Act No.

4103
The Indeterminate Sentence Law

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR AN INDETERMINATE SENTENCE AND PAROLE FOR ALL PERSONS CONVICTED OF
CERTAIN CRIMES BY THE COURTS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS; TO CREATE A BOARD OF INDETERMINATE SENTENCE
AND TO PROVIDE FUNDS THEREFOR; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

ACT NO. 4103

(As Amended by Act No. 4225 and Republic Act No. 4203 [June 19, 1965])

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR AN INDETERMINATE SENTENCE AND PAROLE FOR ALL PERSONS CONVICTED OF
CERTAIN CRIMES BY THE COURTS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS; TO CREATE A BOARD OF INDETERMINATE SENTENCE
AND TO PROVIDE FUNDS THEREFOR; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Section 1. Hereafter, in imposing a prison sentence for an offense punished by the Revised Penal Code, or its
amendments, the court shall sentence the accused to an indeterminate sentence the maximum term of which
shall be that which, in view of the attending circumstances, could be properly imposed under the rules of the
said Code, and the minimum which shall be within the range of the penalty next lower to that prescribed by the
Code for the offense; and if the offense is punished by any other law, the court shall sentence the accused to
an indeterminate sentence, the maximum term of which shall not exceed the maximum fixed by said law and
the minimum shall not be less than the minimum term prescribed by the same.

Sec. 2. This Act shall not apply to persons convicted of offenses punished with death penalty or life-imprisonment;
to those convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason; to those convicted of misprision of
treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage; to those convicted of piracy; to those who are habitual delinquents; to
those who have escaped from confinement or evaded sentence; to those who having been granted conditional
pardon by the Chief Executive shall have violated the terms thereof; to those whose maximum term of
imprisonment does not exceed one year, not to those already sentenced by final judgment at the time of
approval of this Act, except as provided in Section 5 hereof.

Sec. 3. There is hereby created a Board of Pardons and Parole to be composed of the Secretary of Justice who
shall be its Chairman, and four members to be appointed by the President, with the consent of the Commission
on Appointments who shall hold office for a term of six years: Provided, That one member of the board shall be
a trained sociologist, one a clergyman or educator, one psychiatrist unless a trained psychiatrist be employed
by the board, and the other members shall be persons qualified for such work by training and experience. At
least one member of the board shall be a woman. Of the members of the present board, two shall be designated
by the President to continue until December thirty, nineteen hundred and sixty-six and the other two shall
continue until December thirty, nineteen hundred and sixty-nine. In case of any vacancy in the membership of
the Board, a successor may be appointed to serve only for the unexpired portion of the term of the respective
members.

Sec. 4. The Board of Pardons and Parole is authorized to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary
for carrying out its functions and duties. The Board is empowered to call upon any bureau, office, branch,
subdivision, agency or instrumentality of the Government for such assistance as it may need in connection with
the performance of its functions. A majority of all the members shall constitute a quorum and a majority vote shall
be necessary to arrive at a decision. Any dissent from the majority opinion shall be reduced to writing and filed
with the records of the proceedings. Each member of the Board, including the Chairman and the Executive
Officer, shall be entitled to receive as compensation fifty pesos for each meeting actually attended by him,
notwithstanding the provisions of Section two hundred and fifty-nine of the Revised Administrative Code, and in
addition thereto, reimbursement of actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred in the performance of
duties: Provided, however, That the Board meetings will not be more than three times a week.

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the Board of Indeterminate Sentence to look into the physical, mental and moral
record of the prisoners who shall be eligible to parole and to determine the proper time of release of such

Indeterminate Sentence Law Act. No 4103 Page 1 of 4

prisoners. Whenever any prisoner shall have served the minimum penalty imposed on him, and it shall appear to
the Board of Indeterminate Sentence, from the reports of the prisoner's work and conduct which may be
received in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed, and from the study and investigation made
by the Board itself, that such prisoner is fitted by his training for release, that there is a reasonable probability that
such prisoner will live and remain at liberty without violating the law, and that such release will not be
incompatible with the welfare of society, said Board of Indeterminate Sentence may, in its discretion, and in
accordance with the rules and regulations adopted hereunder, authorize the release of such prisoner on parole,
upon such terms and conditions as are herein prescribed and as may be prescribed by the Board. The said Board
of Indeterminate Sentence shall also examine the records and status of prisoners who shall have been convicted
of any offense other than those named in Section 2 hereof, and have been sentenced for more than one year
by final judgment prior to the date on which this Act shall take effect, and shall make recommendation in all
such cases to the Governor-General with regard to the parole of such prisoners as they shall deem qualified for
parole as herein provided, after they shall have served a period of imprisonment not less than the minimum period
for which they might have been sentenced under this Act for the same offense.

Sec. 6. Every prisoner released from confinement on parole by virtue of this Act shall, at such times and in such
manner as may be required by the conditions of his parole, as may be designated by the said Board for such
purpose, report personally to such government officials or other parole officers hereafter appointed by the Board
of Indeterminate Sentence for a period of surveillance equivalent to the remaining portion of the maximum
sentence imposed upon him or until final release and discharge by the Board of Indeterminate Sentence as
herein provided. The officials so designated shall keep such records and make such reports and perform such
other duties hereunder as may be required by said Board. The limits of residence of such paroled prisoner during
his parole may be fixed and from time to time changed by the said Board in its discretion. If during the period of
surveillance such paroled prisoner shall show himself to be a law-abiding citizen and shall not violate any of the
laws of the Philippine Islands, the Board of Indeterminate Sentence may issue a final certificate of release in his
favor, which shall entitle him to final release and discharge.

