Professional Documents
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Criminal Law - Book
Criminal Law - Book
1. GENERAL - it is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory (Art. 14,
NCC)
EXCEPTIONS:
a) Treaty stipulations
b) Laws of preferential application
c) Principles of Public International Law.
Consuls, vice-consuls and other commercial representatives of foreign nation cannot claim the
privileges and immunities accorded to ambassadors and ministers.
2. TERRITORIAL – penal laws of the Philippines are enforceable only within its territory.
EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION: Penal laws not applicable within or without Philippine
territory if so provided in treaties and laws of preferential application. (Art.2, RPC)
3. PROSPECTIVE
GENERAL RULE: Penal laws cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it was not
punishable when committed.
EXCEPTION: (it may be applied retroactively) When the new law is favorable to the accused.
a) The new law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of actions.
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1. No ex post facto law shall be enacted
2. No bill of attainder shall be enacted
3. No law that violates equal protection clause of the constitution shall be enacted
4. No law which imposes cruel and unusual punishments nor excessive fines shall be enacted.
1. Classical Theory - basis of criminal liability is human free will. Under this theory, the purpose of
penalty is retribution. The RPC is generally governed by this theory.
2. Positivist Theory – basis of criminal liability is the sum of the social and economic phenomena to
which the actor is exposed wherein prevention and correction is the purpose of penalty. This
theory is exemplified in the provisions regarding impossible crimes and habitual delinquency.
3. Eclectic or Mixed Theory – combination of positivist and classical thinking wherein crimes that
are economic and social in nature should be dealt in a positive manner; thus, the law is more
compassionate.
PRELIMINARY TITLE
ART. 2 – APPLICATION OF ITS PROVISIONS
Article 2. Application of its provisions. - Except as provided in the treaties and laws of
preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the
Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also
outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or
obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the
obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of
their functions; or
5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations,
defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code.
RULES ON VESSELS:
ENGLISH RULE: Crimes committed aboard a vessel within the territorial waters of a country are
triable in the courts of such country.
EXCEPTION: When the crimes merely affect things within the vessel or when they only refer to
the internal management thereof.
FRENCH RULE:
GENERAL RULE: Crimes committed aboard vessel within the territorial waters of a country are
not triable in the courts of said country.
EXCEPTION: When their commission affects the peace and security of the territory or when the
safety of the state is endangered.
In the case of a foreign warship, the same is not subject to territorial laws.
ART. 3 – FELONIES
Article 3. Definition. - Acts and omissions punishable by law are felonies (delitos).
Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of fault (culpa).
There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberate intent; and there is fault when the
wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill.
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Felonies – are acts or omissions punishable by the RPC.
Mistake of Fact – is a misapprehension of fact on the part of the person causing injury to another.
Such person is not criminally liable as he acted without criminal intent.
a. That the act done would have been lawful had the facts been as the accused believed
them to be.
b. That the intention of the accused in performing the act should be lawful.
c. That the mistake must be without fault or carelessness on the part of the accused.
a. Freedom
b. Intelligence
c. Negligence and Imprudence
REASON FOR PUNSHING ACTS OF NEGLIGENCE: A man must use common sense and exercise
due reflection in all his acts; it is his duty to be cautious, careful and prudent.
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Mala Prohibita - the class of crimes punishable by SPECIAL LAWS and where criminal intent is not,
as a rule, necessary, it being sufficient that the offender has the intent to perpetrate the act prohibited
by the special law.
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PAR. 1 - Criminal Liability for a felony different from that intended to be committed
REQUISITES:
PROXIMATE CAUSE – that cause, which, in the natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any
efficient intervening cause, produces the injury without which the result would not have occurred.
REQUISITES:
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STAGES OF EXECUTION:
1. CONSUMMATED FELONY
When all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are present.
