G.R. No. L‑3249
December 28 1906

FACTS
– José Flor Mata, proprietor of a grocery store, possessed a retail liquor license but no wholesale license.
– On 3 August 1905 he sold forty bottles (≈3/4 L each) of distilled spirit to Ng‑Chin, agent of Kwong‑Ung‑Lung & Co., amounting to >2 decaliters, delivered and paid for on the same day.
– He was charged with selling >2 decaliters of alcohol at a single sale without a wholesale license, in violation of Act No. 1189 (Sec. 66 & Sec. 68(6)) and Act No. 1338.
– The trial court imposed a fine of ₱200 and ordered subsidiary imprisonment in case of non‑payment.

ISSUE
Whether subsidiary imprisonment may be imposed for the offense of unlicensed wholesale liquor sales when the penal provision of the Philippine Commission Act does not expressly authorize imprisonment as a subsidiary penalty.

RULING
– The Supreme Court held that subsidiary imprisonment cannot be imposed unless the statute expressly provides for it.
– Since neither Act No. 1189 nor Act No. 1338 includes a provision for subsidiary imprisonment for the offense charged, the portion of the judgment imposing such imprisonment was reversed.
– The fine of ₱200 was affirmed, and costs of the appeal were awarded to the United States.
– The case was remanded for entry of judgment and compliance with the modified order.