Indeterminate Sentence Law

RA No. 4103, Dec. 5, 1933

- Instead of imposing a straight penalty, the court must determine two penalties (maximum and minimum)
I. PURPOSE
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).

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

EXCEPTION: WHEN THERE IS A PRIVILEGED MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE, do NOT follow the

aforementioned rule. Consider the privileged mitigating circumstance FIRST before any AC or MC to get the
PENALTY PRESCRIBED and then proceed as required by the rule on deriving the minimum term. Otherwise, the
maximum of the ISL will end up being lower than the minimum of the ISL.
B. SPL: Min (at least that prescribed) to Max (not exceed 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

INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW

An indeterminate sentence is a sentence imposed for a crime that isn't given a definite
duration. The prison term does not state a specific period of time or release date, but
just a range of time, such as one year and one day to five years.
To uplift and redeem valuable human material, and prevent unnecessary and excessive
deprivation of personal liberty and economic usefulness and to individualize the
administration of our criminal law, Indeterminate Sentence Law (Act No. 4103 as
amended by Act No. 4225) provides for an indeterminate sentence and parole for all
persons convicted of certain crimes by the courts of the Philippines. In addition, it
provides for the creation of the Board of Pardons and Parole, or the Board of
Indeterminate Sentence, provided in Section 3 of the said Act tasked to look into the
physical, mental and moral record of the prisoners who are eligible to parole and to
determine the proper time of release of such prisoners.
The court must, instead of a single fixed penalty, determine two penalties, referred to in
the Indeterminate Sentence Act as the maximum and minimum terms. The basic
mandate of the Indeterminate Sentence Law is the imposition of, instead of a single
fixed penalty, determined two penalties, referred to in the 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.
The act should be applied in imposing a prison sentence for a crime punishable either
by special law or by the Revised Penal Code. Under Section 1 of Act No. 4103, as
amended by Act No. 4225, if the offense is punished by a special law, the court shall
sentence the accused to an indeterminate penalty, the maximum term of which shall not
exceed the maximum fixed by said law and the minimum term shall not be less than the
minimum prescribed by the same. If the offense is punished by the Revised Penal code,
the court shall sentence the accused to an indeterminate penalty, the maximum term of
which shall be the penalty imposable under the same Code after considering the
attending mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances according to Article 64 of the
said code. The minimum term of the same sentence shall be within the range of the
penalty next lower to that prescribed by the Code for the offense.
Section 8 of the said Act provides that any prisoner who violates any of the conditions of
his parole, who violates any law during the period of surveillance "equivalent to the

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).

OUTLINING THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW

(R.A. No. 4103, effective Dec. 5, 1933)
A. Purpose

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)

Convicted of offense punishable with death penalty or life imprisonment

(2)

Whose maximum term of imprisonment 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)
C. Rules for Application
RECALL distinctions: (1)
(2)

Penalty PRESCRIBED (by RPC or special law)

Penalty IMPOSABLE (after taking circumstances into account)

(3)
Penalty IMPOSED (after applying all rules under RPC and the
Indeterminate Sentence Law)

If offense is punished by the RPC

MAXIMUM term: maximum penalty
imposable after taking attending
circumstances into account

If offense is punished by a special law

MAXIMUM term: shall not exceed the
maximum term prescribed by the special
law

MINIMUM term: range of penalty next

lower to penalty prescribed

MINIMUM term: shall not be less than the

minimum term prescribed by the special
law

Formula for easy reference:

OffenseRPC = Min (next lower to prescribed) to Max (imposable)

OffenseSPECIAL = Min (at least that prescribed) to Max (not exceed prescribed)

1. Procedure when the crime is punished by the RPC

(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.
1) No AC or MC: Penalty PRESCRIBEDMEDIUM period
2) 1 AC, no MC: Penalty PRESCRIBEDMAXIMUM period
3) No AC, 1 MC: Penalty PRESCRIBEDMINIMUM period
4) Several ACs and MCs: OFFSET then apply rules to remainder
5) No AC, 2 or more MCs: Penalty NEXT LOWER IN DEGREE TO THAT
PRESCRIBED

6) 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 CRIMEMAXIMUM 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.

