MANILA, Philippines – In a recently publicized ruling, the Supreme Court (SC) said that a person’s detention beyond the supposed maximum jail time “is not only cruel and inhumane, but also undermines the dignity of detainees.”
The High Court, in a decision written by Associate Justice Mario Lopez, affirmed the conviction of a certain Jovelyn Antonio for qualified theft. However, the SC ordered Antonio’s immediate release because she already finished her supposed sentence.
“The Court emphasized that the power of the courts to commit prisoners carries with it the duty to immediately release them in case of detention for a period equivalent to or longer than the maximum imposable penalty,” the SC said.
Antonio was convicted by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of qualified theft for stealing money from a pawnshop where she worked. According to the High Court, Antonio used other people to pawn fake items, which resulted in the issuance of P585,250 in appraised value to the said pawners.
In the RTC ruling, Antonio was sentenced to reclusion perpetua or at least 30 years, and was committed to Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong on November 24, 2011. She appealed her case at the Court of Appeals, but the the appellate court affirmed her conviction, so she brought her case to the SC.
The SC ruled that the prosecution was able to prove all the elements of qualified theft. The High Court also ruled that it was proven that Antonio took proceeds from the fake transactions and abused the confidence given to her by her employer.
“Under Article 308 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), there is theft when one, with intent to gain but without violence, intimidation, or force, takes the personal property of another without consent. The crime is qualified, increasing the penalty, when committed with grave abuse of confidence,” the High Court said.
Although the court upheld Antonio’s conviction, the SC, however, did not agree with the penalty given to her. The SC said given the amount stolen, the penalty of the crime should have been prision mayor, which only carries imprisonment of up to 10 years and eight months. Since Antonio was jailed for almost 12 years, this meant she had already served her penalty, and was detained beyond the maximum jail time for her case.
In the ruling, the SC acknowledged that the protection of the rights of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) is consistent with the principles under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners or the Nelson Mandela Rules.
These rules provide that “purposes of a sentence of imprisonment or similar measures deprivative of a person’s liberty are primarily to protect society against crime and to reduce recidivism. Those purposes can be achieved only if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, the reintegration of such persons into society upon release so that they can lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life.”
Rule 3 of Mandela Rules also states that: “Imprisonment and other measures that result in cutting off persons from the outside world are afflictive by the very fact of taking from these persons the right of self-determination by depriving them of their liberty. Therefore the prison system shall not, except as incidental to justifiable separation or the maintenance of discipline, aggravate the suffering inherent in such a situation.” – Rappler.com