Sec. 7. The Board shall file with the court which passed judgment on the case, and with the Chief of Constabulary,
a certified copy of each order of conditional or final release and discharge issued in accordance with the
provisions of the next preceding two sections.

Sec. 8. Whenever any prisoner released on parole by virtue of this Act shall, during the period of surveillance,
violate any of the conditions of his parole, the Board of Indeterminate Sentence may issue an order for his re-
arrest which may be served in any part of the Philippine Islands by any police officer. In such case the prisoner so
re-arrested shall serve the remaining unexpired portion of the maximum sentence for which he was originally
committed to prison, unless the Board of Indeterminate Sentence shall, in its discretion, grant a new parole to the
said prisoner.

Sec. 9. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair or interfere with the powers of the Governor-General as
set forth in Section 64(i) of the Revised Administrative Code or the Act of Congress approved August 29, 1916
entitled "An Act to declare the purpose of the people of the United States as to the future political status of the
people of the Philippine Islands, and to provide a more autonomous government for those Islands."
Sec. 10. Whenever any prisoner shall be released on parole hereunder he shall be entitled to receive the benefits
provided in Section 1751 of the Revised Administrative Code.

Approved: December 5, 1933.

Indeterminate Sentence Law Act. No 4103 Page 2 of 4

Indeterminate Sentence Law - Explained

The purposes of this law are the following:

1.) Promote the prisoner's reformation by allowing him to serve sentence under a parole officer
2.) Decongest the jails by allowing prisoners to be admitted into parole
3.) Allow the government to save money on maintaining the jails
4.) Prevent the prisoners' economic usefulness from going to waste.

The indeterminate sentence law is an old law, dating back to the American period -as can be seen from its
number: Act 4103 as amended by Act 4225. It's "Act," not RA or CA. It affects all criminal laws, whether from the
Revised Penal Code or not so long as they don't fall into the instances enumerated by the indeterminate
sentence law itself. Those instances are:

1.) Crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment

2.) Those convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason
3.) Those convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage
4.) Those convicted of piracy
5.) Habitual delinquents (but recidivists can qualify for indeterminate sentence -they're not the same as habitual
offenders)
6.) Those who escaped from confinement/service or sentence
7.) Those who were granted conditional pardon but violated the terms of the pardon
8.) In case the maximum prison term doesn't exceed 1 year
9.) Those already serving sentence when the indeterminate sentence law took effect (no longer applicable
because they're all dead)

Anybody who commits a crime falling under any of the above instances can't qualify for indeterminate sentence.
Consequently, a person who violated the Dangerous Drugs Act can qualify for indeterminate sentence if the
maximum penalty he's facing isn't in life imprisonment; the death penalty was repealed in 2006 by RA 9346.

The indeterminate sentence law is all about parole. If convicted an indeterminate sentence is imposed by the
court, depending on the law in question. There are 2 possible scenarios:

1.) If the law is part of the Revised Penal Code

The maximum penalty is fixed in accordance with the rules of the Revised Penal Code, taking into account the
attending circumstances. The minimum penalty will be put within the range of the penalty next lower than what
the Revised Penal Code has prescribed. In case of a complex crime (i.e. when a single act produces 2 or more
crimes,) the full range of the penalty next lower in degree will be considered in determining the minimum penalty.

2.) If the law in question is a special law

The maximum term can't exceed the maximum that the law in question has prescribed and the minimum can't
be less than the prescribed minimum.

In case the penalty comes from the result of a plea-bargaining, the minimum penalty will be the one lower than
that of the downgraded offense.

Minimum and maximum penalties are specified in order to prevent unnecessary deprivation of liberty and
enhance his economic usefulness. The maximum penalty is necessary for the imposition of accessory penalties
while the minimum penalty is important to allow the prisoner the chance for parole. In short, he is given a chance
to redeem himself.

Indeterminate Sentence Law Act. No 4103 Page 3 of 4

Once the minimum term is served, the prisoner becomes eligible for parole if he proves that he has complied
with the conditions imposed on him when he was made to serve sentence. Parole doesn't mean a person has
fully served sentence, however. It means that he is allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence out of jail but
under the supervision of an appointed parole officer. He is required to report to this parole officer on appointed
dates for the remainder of the prison term. During parole, the prisoner released on parole must apply himself to
a legitimate occupation and prove himself to be a law-abiding citizen. His residence will be fixed and changed
from time to time under the discretion of the Board of Indeterminate Sentence/Board of Pardons and Parole. The
board can issue a final certification of release if the paroled prisoner has proven himself to be a law-abiding
citizen.

If he violates the terms and conditions of his parole he can be arrested again. If that happens, he will have to
serve the remaining term of his prison sentence behind bars.

Indeterminate Sentence Law Act. No 4103 Page 4 of 4