Law will NOT apply to persons
1. Convicted of offense punishable with death penalty or life imprisonment
2. Whose maximum term of imprisonment (imposed) does not exceed one year
3. Convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason, misprision of treason
4. Convicted of rebellion, sedition, espionage,
5. Convicted of piracy
6. Who are habitual delinquents
7. Who escaped confinement or evaded sentence or violated the terms of a conditional pardon
8. Persons already sentenced by final judgment at the time this Act was approved (Dec. 5, 1933)
III. APPLICATION
A. RPC: Min (next lower to prescribed) to Max (imposable)
1. Derive MAXIMUM term imposable by applying rules for aggravating (AC) and ordinary mitigating
circumstances (MC) under Art. 64 and for complex crimes under Art. 48
No AC or MC: Penalty PRESCRIBED medium period
1 AC, no MC: Penalty PRESCRIBED maximum period
No AC, 1 MC: Penalty PRESCRIBED minimum period
Several ACs and MCs: OFFSET then apply rules to remainder
No AC, 2 or more MCs: Penalty NEXT LOWER IN DEGREE TO THAT PRESCRIBED
If COMPLEX CRIME (2 or more grave or less grave felonies OR one offense is a necessary means for
committing the other): Penalty for the MOST SERIOUS CRIME maximum period
2. Derive MINIMUM term by getting the penalty one degree lower than the penalty prescribed by the RPC, without
regard to its three periods. The court has discretion to fix as the minimum term any period of imprisonment within
that penalty next lower to the penalty prescribed
1.
2.
MAXIMUM TERM: Court may fix any as long as it does not exceed the penalty prescribed by the special
law
MINIMUM TERM: Court has discretion so long as it does not exceed the minimum prescribed by the
special law
remaining portion of the maximum sentence imposed upon him or until final release and
discharge by the Board of Indeterminate Sentence" mentioned in section 6 for which he
has been convicted, shall be subject to re-arrest and confinement and "shall serve the
remaining unexpired portion of the maximum sentence for which he was originally
committed to prison" unless the board grants a new parole.
Prior to the effectivity of the Indeterminate Sentence Law, prison sentences were
imposed and fixed as a straight penalty exactly as provided for under the RPC, modified
only by the applicable rules therein, to wit: Articles 46, 48, 50 to 57, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68,
69, and 71. The maximum term of the indeterminate sentence is determined exactly in
that manner as if the Indeterminate Sentence Law had never been enacted. Thus, same
rules and provisions (except paragraph 5 of Art. 62) must be taken into account in
determining the maximum term of the indeterminate penalty.
For instance, a woman who stabbed and killed a man who had placed his hand on her
upper thigh without any provocation on her part, was given a reduced penalty by two
degrees under Article 69 of the Revised Penal code. The penalty for homicide is
reclusion temporal. Pursuant to the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the indeterminate
penalty is from arresto mayor in its medium period, as the minimum, to prision
coreccional in its medium period, as the maximum.
Conscientious adherence to the provisions of the Indeterminate Sentence Law is an
indispensable component of a fair and impartial judgment. For what could be the
difference of even only one day in the period of imprisonment of a convict could mean
so much to the precious and cherished liberty of the person.
Indeterminate Sentence Law is not applicable to:
those persons convicted of offenses punished with death penalty or life
imprisonment;
those convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason;
those convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage;
those convicted of piracy;
those who are habitual delinquents (but applicable to recidivist);
those who shall have escaped from confinement or evaded sentence;
those who having been granted conditional pardon by the Chief Executive shall have
violated the terms thereof;
those whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed one year;
those already sentenced by final judgment at the time of approval of this Act;
those whose sentence imposes penalties which do not involve imprisonment, like
destierro;
those which are unfavorable to the accused; and
those whose maximum period of penalty does not exceed one year (application of
Indeterminate Sentence Law is mandatory where imprisonment would exceed one
year).
To uplift and redeem valuable human material, and prevent unnecessary and excessive
deprivation of liberty and economic usefulness. Penalties shall not be standardized but fitted as far as is
possible to the individual, with due regard to the imperative necessity of protecting the social order.
