THIRD
DIVISION
PEOPLE
OF THE
PHILIPPINES,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
G.
R.
Nos. 94994-95
March
7, 1997
-versus-
LILIBETH
CACO y
PALMARIO
and TEODORO CACO y LAPADA,
Accused-Appellant.
R
E S O L U
T I O N
DAVIDE,
JR., J.:
In our decision promulgated
on 24 May 1993, We affirmed in toto the decision of Branch 172
of
the Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela, Metro Manila, in Criminal Case
No. 10108-V-90 finding accused-appellant Lilibeth Caco y Palmario
guilty
beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 4, Article II of the
Dangerous
Drugs Act of 1972 (R. A. No. 6425), as amended, and sentencing her to
suffer
the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P20,000.00.
In a motion filed on
17 November 1995, the appellant, through the Public Attorney's Office,
filed a "Motion for Modification of Sentence Pursuant to R. A. 7659."
She
alleged therein that she has been detained since 23 February 1990 and
is
presently serving her sentence at the Correctional Institution for
Women
at Mandaluyong City; that the marijuana involved in this case is "ten
[10]
sticks, costing P20.00 only which is less than 200 grams"; and that
pursuant
to People v. Simon (234 SCRA 555 [1994]) and People v. De Lara (236
SCRA
291 [1994]), the penalty imposable therefor under R. A. No. 7659 is
prision
correccional whose duration is from six months and one day to six
years.
She then prayed that the decision of 14 May 1993 be reconsidered and
the
life imprisonment meted upon her be reduced accordingly.cralaw:red
We required the Office
of the Solicitor General to comment on the motion. On 17 January 1997,
the Office of the Solicitor General filed a Manifestation in Lieu of
Comment
wherein it agreed with the appellant that she is entitled to the
application
of the decisions in People v. Simon and People v. De Lara. It did not
refute
the allegations of the appellant that the marijuana involved in this
case
is less than 200 grams and that she has been in detention since 23
February
1990. It then concluded that the appellant deserves to be released from
prison.cralaw:red
Amplifying People v.
Simon, We ruled in People v. De Lara:
If the marijuana
involved
is from 500 to 749 grams, the penalty to be imposed is reclusion
temporal.
If the marijuana involved is from 250 to 499 grams, the penalty to be
imposed
is prision mayor, and if the weight of the marijuana involved is below
250 grams, the penalty to be imposed is prision correccional.
Since the weight of
the marijuana involved in the instant case is below 250 grams, the
penalty
imposable pursuant to R. A. No. 7659, as interpreted in People v. Simon
and in People v. De Lara, is prision correccional, whose duration is
from
six months and one day to six years. We declared in People v. Simon
that
provisions of R. A. No. 7659 which are favorable to the accused should
be given retroactive effect.
Our decision of 14 May
1993 cannot, however, be modified because it had long become final and
the appellant is already serving the sentence.
It is settled that where
the decision is already final, the appropriate remedy of an accused to
secure release from prison in view of the retroactive effect of a
favorable
law is to file a petition for habeas corpus. Nonetheless, although the
remedy availed of by the appellant is a motion for modification of
sentence,
it may be treated as a substantial compliance with the rules on habeas
corpus. This is an approach we recognized in Angeles v. Director of the
New Bilibid Prison (240 SCRA 49 [1995]), People v. Agustin (248 SCRA 44
[1995]), and People v. Labriaga (250 SCRA 763 [1995]). We treat the
motion
in question as one for habeas corpus.cralaw:red
WHEREFORE, considering
that as of now the accused-appellant has been in detention for seven
[7]
years, or for more than the maximum imposable penalty for the offense
she
committed, which is only six [6] years in light of People v. Simon and
People v. De Lara, the Director of the Bureau of Corrections is hereby
ORDERED to RELEASE immediately from confinement accused-appellant
LILIBETH
CACO y PALMARIO unless her further detention is justified by other
lawful
cause.cralaw:red
SO ORDERED. Narvasa, C.J.,
Melo, Francisco and Panganiban, JJ., concur. |