Prision Mayor: Meaning and Duration

Article 27, as amended by Section 21 of Republic Act No. 7659, gives prision mayor and temporary disqualification the same duration. It:

Article 76 divides it into three periods:

Courts use these periods when a crime is punished by, for example, "prision mayor in its minimum period". All penalties are in the table of the duration of penalties and in Article 27.

Afflictive. Article 25 lists the afflictive penalties as reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification, perpetual or temporary special disqualification, and prision mayor. Prision correccional, the next penalty down, is correctional.

One example is bigamy:

See bigamy in the Philippines. Other articles use only part of the penalty, or combine it with the next penalty, such as "prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its medium period".

Article 90, as amended by Republic Act No. 4661, says crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua or reclusion temporal prescribe in twenty years, and crimes punishable by other afflictive penalties prescribe in fifteen years. Prision mayor is one of those other afflictive penalties. See prescription of crimes.

Made-up illustration: Rodel marries Liza while his first marriage is still in force and was never declared void or dissolved. If he is convicted of bigamy, Article 349 sets the penalty at prision mayor, which runs from six years and one day to twelve years. A maximum term of more than six years is one of the grounds that bars probation under the Probation Law as amended. The exact sentence is fixed by the court.