Case Digest (G.R. No. L-2873)
Facts:
The People of the Philippines v. Eugenio Garcia y Madrigal, G.R. No. L-2873, February 28, 1950, the Supreme Court En Banc, Tuason, J., writing for the Court. The plaintiff-appellee is The People of the Philippines; the defendant-appellant is Eugenio Garcia y Madrigal.At trial the appellant, who was 17 years old at the time of the offense, was convicted of robbery under Article 294, case No. 5, of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Section 6 of Republic Act No. 18. The trial court "ignored defendant's minority" and imposed an indeterminate penalty ranging from 4 years, 2 months and 1 day of prision correccional to 8 years of prision mayor, and ordered joint and several indemnity of P85.00 with his co-accused.
The Solicitor General argued on appeal that Republic Act No. 47, which amended Article 80 of the Revised Penal Code by reducing from 18 to 16 the age below which accused are to be committed to custodial care instead of being sentenced to prison, should be read as having impliedly amended Article 68(2) of the Revised Penal Code so as to deprive 16- to 18-year-olds of the privileged mitigating circumstance there provided. The case was brought to the Supreme Court on appeal from the judgment of the trial court.
The Supreme Court addressed whether Article 68(2)'s mitigation still applied to offenders over 15 and under 18 after the amendment of Article 80 by Republic Act No. 47, then recalculated and imposed the proper penalty under the applicable penal provisions and the indeterminate sentence law. A subseque...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did Republic Act No. 47's amendment of Article 80 of the Revised Penal Code impliedly amend or repeal Article 68(2) so that persons between 16 and 18 are no longer entitled to the special mitigating circumstance of Article 68(2)?
- If Article 68(2) remains effective for a 17‑year‑old offender, what is the proper penalty and sentence for appellant under the applicable provisions (Article 294, case No. 5 as amended; Article 68(2);...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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