G.R. No. 1767 : January 21, 1905
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. GAVINO GARCIA, defendant-appellant.

FACTS:
The defendant, Gavino Garcia, was convicted by the Court of First Instance for the crime of robbery and sentenced to five years of imprisonment. The evidence established that Garcia robbed Alejandro Masa and Julian Miguel of the sums of two pesos and eight pesos, respectively. The robbery was committed with intimidation. The trial court found no aggravating circumstances, noting that while the crime occurred at night, this circumstance was not purposely sought by the accused as his meeting with the victims was merely accidental.

ISSUE:
Whether the penalty imposed by the trial court is correct under the applicable provisions of the Penal Code.

RULING:
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the nomenclature of the penalty. The crime of robbery with intimidation is punishable under paragraph 5 of Article 503 of the Penal Code, as the facts did not fall under the first four paragraphs. The prescribed penalty is presidio correccional to presidio mayor in its medium degree. With no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, the penalty was properly imposed in its medium degree. The sentence of five years’ imprisonment falls within this medium degree. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment with the clarification that the penalty is five years of prision correccional, not simply prision. The defendant was also ordered to make restitution of the unrecovered two pesos to Alejandro Masa and to pay the costs of both instances.