2. FRUSTRATED FELONY
ELEMENTS:
1) Rape
2) Bribery
3) Corruption of Public Officers
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4) Adultery
5) Physical Injury
3. ATTEMPTED FELONY
ELEMENTS:
a) The offender commences the commission of the felony directly by overt acts.
b) He does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony.
c) The offender’s acts are not stopped by his own spontaneous desistance.
DESISTANCE - is an absolutory cause which negates criminal liability because the law encourages a
person to desist from committing a crime.
OVERT ACTS – Some physical activity or deed, indicating intention to commit a particular crime,
more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried to its complete termination following its
natural course, without being frustrated by external obstacles, nor by voluntary desistance of the
perpetrator will logically ripen into a concrete offense.
INDETERMINATE OFFENSE: One where the purpose of the offender in performing an act is not
certain. The accused maybe convicted for a felony defined by the acts performed by him up to the
time of desistance.
a) Preparatory acts - ordinarily not punished except when considered by law as independent
crimes (e.g. Art. 304, Possession of picklocks and similar tools)
Article 7. When light felonies are punishable. - Light felonies are punishable only when they have
been consummated, with the exception of those committed against person or property.
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Light Felonies are punishable only when they have been consummated
Only principals and accomplices are liable, accessories are not liable even if committed against
persons or property.
REQUISITES OF CONSPIRACY
2 CONCEPTS OF CONSPIRACY
GENERAL RULE: Mere conspiracy or proposal to commit a felony is not punishable since they are
only preparatory acts
EXCEPTION: in cases in which the law specially provides a penalty therefor, such as in treason, coup
d’etat, and rebellion or insurrection
GENERAL RULE: When conspiracy is established, all who participated therein, irrespective of the
quantity or quality of his participation is liable equally, whether conspiracy is pre-planned or
instantaneous. EXCEPTION: Unless one or some of the conspirators committed some other crime
which is not part of the intended crime.
EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION: When the act constitutes a “single indivisible offense”.
Conspiracy may be inferred when two or more persons proceed to perform overt acts towards the
accomplishment of the same felonious objective, with each doing his act, so that their acts though
seemingly independent were in fact connected, showing a common design.
REQUISITES OF PROPOSAL:
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ART. 9 – CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES ACCORDING TO GRAVITY
Article 9. Grave felonies, less grave felonies and light felonies. - Grave felonies are those to which
the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which in any of their periods are afflictive, in
accordance with article 25 of this Code.
Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum
period are correctional, in accordance with the above-mentioned article.
Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of arresto
menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both, is provided.
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Importance of Classification
Grave felonies – are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which in any
of their periods are afflictive, in accordance with Art. 25 of the Code.
Less grave felonies – are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum
period are correctional, in accordance with Art. 25 of the Code.
Light felonies – are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of arresto menor
or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, or both, is provided.
EXCEPTION:
Thus, when the special law adopts the penalties imposed in the RPC, such as reclusión perpetua or
reclusión temporal, the provisions of the RPC on imposition of penalties based on stage of execution,
degree of participation, and attendance of mitigating and aggravating circumstances may be applied
by necessary implication.
Chapter Two: Justifying Circumstances and Circumstances Which Exempt from Criminal Liability
(Arts. 11-12)
JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES – are those where the act of a person is said to be in accordance
with law, so that such person is deemed not to have transgressed the law and is free from both
criminal and civil liability. There is no civil liability, except in par. 4 of Art. 11, where the civil liability
is borne by the persons benefited by the act.
Article 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal liability:
1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the following
circumstances concur;
First. Unlawful aggression;
Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it;
Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.
2. Any one who acts in defense of the person or rights of his spouse, ascendants,
descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters, or of his relatives by
affinity in the same degrees, and those by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree,
provided that the first and second requisites prescribed in the next preceding circumstance
are present, and the further requisite, in case the provocation was given by the person
attacked, that the one making defense had no part therein.
3. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a stranger, provided that the first
and second requisites mentioned in the first circumstance of this article are present and
that the person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment, or other evil motive.
