G.R. No. 43973 , December 21, 1935
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. PONCIANO CARBALLO, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Ponciano Carballo was convicted of bigamy in 1927. He was granted a conditional pardon in 1929. In 1930, he was charged with violating that pardon because he committed violations of a city ordinance (for which he was fined) during the period from October to December 1929. He was prosecuted under Article 159 of the newly enacted Revised Penal Code, which punishes violation of conditional pardon. After initially pleading not guilty, he withdrew his plea and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced and appealed.

ISSUE

Whether Carballo can be validly convicted under Article 159 of the Revised Penal Code for acts constituting a violation of his conditional pardon that were committed before the said Code took effect.

RULING

No. The judgment of conviction is reversed and Carballo is acquitted. At the time the alleged violations were committed (October-December 1929), there was no law in the Philippines that made the violation of a conditional pardon a crime. Act No. 1524 only provided for the enforcement of the conditions but did not define the violation as a penal offense. The Revised Penal Code, which took effect on January 1, 1932, and for the first time penalized such violation under Article 159, cannot be applied retroactively to punish an act that was not criminal when done. Applying it here would constitute an ex post facto law, which is prohibited. Penal laws have no retroactive effect except when they are favorable to the accused.

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