FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 1292 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
· 
1 I 
This bill corrects the outdated part of Article 39 which states that 
subsidiary personal liability of a convict is at the rate of one day for each Eight 
Pesos (PS.OO). Instead, One Hundred Pesos (P100.00) will be the rate of the 
subsidiary personal liability. The latest amendment to Article 39 was embodied in 
R.A. 5465 on April 21, 1969. 
This bill also clarifies paragraph 2 of Article 39 whereby the principal 
penalty referred to shall be that imposed upon conviction of the culprit, and not 
that for which he might have been prosecuted, since the penalty imposed upon 
conviction due to plea bargaining or evidence during the trial might be lower than 
the penalty of the felony for which the culprit might have been originally 
prosecuted. 
Approval of this measure is requested on behalf of those who cannot 
afford to pay the fine due to poverty and are subjected to a subsidiary personal 
liability or subsidiary imprisonment. 
1 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 1292 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT 
., 
TO AMEND ARTICLE 39 OF ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED, THE REVISED 
PENAL CODE, DEFINING THE EXTENT TO WHICH SUBSIDIARY 
IMPRISONMENT SHALL BE REQUIRED 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Article 39' on "Subsidiary Penalty" of Act No. 3815, as 
amended, the Revised Penal Code, is hereby further amended to read as 
follows: 
"ART. 39. Subsidiary Penalty. -
If the convict has no 
property with which to meet the fine mentioned in paragraph 3 of 
the next preceding article, he shall be subject to a subsidiary 
personal liability at the rate of one day for each ONE HUNDRED 
[eight] Pesos (P100.00), subject to the following rules: 
1. 
If 
the 
principal 
penalty 
imposed 
be 
prision 
correccional or arresto and fine, he shall remain under 
confinement until his fine referred to in the preceding 
paragraph is satisfied, but his subsidiary imprisonment shall 
not exceed one-third of the term of the sentence, and in no 
case shall it continue for more than one (1) year, and no 
fraction or part of a day shall be counted against the 
prisoner. 
2. 
When the principal penalty imposed be only a fine, 
the subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed six (6) months, 
if the culprit shall have been CONVICTED OF [prosecuted 
for] a grave or less grave felony. 
3. 
When the principal penalty imposed is higher than 
prision correcciona/, no subsidiary imprisonment shall be 
imposed upon the .culprit. 
2 


4. 
If the principal penalty imposed is not to be executed 
by confinement in a penal institution, but such penalty is of 
fixed duration, the convict, during the time established in the 
preceding 
rules, 
shall 
continue to 
suffer the same 
deprivations as those of which the principal penalty consists. 
5. 
The subsidiary personal liability which the convict may 
have suffered by reason of his insolvency shall not relieve 
him, from the fine in case his financial circumstance should 
improve." 
SECTION 2. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect upon approval and 
completion of publication in one (1) newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved, 
3