4. Any person who, in order to avoid an evil or injury, does an act which causes damage to
another, provided that the following requisites are present;
First. That the evil sought to be avoided actual exists;
Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;
Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.
5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or
office.
6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior for some lawful
purpose.
1. SELF- DEFENSE
REQUISITES:
UNLAWFUL AGGRESSION
- threatened assault of an immediate and imminent kind which is offensive and positively
strong, showing the wrongful intent to cause injury.
TEST OF REASONABLENESS – the means employed depends upon the nature and quality of the:
Perfect equality between the weapons used by the one defending himself and that of the
aggressor is not required or material commensurability between the means of attack and defense.
REASON: Because the person assaulted does not have sufficient tranquility of mind to think and to
calculate.
Self-defense includes not only the defense of the person or body of the one assaulted but also that of
his rights, the enjoyment of which is protected by law. Thus, it includes:
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1. The right to honor. Hence, a slap on the face is considered as unlawful aggression directed
against the honor of the actor (People vs. Sabio, 19 SCRA 901).
2. The defense of property rights, only if there is also an actual and imminent danger on the person
of the one defending ( People vs Narvaez, 121 SCRA 389).
“Stand ground when in the right” - the law does not require a person to retreat when his assailant is
rapidly advancing upon him with a deadly weapon.
Under Republic Act 9262, known as the Anti- Violence against Women and their Children Act of
2004:
Victim-survivors who are found by the courts to be suffering from Battered Woman
Syndrome do not incur any criminal or civil liability notwithstanding the absence of any of the elements
for justifying circumstances of self-defense under the RPC. (Sec. 26, R.A. No. 9262) The law provides
for an additional justifying circumstance.
Battery – refers to any act of inflicting physical harm upon the woman or her child
resulting to physical and psychological or emotional distress.
2. DEFENSE OF RELATIVES
REQUISITES:
1. Unlawful Aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and
3. In case the provocation was given by the person attacked, the one making the defense had no
part therein.
1. Spouse
2. Ascendants
3. Descendants
4. Legitimate, natural or adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity in the same
degrees.
5. Relatives by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree.
3. DEFENSE OF STRANGER
REQUISITES:
1. Unlawful Aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and
3. The person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment or other evil motive.
REQUISITES:
No civil liability except when there is another person benefited in which case the latter is the one
liable.
Greater evil must not be brought about by the negligence or imprudence or violation of law by
the actor.
REQUISITES:
1. That the accused acted in the performance of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or
office;
2. That the injury caused or the offense committed be the necessary consequence of the due
performance of duty or the lawful exercise of such right or office.
REQUISITES:
Subordinate is not liable for carrying out an illegal order if he is not aware of its illegality and he
is not negligent.
ART. 12. EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES
Exempting Circumstances (or the circumstances for non-imputability) – are those grounds for
exemption from punishment, because there is wanting in the agent of the crime any of the conditions
which makes the act voluntary, or negligent.
Article 12. Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability. - The following are exempt from
criminal liability:
1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid interval.
When the imbecile or an insane person has committed an act which the law defines as a
felony (delito), the court shall order his confinement in one of the hospitals or asylums
established for persons thus afflicted, which he shall not be permitted to leave without
first obtaining the permission of the same court.
2. A person under nine years of age.
3. A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted with discernment,
in which case, such minor shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of
article 80 of this Code.
When such minor is adjudged to be criminally irresponsible, the court, in conformity with
the provisions of this and the preceding paragraph, shall commit him to the care and
custody of his family who shall be charged with his surveillance and education; otherwise,
he shall be committed to the care of some institution or person mentioned in said article
80.
4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere
accident without fault or intention of causing it.
5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of irresistible force.
6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or greater
injury.
7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented by some
lawful insuperable cause.
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BASIS:
The exemption from punishment is based on the complete absence of intelligence, freedom of action,
or intent, or on the absence of negligence on the part of the accused.
