CRIMINAL LAW CASE DIGEST | PEOPLE V. ONG TA, 70 PHIL. 553
PEOPLE V. ONG TA,
70 PHIL. 553
FACTS
That on or about
the 30th day of December, 1937, in the City of Manila, Philippines, the said
accused, with intent to kill and with evident premeditation, did then and there
willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and wound with a knife or
sharp instrument one Chan Suy Hua inflicting upon him several wounds on the
stomach and other parts of his body, which wounds directly caused the death of
the said Chan Suy.
ISSUE
The question involved
in this appeal refers to the application of the proper penalty.
RULING
The court held
that the penalty for murder is reclusion temporal in its maximum period to
death. (Art. 248, Revised Penal Code.) Appellant having committed the crime
while a minor, over 15 and under 18 years of age, the penalty next lower in
degree than that prescribed by law, shall be imposed in the proper period; that
is, prision mayor in its maximum period, to reclusion temporal in its medium
period. Considering the mitigating circumstance of plea of guilty, which is not
offset by any aggravating circumstance, the penalty should be imposed in its
minimum period or from ten years and one day to twelve years of prision mayor.
In the present case, paragraph 2 of article 68 of the Revised Penal Code should
be applied and in accordance with the Indeterminate Sentence Law, which the
trial court failed to apply, the appellant should be, and is hereby, sentenced
to an indeterminate penalty of from five years of prision correccional to ten
years and one day of prision mayor.