G.R. No. L-9725 October 19, 1955
FLORA CADIMAS, petitioner, vs. THE DIRECTOR OF PRISONS, respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Flora Cadimas’s husband, Donato Cachola, is a prisoner at the Iwahig Penal Colony under the control of the respondent Director of Prisons. His imprisonment is pursuant to a final decision of the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur dated January 18, 1955, which sentenced him to five years imprisonment and a fine of P1,000, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency. He was convicted for the crime of illegal possession of military ammunition (a hand grenade) committed on or about March 16, 1951, allegedly in violation of Republic Act No. 4 .

ISSUE

Whether the conviction and imprisonment of Donato Cachola for illegal possession of military ammunition in March 1951 is valid, given the applicable laws at the time.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the writ of habeas corpus and ordered the release of Donato Cachola. The Court held that in March 1951, the unlicensed possession of firearms or ammunition was not unlawful. Republic Act No. 482 had extended the period for the surrender of unlicensed arms and ammunition to June 10, 1951. During this extended period, only the use of such arms or ammunition or carrying them on one’s person was made punishable. The information against Cachola did not allege that he made use of the hand grenade or carried it on his person. Therefore, the information did not charge any crime. Consequently, his conviction was void. The Court further ruled that Cachola’s plea of guilty constituted only an admission of the facts alleged in the information, not an admission that the acts charged were unlawful, and it did not cure the defect in the court’s jurisdiction.