QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 10159)
RA 10159 (approved April 10, 2012) amends Article 39 of Act No. 3815 (the Revised Penal Code), specifically on the “Subsidiary Penalty” for convicted persons who cannot pay the fine due to insolvency.
It is imposed if the convict has no property with which to meet the fine mentioned in paragraph 3 of the next preceding article, i.e., when the convict is insolvent as to the fine.
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.
The convict remains under confinement until the fine is satisfied, but the subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed one-third of the term of the sentence, in no case more than one year, and no fraction/part of a day is counted.
Subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed six months if prosecuted for a grave or less grave felony, and not exceed fifteen days if for a light felony.
No subsidiary imprisonment shall be imposed upon the culprit when the principal penalty is higher than prision correccional.
During the period of time established by the subsidiary penalty rules, the convict shall continue to suffer the same deprivations as those of which the principal penalty consists.
No. The subsidiary personal liability due to insolvency does not relieve the convict from the fine if their financial circumstances improve.
It ties the subsidiary penalty to situations where a fine is imposed under the preceding article’s provisions (referenced in paragraph 3), and the convict cannot pay the fine due to insolvency.
No fraction or part of a day shall be counted against the prisoner (relevant particularly to the prision correccional/arresto and fine rule limiting subsidiary imprisonment).
If any part of the law is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder remains valid and subsisting.
All laws, presidential decrees, issuances, executive orders, letters of instruction, administrative orders, or rules/regulations inconsistent with the Act are deemed repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
Fifteen (15) days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
It is the basis for determining how many days of subsidiary personal liability correspond to the amount equivalent to the fine the convict cannot pay.
Because the highest minimum wage rate used to compute subsidiary liability is pegged to that date/time, preventing later wage changes from affecting the computation.
The Act is described as a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2808 and House Bill No. 600, which were passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on May 23, 2011 and January 30, 2012, respectively.