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Today
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Thurs
day,
Augus
t 27,
2015
Links
Revisiting "ISLAW"
By Atty. Harold Huliganga
::SUPREME COURT
::CTA
In my five years now as a Court Attorney, I had, on several occasions, come across
lower court decisions incorrectly applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law (I. S. Law)
or Act No. 4103. It is seriously disturbing that despite its seeming simplicity and
brevity, some judges had been perpetually misapplying it.
The basic mandate of the I. S. Law is the imposition of an indeterminate sentence
which is comprised by a MINIMUM term and a MAXIMUM term. It is indeterminate in
the sense that after serving the MINIMUM, the convict may be released on parole, or if
he is not fitted for release, he shall continue serving his sentence until the end of the
MAXIMUM. It is the fixing of the MINIMUM and MAXIMUM terms which generates a lot
of confusion and is the constant source of error of some judges.
There is not much difficulty in ascertaining the indeterminate sentence if the crime is a
violation of a special law because in such a case, the I. S. Law merely requires that the
MAXIMUM term thereof shall not exceed the maximum fixed by the special law while
the MINIMUM shall not be less than the minimum prescribed therein. Accordingly, if a
special law imposes a penalty of three (3) to nine (9) years of imprisonment , the
MINIMUM of the indeterminate sentence cannot be less than 3 years while the
MAXIMUM thereof cannot be more than 9 years. Hence, the indeterminate
sentence may be decreed as 3-9 years, 3 years & 9 months - 7 years & 8
months, 3-4 years, 3-5 years, 5-8 years, 8-9 years, etc., depending
on the sound discretion of the judge.
However, it should be stressed that the reference to special law in this regard refer to
those which provide for one specific penalty or a range of penalties with definitive
durations, such as imprisonment for eight years or for one year to five years
but without division into periods or any technical statutory cognomen.Where the
penalty in the special law adopts the technical nomenclature and signification of the
penalties under the Revised Penal Code (RPC), such as prision mayor, prision
correccional maximum, etc., the ascertainment of the indeterminate sentence will be
based on the rule intended for those crimes punishable under the RPC.
The rule for ascertaining the indeterminate sentence for crimes punishable under the
RPC is much arcane and complicated than the rule applied in those crimes punishable
under a special law. In crimes punishable under the RPC, the indeterminate sentence
is arrived at by determining the MAXIMUM term, which, in view of the attending
circumstances, could be properly imposed under the rules of the RPC, and the
MINIMUM term, which shall be within the range of the penalty next lower to that
prescribed by the RPC for the offense.
Prior to the effectivity of the I. S. 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, samerules and
provisions (except par. 5 of Art. 62) must be taken into account in determining the
MAXIMUM term of the indeterminate penalty. In determining the MAXIMUM of the