On
Maltreatment Of Prisoners

ART.235

Maltreatment of prisoners. - The penalty of arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period, in addition to his liability for the physical injuries or damage caused, shall be imposed upon any public officer or employee who shall overdo himself in the correction or handling of a prisoner or detention prisoner under his charge, by the imposition of punishment not authorized by the regulations, or by inflicting such punishment in a cruel and humiliating manner.

If the purpose of the maltreatment is to extort a confession, or to obtain some information from the prisoner, the offender shall be punished by prision correccional in its minimum period, temporary special disqualification and a fine not exceeding 500 pesos, in addition to his liability for the physical injuries or damage caused.

ELEMENTS:
1. That the offender is a public officer or employee;
2. That he has charge of a prisoner or detention prisoner (otherwise the crime is physical injuries); and
3. That he maltreats such prisoner in either of the following manners:
a. by overdoing himself in the correction or handling of a prisoner or detention prisoner under his charge either –
i. by the imposition of punishments not authorized by the regulations, or
ii. by inflicting such punishments (those authorized) in a cruel and humiliating manner, or
b. by maltreating such prisoner to extort a confession or to obtain some information from the prisoner.

The public officer must have actual charge of the prisoner in order to be held liable (not merely by legal fiction)
1. Offended party: Convict by final judgment or detention prisoner

 - To be considered a detention prisoner, the person arrested must be placed in jail even for just a short time.

   - Maltreatment not due to personal grudge.

2. Offenders may also be held liable for physical injuries or damage caused. (Penalty provided in Article 235 is imposed in addition to penalty for injury or damage caused)

This is committed only by such public officer charged with direct custody of the prisoner.

If the public officer is not the custodian of the prisoner, and he manhandles the latter, the crime is physical injuries.

The offended party can either be a convict by final judgment or a detention prisoner.

The maltreatment does not really require physical injuries. Any kind of punishment not authorized or though authorized if executed in excess of the prescribed degree.

If the maltreatment was done in order to extort confession, the penalty is qualified to the next higher degree.

Bar Exam Question (1999)

Grave Coercion vs. Maltreatment of Prisoner (1999)

Forcibly brought to the police headquarters, a person was tortured and maltreated by agents of the law in order to compel him to confess a crime imputed to him. The agents failed, however, to draw from him a confession which was their intention to obtain through the employment of such means. What crime was committed by the agents of the law? Explain your answer. 

Suggested Answer:

Evidently, the person tortured and maltreated by the agents of the law is a suspect and may have been detained by them. If so and he had already been booked and put in jail, the crime is maltreatment of prisoner and the fact that the suspect was subjected to torture to extort a confession would bring about a higher penalty. In addition to the offender's liability for the physical injuries inflicted. But if the suspect was forcibly brought to the police headquarters to make him admit the crime and tortured/ maltreated to make him confess to such crime, but later released because the agents failed to draw such confession, the crime is grave coercion because of the violence employed to compel such confession without the offended party being confined in jail. (US vs. Cusi, 10 Phil 143) It is noted that the offended party was merely "brought" to the police headquarters and is thus not a detention prisoner. Had he been validly arrested, the crime committed would be maltreatment of prisoners.