Question & AnswerQ&A (Commonwealth Act No. 99)
The main purpose of Commonwealth Act No. 99 is to amend Article 80 of the Revised Penal Code to provide for the suspension of sentence and special treatment of minor delinquents under eighteen years of age when they are accused of committing a grave or less grave felony.
A minor of either sex under eighteen years of age at the time of committing a grave or less grave felony can benefit from the suspension of sentence under Article 80.
The court suspends all further proceedings and commits the minor to the custody or care of a public or private, benevolent or charitable institution or any responsible person subject to supervision, instead of pronouncing judgment of conviction.
Minors can be committed to institutions established under the law for the care, correction, or education of orphaned, homeless, defective, and delinquent children. These institutions can be public or private, benevolent or charitable.
The court considers the religion of the minor and his parents or next of kin to avoid committing the minor to any private institution not supervised by the religious sect or denomination to which they belong.
The minor is under supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or his agents or representatives, or the superintendent of public schools or his representatives if no agents of the Director of Public Welfare are available.
The Director of Public Welfare, the superintendent of public schools or the person having custody must submit written reports every four months or as often as required, detailing the minor's good or bad conduct and moral and intellectual progress.
Yes, the suspension can be extended or shortened by the court based on recommendations about the minor's conduct and compliance with court-imposed conditions.
With the approval of the Director of Public Welfare and under conditions deemed proper by law, a minor committed to an institution may be allowed to stay elsewhere under the care of a responsible person.
If the minor behaves properly and complies with the conditions imposed, he shall be returned to the court to order his final release.
The minor will be returned to the court, which will then render the judgment corresponding to the crime committed.
Primarily, the parents, relatives or persons liable to support the minor will bear the expenses if able. If they are indigent, the municipality pays one-third, the province one-third, and the national government one-third. Chartered cities pay two-thirds, with the national government covering unpaid shares if declared unable to pay.
Commonwealth Act No. 99 took effect on January 1, 1937.
An amount of fifty thousand pesos was annually appropriated out of the Philippine Treasury.