REPUBLIC ACT NO.
10159 April 10, 2012 not relieve him from the fine in case his financial
AN ACT AMENDING ARTICLE 39 OF ACT NO.
3815, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
THE REVISED PENAL CODE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
Section 1. Article 39 of Act No. 3815, as amended, is
hereby further amended to read as follows:
"Art. 39. Subsidiary Penalty. – If the convict has no
property with which to meet the fine mentioned in
paragraph 3 of the next preceding article, he shall be
subject to a subsidiary personal liability at the rate of
one day for each amount equivalent to the highest
minimum wage rate prevailing in the Philippines at the
time of the rendition of judgment of conviction by the
trial court, subject to the following rules:
"1. If the principal penalty imposed be prision
correctional or arresto and fine, he shall remain under
confinement until his fine referred in the preceding
paragraph is satisfied, but his subsidiary
imprisonment shall not exceed one-third of the term of
the sentence, and in no case shall it continue for more
than one year, and no fraction or part of a day shall
be counted against the prisoner.
"2. When the principal penalty imposed be only a fine,
the subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed six
months, if the culprit shall have been prosecuted for a
grave or less grave felony, and shall not exceed
fifteen days, if for a fight felony.
"3. When the principal penalty imposed is higher
than prision correctional, no subsidiary imprisonment
shall be imposed upon the culprit.
"4. If the principal penalty imposed is not to be
executed by confinement in a penal institution, but
such penalty is of fixed duration, the convict, during
the period of time established in the preceding rules,
shall continue to suffer the same deprivations as
those of which the principal penalty consists.
"5. The subsidiary personal liability which the convict
may have suffered by reason of his insolvency shall
circumstances should improve." (As amended by
Republic Act No. 5465, which lapsed into law on April
21, 1969.)
Section 2. Separability Clause. – If any provision or
part hereof is held invalid or unconstitutional, the
remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise
affected shall remain valid and subsisting.
Section 3. Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential
decrees or issuances, executive orders, letters of
instruction, administrative orders or rules and
regulations which may be inconsistent with this Act
shall be deemed repealed, amended or modified
accordingly.
Section 4. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect
fifteen (15) days following its publication in the Official
Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.
REPUBLIC ACT No. 10592
AN ACT AMENDING ARTICLES 29, 94, 97, 98 AND
99 OF ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE
KNOWN AS THE REVISED PENAL CODE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
Section 1. Article 29 of Act No. 3815, as amended,
otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code, is
hereby further amended to read as follows:
"ART. 29. Period of preventive imprisonment
deducted from term of imprisonment. –
Offenders or accused who have undergone
preventive imprisonment shall be credited in
the service of their sentence consisting of
deprivation of liberty, with the full time during
which they have undergone preventive
imprisonment if the detention prisoner
agrees voluntarily in writing after being
informed of the effects thereof and with the
assistance of counsel to abide by the same
disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted
prisoners, except in the following cases:
 "1. When they are recidivists, or
have been convicted previously
twice or more times of any crime;
and
"2. When upon being summoned for
the execution of their sentence they
have failed to surrender voluntarily.
"If the detention prisoner does not agree to
abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed
upon convicted prisoners, he shall do so in
writing with the assistance of a counsel and
shall be credited in the service of his
sentence with four-fifths of the time during
which he has undergone preventive
imprisonment.
"Credit for preventive imprisonment for the
penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be
deducted from thirty (30) years.1âwphi1
"Whenever an accused has undergone
preventive imprisonment for a period equal
to the possible maximum imprisonment of
the offense charged to which he may be
sentenced and his case is not yet
terminated, he shall be released immediately
without prejudice to the continuation of the
trial thereof or the proceeding on appeal, if
the same is under review. Computation of
preventive imprisonment for purposes of
immediate release under this paragraph
shall be the actual period of detention with
good conduct time allowance: Provided,
however, That if the accused is absent
without justifiable cause at any stage of the
trial, the court may motu proprio order the
rearrest of the accused: Provided,
finally, That recidivists, habitual delinquents,
escapees and persons charged with heinous
crimes are excluded from the coverage of
this Act. In case the maximum penalty to
which the accused may be sentenced
is lestierro, he shall be released after thirty
(30) days of preventive imprisonment."