1. It affects the act not the actor. 1. It affects the actor not the act.
1. IMBECILITY OR INSANITY
Insanity or imbecility exists when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence or freedom of the
will.
An insane person is not so exempt if it can be shown that he acted during a lucid
interval. But an imbecile is exempt in all cases from criminal liability.
The defense must prove that the accused was insane at the time of the commission of the crime
because the presumption is always in favor of sanity.
Insanity exists when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the act. Mere
abnormality of the mental faculties will not exclude imputability. The accused must be "so insane
as to be incapable of entertaining criminal intent." He must be deprived of reason and acting
without the least discernment because there is a complete absence of the power to discern or a
total deprivation of freedom of the will. (PEOPLE vs. ANTONIO, GR No. 144266, November 27,
2002)
An infant under the age of nine years is absolutely and conclusively presumed to be
incapable of committing a crime.
The phrase “under nine years” should be construed “nine years or less”
ELEMENTS:
1. A person is performing a lawful act;
2. With due care;
3. He causes injury to another by mere accident;
4. Without fault or intention of causing it.
ELEMENTS:
1. That the compulsion is by means of physical force.
2. That the physical force must be irresistable.
3. That the physical force must come from a third person.
The force must be so irresistable as to reduce the actor to a mere instrument who act not only
without will but against his will.
6. UNCONTROLLABLE FEAR
ELEMENTS:
1. That the threat which causes the fear is of an evil greater than, or at least equal to, that which
he is required to commit;
2. That it promises an evil of such gravity and imminence that the ordinary man would have
succumbed to it.
Duress as a valid defense should be based on real, imminent, or reasonable fear for one’s life or
limb and should not be speculative, fanciful, or remote fear.
7. INSUPERABLE CAUSE.
INSUPERABLE CAUSE – some motive which has lawfully, morally or physically prevented a person
to do what the law commands.
ELEMENTS:
Examples:
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a. The municipal president detained the offended party for three days because to take him to
the nearest justice of the peace required a journey for three days by boat as there was no other
means of transportation. (US vs. Vicentillo, 19 Phil. 118)
The distance which required a journey for three days was considered an insuperable
cause.
Note: Under the law, the person arrested must be delivered to the nearest judicial authority at
most within 18 hours (now 36 hours, Art. 125 RPC); otherwise, the public officer will be liable
for arbitrary detention.
b. A mother who at the time of childbirth was overcome by severe dizziness and extreme
debility, and left the child in a thicket were said child died, is not liable for infanticide
because it was physically impossible for her to take home the child. (People vs. Bandian, 63
Phil. 530).
The severe dizziness and extreme debility of the woman constitute an insuperable cause.
ABSOLUTORY CAUSES - are those where the act committed is a crime but for reasons of public
policy and sentiment, there is no penalty imposed.
ENTRAPMENT INSTIGATION
1. Ways and means are resorted to for the capture of 1. Instigator induces the would-be accused to commit
lawbreaker in the execution of his criminal plan. the crime, hence he becomes a co-principal.
2. not a bar to the prosecution and conviction of the 2. it will result in the acquittal of the accused.
lawbreaker
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES – those which if present in the commission of the crime, do not
entirely free the actor from criminal liability but serve only to reduce the penalty.
One single fact cannot be made the basis of more than one mitigating circumstance. Hence, a
mitigating circumstance arising from a single fact, absorbs all the other mitigating circumstances
arising from the same fact.
BASIS : Diminution of either freedom of action intelligence or intent or on the lesser perversity of the
offender.
CLASSES ORDINARY PRIVILEGED
Source Subsections 1-10 of Art. 13 (RPC) Arts. 68, 69 and 64 of RPC
Applies, when all the requisites necessary to justify the act are not attendant.
It is the age of the accused at the time of the commission of the crime which should be
determined. His age at the time of the trial is immaterial.