(People v. Ducosin, 59 Phil 109)
B. Coverage
1. GENERAL RULE: All persons convicted of certain crimes under Philippine courts
2. EXCEPTIONS (Sec. 2): Law will NOT apply to persons
(1)
(2)
(3)
Convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason, misprision of
treason
(4)
(5)
Convicted of piracy
(6)
(7)
Who escaped confinement OR evaded sentence OR violated the terms of a
conditional pardon
(8)
Persons already sentenced by final judgment at the time this Act was approved
(Dec. 5, 1933)
C. Rules for Application
RECALL distinctions: (1)
(2)
(3)
Penalty IMPOSED (after applying all rules under RPC and the
Indeterminate Sentence Law)
OffenseSPECIAL = Min (at least that prescribed) to Max (not exceed prescribed)
(2) Derive MINIMUM term by getting the penalty one degree lower than the
penalty prescribed by the RPC, without regard to its three periods. The court
has discretion to fix as the minimum term any period of imprisonment within
that penalty next lower to the penalty prescribed.
CRIME, circumstances,
penalty prescribed
and
Following
the
regular
procedure for deriving the
minimum and maximum term
1. Penalty
prescribed:
reclusion temporal
2. For MAXIMUM term:
Ordinarily,
reclusion
temporal medium.
However: given the
privileged
mitigating
circumstance,
the
penalty
2
degrees
lower
is
prision
correccional
1. Penalty
prescribed:
reclusion temporal
2. For MAXIMUM term,
take the privileged
mitigating
circumstance
into
account:
prision
correccional
3. For MINIMUM term,
get the NEW penalty
prescribed first by
applying
the
privileged mitigating
circumstance (prision
correctional medium).
Then get the penalty
one degree lower
from the NEW penalty
prescribed:
arresto
mayor medium
Minimum
PRISION
MEDIUM.
term
of
MAYOR
(3) Some sample solutions for different permutations under Art. 64 and 48
Table 1:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1. Homicide (Art. 249):
temporal
2. No MC or AC
reclusion
temporal
Table 2:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1. Homicide (Art. 249):
reclusion
temporal
2. Mitigating circumstance of plea of
guilt, No AC
Maximum term:
reclusion temporal
minimum
Minimum term: prision mayor
Table 3:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1. Homicide (Art. 249):
reclusion
temporal
2. Aggravating
circumstance
of
recidivism, No MC
temporal
Table 4:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1. Homicide (Art. 249):
reclusion
temporal
2. Aggravating
circumstance
of
nighttime
3. Mitigating
circumstances
of
voluntary surrender and plea of
guilt
4. OFFSETTING the MCs with the AC
would yield one MC
Table 5:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1.
2. No MCs or Acs
1) Look into the physical, mental, and moral record of the prisoners who
shall be eligible for parole to determine proper time of release of such
prisoners
2) When a prisoner has served the minimum penalty imposed, the
Board may authorize release of the prisoner on parole:
a) Based on reports of the prisoners work and conduct, it is shown
that the prisoner is fitted by his training for release
b) There is a reasonable probability that such prisoner will live and
remain at liberty without violating the law
c) Release will not be incompatible with the welfare of society
(2) Procedure for release of prisoner
1) Board must file with the court which passed judgment on the case and
with the PNP Chief a certified copy of each order of conditional or
final release and discharge.
2) Prisoner released may be designated specific conditions as to his parole,
and required to report personally to such government officials or other
parole officers appointed by the Board for a period of SURVEILLANCE
equivalent to the remaining portion of the maximum sentence imposed
upon him OR until final release and discharge by the Board.
3) Designated parole officers shall keep records and reports required by the
Board.
4) Board may fix the limits on the residence of the paroled prisoner or
change it from time to time. If during the period of surveillance the
prisoner shows himself to be a law-abiding citizen and shall NOT violate
any laws, the Board may issue a final certificate of release and
discharge.
5) If prisoner violates any of the conditions of his parole, the Board may
issue an order for re-arrest of the prisoner. The prisoner rearrested shall serve the remaining unexpired portion of the maximum
sentence for which he was originally committed to prison, unless the
Board grants him new parole.