[ G.R. No. L-2391 and L-2392, February 22, 1950 ]
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. DIONISIO DIZON Y GUEVARRA ET AL., DEFENDANTS. HERNANDO DE CASTRO Y BURGOS, APPELLANT.
D E C I S I O N
TUASON, J.:
The informations are as follows:
"Criminal Case No.
"That on or about the 30th day of January, 1948, in the City of Manila, Philippines, the said accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously, with intent of gain and by means of force and intimidation, to wits by pointing a pistol at one Adriano Perlado and threatening to shoot him should he offer any resistance, or shout for help, took, stole and carried away against the will of the said Adriano Perlado, a 'Gruen' wrist watch, valued at P400, and 1 Parker '51' fountain pen, valued at P35.00, belonging to him, to his damage and prejudice in the total amount of P435.00, Philippine Currency.
"That the accused Hernando de Castro y Burgos is a recidivist, he having been previously convicted by final judgment of competent court for the crime of theft.""Criminal Case No. 5576
"That on or about the 30th day of January, 1948, in the City of Manila, Philippines, the said accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously, with intent of gain and by means of force and intimidation, to wit: by pointing a pistol at one Bienvenido Rosete and threatening to shoot him should he offer any resistance or, shout for help, took, stole and carried away against the will of the said Bienvenido Rosete, 1 'Harman' wrist watch, valued at P80.00, and 1 'Universal' fountain pen, valued at P4, belonging to him, to his damage and prejudice in the total amount of P84, Philippine currency.
"That the accused Hernando de Castro y Burgos is a recidivist, he having been previously convicted by final judgment of competent court for the crime of theft."
Counsel for the defendant believes that the appropriate penalty in each case is 4 months and 1 day of arresto mayor as minimum and 6 years, 1 month and 11 days of prision mayor as maximum.
The penalty prescribed by Art. 294, No. 5ยป of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Section 6 of Republic Act No. 18 is prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its medium; period. Since the aggravating circumstance of recidivism charged in
the information is offset by appellant's plea of guilty, the prescribed penalty, following the provision of rules 1 and 4 of Art. 64 of the Revised Penal Code, should be imposed in its medium period, that is, from 6 years and 1 day to 8 years.
In accordance with Section 1 of the Indeterminate Sentence Law (Act No. 103), as amended by Act 4225, the minimum penalty should not be less than h months and 1 day of arresto mayor nor more than 4 years and 2 months of prision correccional. and the maximum, not less
than 6 years and 1 day nor more than 8 years of prision mayor. The minimum penalty imposed in each case is correct but the maximum of 4 years, 2 months and 1 day is below the range.
Wherefore, the appellant is sentenced in each case to 4 months and 1 day of arresto mayor as minimum and 6 years and 1 day of prision mayor as maximum. There is an obvious typographical or inadvertent error in the judgment with regard to the indemnity in case
No. 5576. Instead of P4, the figure should be P84, which is the true value of the articles robbed, according to the information.
With these modifications, the judgment appealed from is affirmed with costs of this instance against the appellant.
Moran, C. J., Ozaeta, Paras, Pablo, Bengzon, Padilla Montemayor, Reyes, and Torres, JJ., concur.