1. Nine (9) years of age and below – exempting circumstance. (Art. 12, par. 2)
2. Over 9 but not more than 15 – exempting unless, he acted with discernment in which case
penalty is reduced to at least two (2) degrees lower than that imposed. (Art. 12, par. 3; Art.
68, par. 1)
3. Above 15 but under 18 - regardless of discernment, penalty is reduced by one (1) degree
lower than that imposed. (Art. 68 par. 2)
4. Minor delinquent under 18 years of age, sentence suspended (Art. 192, PD 603 as amended by
PD 1179)
5. 18 years or over – full criminal responsibility.
6. 70 years or over – mitigating, no imposition of death penalty; if already imposed, execution of
death penalty is suspended and commuted.
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BASIS: diminution of intelligence
Can be taken into account only when the facts proven show that there is a notable and evident
disproportion between the means employed to execute the criminal act and its consequences.
4. PROVOCATION OR THREAT
PROVOCATION – any unjust or improper conduct or act of the offended party, capable of exciting,
inciting or irritating any one.
REQUISITES:
The threat should not be offensive and positively strong. Otherwise, the threat to inflict real
injury is an unlawful aggression, which may give rise to self-defense.
REQUISITES:
1. That there be a grave offense done to the one committing the felony, his spouse, ascendants;
descendants, legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters or relatives by affinity within the
same degrees;
“Immediate” allows for a lapse of time unlike in sufficient provocation, as long as the offender is
still suffering from the mental agony brought about by the offense to him.
PROVOCATION VINDICATION
1. It is made directly only to the person 1. The grave offense may be committed also against the
committing the felony. offender’s relatives mentioned by law.
6. PASSION OR OBFUSCATION
It requires that:
2. The impulse must be so powerful that it naturally produced passion or obfuscation in him.
REQUISITES:
1. That there be an act, both unlawful and sufficient to produce such a condition of mind;
2. That said act which produced the obfuscation was not far removed from the commission of the
crime by a considerable length of time, during which the perpetrator might recover his normal
equanimity.
A mitigating circumstance only when the same arose from lawful sentiments.
BASIS: Loss of reasoning and self-control, thereby diminishing the exercise of his will power.
A surrender to be voluntary must be spontaneous, showing the intent of the accused to submit
himself unconditionally to the authorities, either because:
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REQUISITES OF VOLUNTARY PLEA OF GUILTY:
2. That the confession of guilt was made in open court, that is, before the competent court that is
to try the case; and
3. That the confession of guilt was made prior to the presentation of evidence for the
prosecution.
When the offender is deaf and dumb, blind or otherwise suffering from some physical defect,
restricting his means of action, defense or communication with others.
REQUISITES:
1. That the illness of the offender must diminish the exercise of his will-power.
2. That such illness should not deprive the offender of consciousness of his acts.
EXAMPLES:
Aggravating circumstances – are those which, if attendant in the commission of the crime, serve to
have the penalty imposed in its maximum period provided by law for the offense or change the
nature of the crime.
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17. That means be employed or circumstances brought about which add ignominy to the
natural effects of the act.
18. That the crime be committed after an unlawful entry.
There is an unlawful entry when an entrance is effected by a way not intended for the
purpose.
19. That as a means to the commission of a crime a wall, roof, floor, door, or window be
broken.
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under fifteen years of age or by
means of motor vehicles, motorized watercraft, airships, or other similar means. (As
amended by Rep. Act No. 5438, approved Sept. 9, 1968.)
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately augmented by
causing other wrong not necessary for its commission.
BASIS: They are based on the greater perversity of the offender manifested in the commission of the
felony as shown by:
2. Specific – those which apply only to specific crimes, such as ignominy in crimes against chastity
and cruelty and treachery which are applicable only to crimes against persons.
Art. 248 enumerates the qualifying aggravating circumstances which quality the killing of
person to murder.