Section 2. Article 94 of the same Act is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"ART. 94. Partial extinction of criminal
liability. – Criminal liability is extinguished
partially:
"1. By conditional pardon;
"2. By commutation of the
sentence; and
"3. For good conduct allowances
which the culprit may earn while he
is undergoing preventive
imprisonment or serving his
sentence."
Section 3. Article 97 of the same Act is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"ART. 97. Allowance for good conduct. – The
good conduct of any offender qualified for
credit for preventive imprisonment pursuant
to Article 29 of this Code, or of any convicted
prisoner in any penal institution,
rehabilitation or detention center or any other
local jail shall entitle him to the following
deductions from the period of his sentence:
"1. During the first two years of
imprisonment, he shall be allowed a
deduction of twenty days for each
month of good behavior during
detention;
"2. During the third to the fifth year,
inclusive, of his imprisonment, he
shall be allowed a reduction of
twenty-three days for each month of
good behavior during detention;
"3. During the following years until
the tenth year, inclusive, of his
imprisonment, he shall be allowed a
deduction of twenty-five days for
each month of good behavior
during detention;
"4. During the eleventh and
successive years of his
imprisonment, he shall be allowed a
deduction of thirty days for each
 month of good behavior during
detention; and
"5. At any time during the period of
imprisonment, he shall be allowed
another deduction of fifteen days, in
addition to numbers one to four
hereof, for each month of study,
teaching or mentoring service time
rendered.
"An appeal by the accused shall not deprive
him of entitlement to the above allowances
for good conduct."
Section 4. Article 98 of the same Act is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"ART. 98. Special time allowance for
loyalty. – A deduction of one fifth of the
period of his sentence shall be granted to
any prisoner who, having evaded his
preventive imprisonment or the service of his
sentence under the circumstances
mentioned in Article 158 of this Code, gives
himself up to the authorities within 48 hours
following the issuance of a proclamation
announcing the passing away of the calamity
or catastrophe referred to in said article. A
deduction of two-fifths of the period of his
sentence shall be granted in case said
prisoner chose to stay in the place of his
confinement notwithstanding the existence of
a calamity or catastrophe enumerated in
Article 158 of this Code.
"This Article shall apply to any prisoner
whether undergoing preventive
imprisonment or serving sentence."
Section 5. Article 99 of the same Act is hereby further
amended to read as follows:"
"ART. 99. Who grants time allowances. –
Whenever lawfully justified, the Director of
the Bureau of Corrections, the Chief of the
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
and/or the Warden of a provincial, district,
municipal or city jail shall grant allowances
for good conduct. Such allowances once
granted shall not be revoked."
Section 6. Penal Clause. – Faithful compliance with
the provisions of this Act is hereby mandated. As
such, the penalty of one (1) year imprisonment, a fine
of One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) and
perpetual disqualification to hold office shall be
imposed against any public officer or employee who
violates the provisions of this Act.
Section 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. –
The Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and
the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) shall within sixty (60) days
from the approval of this Act, promulgate rules and
regulations on the classification system for good
conduct and time allowances, as may be necessary,
to implement the provisions of this Act.
Section 8. Separability Clause. – If any part hereof is
held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the
provisions not otherwise affected shall remain valid
and subsisting.
Section 9. Repealing Clause. – Any law, presidential
decree or issuance, executive order, letter of
instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this
Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended
accordingly.
Section 10. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take
effect fifteen (15) days from its publication in
the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) new papers
of general circulation.
