Legal basis: amended Revised Penal Code
- Section 1 amends Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code.
- Section 1 changes how preventive imprisonment is deducted from the sentence of an offender.
- Section 1 governs credit for offenders who have undergone preventive imprisonment (detention prisoners).
Policy and purpose of crediting detention
- Article 29 establishes that preventive imprisonment must be credited toward an offender’s term of imprisonment consisting of deprivation of liberty.
- Article 29 ties the amount of credit to the offender’s written voluntary agreement to abide by disciplinary rules imposed on convicted prisoners.
- Article 29 reduces the credit when the detention prisoner does not comply with the agreement requirement or certain surrender conditions.
Definition of preventive imprisonment credit
- Article 29 provides credit for “offenders who have undergone preventive imprisonment” in the service of their sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty.
- Article 29 requires credit to be computed based on either:
- full time, or
- four-fifths (4/5) of the time undergone as preventive imprisonment.
- Article 29 uses the term “detention prisoner” to refer to the offender undergoing preventive imprisonment.
Coverage: who gets full credit
- Article 29 grants full time credit for preventive imprisonment to detention prisoners who undergo detention imprisonment and who:
- agree voluntarily in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted prisoners.
- Article 29 limits full credit through enumerated exceptions even if the detention prisoner signs the written voluntary agreement.
- Article 29 applies at the stage when the offender’s sentence is executed (when summoned for execution of the sentence).
Substantive rules: full credit conditions and exceptions
- Article 29 provides full time credit for preventive imprisonment when the detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing to abide by disciplinary rules imposed on convicted prisoners.
- Article 29 withholds full time credit in these cases:
- (1) when the detention prisoner is a recidivist, or has been convicted previously twice or more times of any crime; and
- (2) when, upon being summoned for the execution of the sentence, the detention prisoner failed to surrender voluntarily.
- Article 29 directs the consequence for non-qualifying detention prisoners by prescribing a reduced credit amount.
Reduced credit: four-fifths rule
- Article 29 provides that if the detention prisoner does not agree to abide by the disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, the detention prisoner receives credit of four-fifths of the time during which he has undergone preventive imprisonment.
- Article 29 uses the reduced credit rule as an alternative when the detention prisoner does not meet the agreement requirement.
- Article 29 states the reduced credit outcome as the service credit computation for preventive imprisonment.
How credit operates in sentencing execution
- Article 29 conditions full credit on a detention prisoner’s written voluntary agreement to abide by disciplinary rules imposed on convicted prisoners.
- Article 29 requires consideration of recidivist status and prior convictions when deciding whether full credit applies.
- Article 29 requires consideration of voluntary surrender at the time of being summoned for execution of the sentence to determine eligibility for full credit.