4. Inherent – those which of necessity accompany the commission of the crime, therefore not
considered in increasing the penalty to be imposed, such as:
5. Special – those which arise under special conditions to increase the penalty of the offense and
cannot be offset by mitigating circumstances, such as:
As to its effect
Increases the penalty which should be imposed upon To give the crime its proper and exclusive name and
the accused to the maximum period but without to place the author thereof in such a situation as to
exceeding the limit prescribed by law. deserve no other penalty than that specially
prescribed by law for said crime.
EXAMPLE: “That the crime be committed by means of …fire,…explosion” (Art. 14, par. 12) is in itself
a crime of arson (Art. 321) or a crime involving destruction (Art. 324). It is not to be
considered to increase the penalty for the crime of arson or for the crime involving
destruction.
2. The same rule shall apply with respect to any aggravating circumstance inherent in the crime to
such a degree that it must of necessity accompany the commission thereof. (Art. 62, par. 2)
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The circumstances which consist:
a) In the material execution of the act, or
b) In the means employed to accomplish it,
shall serve to aggravate the liability of those persons only who had knowledge of them at the time
of the execution of the act or their cooperation therein. Except when there is proof of conspiracy
in which case the act of one is deemed to be the act of all, regardless of lack of knowledge of the
facts constituting the circumstance. (Art. 62, par. 4)
5. When there is more than one qualifying aggravating circumstance present, one of them will be
appreciated as qualifying aggravating while the others will be considered as generic aggravating.
Par. 2 – That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to the public authorities.
Public authority – sometimes also called a person in authority, is a public officer who is directly
vested with jurisdiction, that is, a public officer who has the power to govern and execute the laws;
like a mayor, councilor, governor, barangay captain and barangay chairman.
A teacher or professor of a public or recognized private school is not a “public authority within
the contemplation of this paragraph. While he is a person in authority under Art. 152, that status
is only for purposes of Art. 148 (direct assault) and Art. 152 (resistance and disobedience).
1. with insult or in disregard of the respect due the offended party on account
of his:
(a) rank,
(b) age, or
(c) sex, or
2. that it be committed in the dwelling of the offended party, if the latter has
not given provocation.
The four circumstances enumerated should be considered as one aggravating circumstance only.
Disregard of rank, age or sex is essentially applicable only to crimes against person or honor.
They are not taken into account in crimes against property.
To be appreciated as an aggravating circumstance, there must be evidence that in the commission
of the crime, the offender deliberately intended to offend or insult the sex, age and rank of the
offended party.
Rank of the offended party – is the designation or title of distinction used to fix the relative position
of the offended party in reference to others.
- there must be a difference in the social condition of the offender and the offended party.
Age of the offended party – may refer to old age or the tender age of the victim.
Sex of the offended party – refers to the female sex, not to the male sex.
Disregard of sex and age are not absorbed in treachery because treachery refers to the manner of
the commission of the crime, while disregard of sex and age pertains to the relationship of the
victim (People vs. Lapaz, March 31, 1989).
Dwelling – must be a building or structure, exclusively used for rest and comfort. A “combination of
a house and a store” or a market stall where the victim slept is not a dwelling.
- dwelling includes dependencies, the foot of the staircase and enclosure under the house.
The aggravating circumstance of dwelling requires that the crime be wholly or partly
committed therein or in any integral part thereof.
Dwelling does not mean the permanent residence or domicile of the offended party or that
he must be the owner thereof. He must, however, be actually living or dwelling therein even
for a temporary duration or purpose.
It is not necessary that the accused should have actually entered the dwelling of the victim to
commit the offense; it is enough that the victim was attacked inside his own house, although
the assailant may have devised means to perpetrate the assault from without.
WHAT AGGRAVATES THE COMMISSION OF THE CRIME IN ONE’S DWELLING:
1. The abuse of confidence which the offended party reposed in the offender by opening the
door to him; or
2. The violation of the sanctity of the home by trespassing therein with violence or against the
will of the owner.
