QuestionsQuestions (Act No. 1703)
Municipal prisoners include: (a) persons detained or sentenced for violation of municipal/city ordinances; (b) persons detained pending trial before justices of the peace or municipal courts; (c) persons sentenced to pay a fine when subsidiary imprisonment for nonpayment does not exceed nine months, or sentenced to arresto menor/“arresto meno[r] and line” (as written), even if subsidiary imprisonment applies; (d) persons sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding thirty days; and (e) persons detained by order of a justice of the peace or judge of a municipal court pending preliminary investigation, until remanded to the Court of First Instance.
Except as otherwise provided, municipal prisoners shall be maintained by the city or municipality in which the offense was committed.
Provincial prisoners include: (a) persons detained pending preliminary investigation before a Court of First Instance judge, or pending trial before the Court of First Instance; (b) persons sentenced by a court of original jurisdiction to arresto mayor or presidio correctional or prision correccional for not exceeding one year, or to pay a fine not exceeding ₱500, or both (with a proviso that subsequent status follows Section 7); and (c) persons sentenced to imprisonment more than thirty days and not exceeding one year.
Provincial prisoners are maintained by the province in which the offense was committed, except as otherwise provided.
Insular prisoners are those who are neither municipal nor provincial, with an additional proviso that persons sentenced for violations of immigration/Chinese exclusion laws, customs and navigation laws, or Act No. 1411 (exportation prohibition of silver coins) are considered Insular prisoners whatever the sentence imposed.
Insular prisoners are maintained out of the appropriation for the Bureau of Prisons. Exception: no prisoner then under sentence in a provincial jail who has less than one year to serve (after deducting allowances earned for good conduct up to the date of the Act) shall be deemed Insular.
Pending appeal, status is not changed. If on appeal/review the prisoner’s status changes due to an increased or diminished sentence, responsibility for maintenance takes effect from the date of judgment of the higher court and is not retroactive.
The proper municipality pays, except expenses of Constabulary escorts, if any.
The proper province bears transportation/guarding/subsistence (except Constabulary escort expenses, if any). Return transportation of discharged Insular prisoners to their homes is paid out of the appropriation for the Bureau of Prisons.
The Governor-General may designate and establish Insular penal institutions or settlements, may direct transfers of Insular prisoners between them, and reasonable/actual expenses incurred in transporting/guarding/subsisting such prisoners are paid from the Bureau of Prisons appropriation—except when guarded by Constabulary escorts, in which case escort expenses are borne by the Bureau of Constabulary.
Finally convicted able-bodied male prisoners may be compelled to work in and about prisons, jails, public buildings/grounds/roads and other public works under regulations set by the Director of Prisons (approved by the Secretary of Public Instruction). It does not apply to persons over sixty years of age. Prisoners awaiting determination of appeals may be compelled to police their cells for hygienic/sanitary reasons. Finally convicted female prisoners may be assigned to work suitable to sex and physical condition.
Provincial boards, with approval of the Governor-General, may direct confinement of municipal prisoners in provincial jails when municipal jail conditions are inadequate/insecure. Maintenance cost while confined is charged to the municipality at a per capita rate per day not exceeding twenty centavos (to be fixed by the provincial board).
The Governor-General may order transfer of all or any prisoners committed to a provincial/municipal jail to an Insular prison/penal institution, and may also direct aid (assume: transfer back) to provincial/municipal jails when expedient. The order may include those serving sentences or awaiting preliminary examination/trial. The commitment order plus a copy of the transfer order must accompany the prisoners.
Bail proceedings must be brought in the court where the prisoner’s case is pending. If bail is offered and accepted, the prisoner is released by order of the court accepting bail; if the prisoner so elects, he is returned to the province from which transferred at the cost of the Insular Government (paid from the Bureau of Prisons appropriation).
The expenses are charged against the treasury of the province from which the prisoner was transferred, with the amount fixed by the Secretary of Public Instruction with the Governor-General’s approval.
The City of Manila is considered to be both a province and a municipality for purposes of the Act.
Nothing in the Acts on conditional pardons and paroles (and nothing in the Act on diminution of sentences for good behavior) should be construed to change the original status of prisoners or transfer the responsibility for their maintenance as defined and fixed by Act No. 1703.