Approved,
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1829
PENALIZING OBSTRUCTION OF APPREHENSION
AND PROSECUTION OF CRIMINAL OFFENDERS
WHEREAS, crime and violence continue to proliferate
despite the sustained vigorous efforts of the
government to effectively contain them;
WHEREAS, to discourage public indifference or
apathy towards the apprehension and prosecution of
criminal offenders, it is necessary to penalize acts
which obstruct or frustrate or tend to obstruct or
frustrate the successful apprehension and
prosecution of criminal offenders;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND, E. MARCOS,
President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers
vested in me by law do hereby decree and order the
following:
Section 1. The penalty of prision correccional in its
maximum period, or a fine ranging from 1,000 to
6,000 pesos, or both, shall be imposed upon any
person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes,
frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and
the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by
committing any of the following acts:
(a) preventing witnesses from testifying in
any criminal proceeding or from reporting the
commission of any offense or the identity of
any offender/s by means of bribery,
misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force
or threats;
(b) altering, destroying, suppressing or
concealing any paper, record, document, or
object, with intent to impair its verity,
authenticity, legibility, availability, or
admissibility as evidence in any investigation
of or official proceedings in, criminal cases,
or to be used in the investigation of, or
official proceedings in, criminal cases;
(c) harboring or concealing, or facilitating the
escape of, any person he knows, or has
reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has
committed any offense under existing penal
laws in order to prevent his arrest
prosecution and conviction;
(d) publicly using a fictitious name for the
purpose of concealing a crime, evading
prosecution or the execution of a judgment,
or concealing his true name and other
personal circumstances for the same
purpose or purposes;
(e) delaying the prosecution of criminal
cases by obstructing the service of process
or court orders or disturbing proceedings in
the fiscal's offices, in Tanodbayan, or in the
courts;
(f) making, presenting or using any record,
document, paper or object with knowledge of
its falsity and with intent to affect the course
or outcome of the investigation of, or official
proceedings in, criminal cases;
(g) soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to
accept any benefit in consideration of
abstaining from, discounting, or impeding the
prosecution of a criminal offender;
(h) threatening directly or indirectly another
with the infliction of any wrong upon his
person, honor or property or that of any
immediate member or members of his family
in order to prevent such person from
appearing in the investigation of, or official
proceedings in, criminal cases, or imposing a
condition, whether lawful or unlawful, in
order to prevent a person from appearing in
the investigation of or in official proceedings
in, criminal cases;
(i) giving of false or fabricated information to
mislead or prevent the law enforcement
agencies from apprehending the offender or
from protecting the life or property of the
victim; or fabricating information from the
data gathered in confidence by investigating
authorities for purposes of background
information and not for publication and
publishing or disseminating the same to
mislead the investigator or to the court.
If any of the acts mentioned herein is penalized by
any other law with a higher penalty, the higher penalty
shall be imposed.
Section 2. If any of the foregoing acts is committed by
a public official or employee, he shall in addition to the
penalties provided thereunder, suffer perpetual
disqualification from holding public office.
Section 3. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
ACT NO. 3326 - AN ACT TO ESTABLISH PERIODS
OF PRESCRIPTION FOR VIOLATIONS PENALIZED
BY SPECIAL ACTS AND MUNICIPAL
ORDINANCES AND TO PROVIDE WHEN
PRESCRIPTION SHALL BEGIN TO RUN
Section 1. Violations penalized by special acts shall,
unless otherwise provided in such acts, prescribe in
accordance with the following rules: (a) after a year
for offenses punished only by a fine or by
imprisonment for not more than one month, or both;
(b) after four years for those punished by
imprisonment for more than one month, but less than
two years; (c) after eight years for those punished by
imprisonment for two years or more, but less than six
years; and (d) after twelve years for any other offense
punished by imprisonment for six years or more,
except the crime of treason, which shall prescribe
after twenty years. Violations penalized by municipal
ordinances shall prescribe after two months. Sec.

2. Prescription shall begin to run from the day of the

commission of the violation of the law, and if the same
be not known at the time, from the discovery thereof
and the institution of judicial proceeding for its
investigation and punishment. The prescription shall
be interrupted when proceedings are instituted
against the guilty person, and shall begin to run again
if the proceedings are dismissed for reasons not
constituting jeopardy. Sec. 3. For the purposes of this
Act, special acts shall be acts defining and penalizing
violations of the law not included in the Penal Code.
Sec. 4. This Act shall take effect on its approval.