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MEANING OF PROVOCATION IN THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF DWELLING:
If all these conditions are present, the offended party is deemed to have given the provocation,
and the fact that the crime is committed in the dwelling of the offended party is not an
aggravating circumstance.
REASON: When it is the offended party who has provoked the incident, he loses his right to
the respect and consideration due him in his own house.
1. When both the offender and the offended party are occupants of the same house, and this is true
even if offender is a servant in the house.
EXCEPTION: In case of adultery in the conjugal dwelling, the same is aggravating. However,
if the paramour also dwells in the conjugal dwelling, the applicable aggravating circumstance
is abuse of confidence.
2. When robbery is committed by the use of force upon things, dwelling is not aggravating because it
is inherent.
But dwelling is aggravating in robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons because
this class of robbery can be committed without the necessity of trespassing the sanctity of the
offended party’s house.
3. In the crime of trespass to dwelling, it is inherent or included by law in defining the crime.
4. When the owner of the dwelling gave sufficient and immediate provocation.
There must exist a close relation between the provocation made by the victim and the
commission of the crime by the accused.
a) abuse of confidence or
b) obvious ungratefulness.
Par. 4 provides two aggravating circumstances which, if present in the same case and must be
independently appreciated.
While one may be related to the other in the factual situation in the case, they cannot be lumped
together as abuse of confidence requires a special confidential relationship between the offender and
the victim, but this is not so in ungratefulness.
The ungratefulness contemplated by par. 4 must be such clear and manifest ingratitude on the
part of the accused.
Except for the third which requires that official functions are being performed at the time of the
commission of the crime, the other places mentioned are aggravating per se even if no official
duties or acts of religious worship are being conducted there.
Cemeteries, however respectable they may be, are not considered as place dedicated to the
worship of God.
PAR. 5. Where public authorities are engaged in the PAR. 2. Contempt or insult to public authorities
discharge of their duties
IN BOTH
Public authorities are in the performance of their duties
a. in the nighttime, or
b. in an uninhabited place, or
c. by a band, whenever such circumstance may facilitate the commission of the offense.
When present in the same case and their element are distinctly palpable and can subsist
independently, they shall be considered separately.
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Nighttime (obscuridad) – that period of darkness beginning at end of dusk and ending at dawn.
Nights are from sunset to sunrise.
It is necessary that the commission of the crime was begun and completed at nighttime.
When the place of the crime is illuminated by light, nighttime is not aggravating.
EXCEPTION: Where both the treacherous mode of attack and nocturnity were deliberately decided
upon in the same case, they can be considered separately if such circumstances have different factual
bases. Thus:
In People vs. Berdida, et. al. (June 30, 1966), nighttime was considered since it was purposely
sought, and treachery was further appreciated because the victim’s hands and arms were tied
together before he was beaten up by the accused.
In People vs. Ong, et. al. (Jan. 30, 1975), there was treachery as the victim was stabbed while
lying face up and defenseless, and nighttime was considered upon proof that it facilitated the
commission of the offense and was taken advantage of by the accused.
Uninhabited place (despoblado) – one where there are no houses at all; a place at a considerable
distance from town, or where the houses are scattered at a great distance from each other.
What actually determines whether this aggravating circumstance should be considered against
the accused, aside from the distance and isolation of the place, is the reasonable possibility of the
victim receiving or securing aid from third persons.
Band (en cuadrilla) – whenever more than three (i.e., at least four) armed malefactors shall have acted
together in the commission of an offense, it shall be deemed committed by a band.
The requisite four armed persons contemplated in this circumstance must all be principals by
direct participation who acted together in the execution of the acts constituting the crime.
If one of them was a principal by inducement, there would be no cuadrilla but the
aggravating circumstance of having acted with the aid of armed men may be considered
against the inducer if the other two acted as his accomplice.
Par. 7 – That the crime be committed on the occasion of a conflagration, shipwreck, earthquake,
epidemic or other calamity or misfortune.
