G.R. No. 45129 ; September 24, 1936
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ANACLETO FOLLANTES and EUGENIO JACINTO, defendants. ANACLETO FOLLANTES, appellant.

FACTS

Anacleto Follantes was convicted of murder and sentenced by the lower court to reclusion perpetua. He appealed the judgment and filed a petition to be allowed to post bail (set at P15,000) for his provisional liberty pending the resolution of his appeal.

ISSUE

Whether a person convicted of murder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua is entitled to bail pending appeal.

RULING

No. The petition for bail pending appeal is denied. Under the Constitution, a person accused of a capital offense (like murder, punishable by reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death) before conviction is bailable only when evidence of guilt is not strong. After conviction, there is no absolute right to bail. The law ( Act No. 4178 ) grants bail as a matter of right only after judgment by a justice of the peace court, and in non-capital cases after judgment by other courts, as a matter of judicial discretion. Since murder is a capital crime and the appellant was convicted and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, bail pending appeal is not allowed.

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