G.R. No. 173473 , December 17, 2008.
People of the Philippines, Appellee, versus Beth Temporada, Appellant.

FACTS

The case involves the appellant, Beth Temporada, who was convicted of estafa. The legal discussion centers on the proper determination of the penalty for estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code, which prescribes penalties based on the amount of money involved.

ISSUE

The core issue pertains to the correct application of the penalty for estafa, specifically how to determine the minimum of the indeterminate sentence when the amount involved is exceedingly large (e.g., P500 Million), based on the graduated penalty structure and the provision for a penalty one degree lower.

RULING

The dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Azcuna, clarifies the penalty structure for estafa. When the amount involved exceeds P22,000, the penalty is prision correccional maximum to prision mayor minimum, plus one year for every P10,000 in excess, but not to exceed twenty years. This resulting penalty is then “termed” either prision mayor or reclusion temporal, depending on the total. For a very large amount like P500 Million, the prescribed penalty is reclusion temporal. Consequently, the penalty one degree lower is prision mayor. The minimum of the indeterminate sentence must be fixed within this range of prision mayor.