Practice question
Four valid fixed ten-year imprisonment terms fall within Article 70. No credits or other custody basis apply. Officials say forty years must be served because forty is always the minimum. Which is sound?
- The applicable threefold maximum is thirty years; forty is an outer ceiling, not a minimum.
- Every multi-count conviction requires at least forty years.
- The statutory ceiling can never shorten the arithmetic sum.
- Ten years automatically completes all terms simultaneously.
- The jailer may replace the statutory comparison.
Legal references
- In re Petition for Habeas Corpus of Pete Lagran, G.R. No. 147270, August 15, 2001, main decision, successive service and Article 70: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2001/aug2001/gr_147270_2001.html
- Mejorada v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. Nos. L-51065-72, June 30, 1987, en banc main decision, imposition distinguished from service: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1987/jun1987/gr_l-51065_1987.html
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