EXCEPTION: WHEN THERE IS A PRIVILEGED MITIGATING

CIRCUMSTANCE, do NOT follow the aforementioned rule.
Consider the privileged mitigating circumstance FIRST
before any AC or MC to get the PENALTY PRESCRIBED and
then proceed as required by the rule on deriving the
minimum term. Otherwise, the maximum of the IS Law will
end up being lower than the minimum of the IS Law.

To illustrate, note the following comparisons:

CRIME, circumstances,
penalty prescribed

and

Following
the
regular
procedure for deriving the
minimum and maximum term

Applying the Exception with

respect to the minimum term

1. Homicide (Art. 249):

reclusion temporal
2. Committed by a person
9-15 years old with
discernment (Art. 68
mandates
that
the
penalty to be imposed
should be two degrees
lower than the penalty
prescribed)
3. No other mitigating or
aggravating
circumstance

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

3. For MINIMUM term:

prision mayor medium
4. The absurd result of
the application:
The penalty IMPOSABLE
is within the Maximum
term
of
PRISION
CORRECCIONAL and the

The penalty IMPOSABLE

Minimum
PRISION
MEDIUM.

term
of
MAYOR

is within the Maximum

term
of
PRISION
CORRECCIONAL and the
Minimum
term
of
ARRESTO
MAYOR
MEDIUM.

NOTE: this solution is

permitted because the
ISLAW is predicated on
ordinary mitigating and
generic
aggravating
circumstances only.

(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

Application of the IS Law

1. Maximum term:
reclusion
medium
2. Minimum term: prision mayor

temporal

Table 2:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1. Homicide (Art. 249):
reclusion
temporal
2. Mitigating circumstance of plea of
guilt, No AC

Application of the IS Law

1.
2.

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

Application of the IS Law

1. Maximum term:
reclusion
maximum
2. Minimum term: prision mayor

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

Application of the IS Law

FOLLOW TABLE 2 PROCEDURE

Table 5:
CRIME, circumstances, and penalty
prescribed
1.

Complex crime of frustrated

homicide with assault upon an
agent of a person in authority
(Arts. 249, 6, 148, and 48)

Penalty for frustrated homicide: (one

degree lower from reclusion temporal)
prision mayor
Penalty
for
assault:
prision
correccional in its medium and
maximum periods

Penalty for the complex crime:

PRISION MAYOR (penalty for the
graver offense)

2. No MCs or Acs

Application of the IS Law

1. Maximum term: prision mayor maximum
2. Minimum term: prision correctional

2. Procedure when the crime is punished by a special law

(1) MAXIMUM TERM: Court may fix any as long as it does not exceed the penalty
prescribed by the special law
(2) MINIMUM TERM: Court has discretion so long as it does not exceed the minimum
prescribed by the special law
(3) Example: for the crime of illegal possession of firearms, not used for rebellion or
sedition, the IS Law range is anywhere between 1-5 years.
D. Institutions involved
1. BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLE
(1) Composition: Secretary of Justice (Chairman) and 4 members to be
appointed by the President (with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments) under 6 year terms. Board members should include a trained
sociologist, clergyman/educator, psychiatrist. At least one member
should be a woman.
(2) Compensation:
50 pesos for each meeting actually attended and
reimbursement for actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred.
Maximum of 3 board meetings per week.
(3) Powers and functions
1) Authorized to adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out its
functions
2) Can call upon any bureau, office, branch, subdivision, agency, or
Government instrumentality for assistance in the performance of its
functions
3) Decisions will be arrived at by MAJORITY VOTE. A quorum will be
constituted by a MAJORITY. Dissent from the majority opinion will be
reduced to writing and filed with the records of the proceedings.
2. BOARD OF INDETERMINATE SENTENCE
(1) Powers and functions

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.