The debased form of criminality met in one who, in the midst of a great calamity, instead of
lending aid to the afflicted, adds to their suffering by taking advantage of their misfortune to despoil
them. Therefore it is necessary that the offender took advantage of the calamity or misfortune.
a. armed men or
b. persons who insure or afford impunity.
REQUISITES:
1. That armed men or persons took part in the commission of the crime, directly or indirectly.
2. That the accused availed himself of their aid or relied upon them when the crime was
committed.
This aggravating circumstance requires that the armed men are accomplices who take part in
that minor capacity directly or indirectly, and not when they were merely present at the crime
scene. Neither should they constitute a band, for then the proper aggravating circumstance
would be cuadrilla.
As to their number
Requires more than three armed malefactors (i.e., at
At least two
least four)
As to their action
Requires that more than three armed malefactors This circumstance is present even if one of the
shall have acted together in the commission of an offenders merely relied on their aid, for actual aid is
offense. not necessary.
If there are four armed men, aid of armed men is absorbed in employment of a band. If there are
three armed men or less, aid of armed men may be the aggravating circumstance.
REQUISITES:
1. That the offender is on trial for an offense;
2. That he was previously convicted by final judgment of another crime;
3. That both the first and the second offenses are embraced in the same title of the Code;
4. That the offender is convicted of the new offense.
It is employed in its general sense, including the rendering of the judgment. It is meant to include
everything that is done in the course of the trial, from arraignment until after sentence is announced
by the judge in open court.
Being an ordinary aggravating circumstance, recidivism affects only the periods of a penalty,
except in prostitution and vagrancy (Art. 202) and gambling (PD 1602) wherein recidivism
increases the penalties by degrees. No other generic aggravating circumstance produces this
effect.
27
In recidivism it is sufficient that the succeeding offense be committed after the commission of the
preceding offense provided that at the time of his trial for the second offense, the accused had
already been convicted of the first offense.
If both offenses were committed on the same date, they shall be considered as only one, hence,
they cannot be separately counted in order to constitute recidivism. Also, judgments of convicted
handed down on the same day shall be considered as only one conviction.
REASON: Because the Code requires that to be considered as separate convictions, at the time of
his trial for one crime the accused shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of the
other.
To prove recidivism, it is necessary to allege the same in the information and to attach thereto
certified copy of the sentences rendered against the accused.
Recidivism must be taken into account no matter how many years have intervened between the
first and second felonies.
Even if the accused was granted a pardon for the first offense, but he commits another felony
embraced in the same title of the Code, the first conviction is still counted to make him a recidivist
since pardon does not obliterate the fact of his prior conviction.
The rule is different in the case of amnesty which theoretically considers the previous
transgressions as not punishable.
Par. 10 – That the offender has been previously punished for an offense to which the law attaches an
equal or greater penalty or for two or more crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty.
1. Recidivism (par. 9, Art. 14) – where a person, on separate occasions, is convicted of two offenses
embraced in the same title in the RPC. This is a generic aggravating circumstance.
2. Reiteracion or habituality (par. 10, Art. 14) – where the offender has been previously punished for
an offense to which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two crimes to which it attaches
a lighter penalty. This is a generic aggravating circumstance.
3. Multi-recidivism or habitual delinquency (Art. 62, par, 5) – where a person within a period of ten
years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical
injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification, is found guilty of the said crimes a third time or oftener.
This is an extraordinary aggravating circumstance.
4. Quasi-recidivism (Art. 160) – Where a person commits felony before beginning to serve or while
serving sentence on a previous conviction for a felony. This is a special aggravating circumstance.
Since reiteracion provides that the accused has duly served the sentence for his previous
conviction/s, or is legally considered to have done so, quasi-recidivism cannot at the
same time constitute reiteracion, hence this aggravating circumstance cannot apply to a
quasi-recidivist.
If the same set of facts constitutes recidivism and reiteracion, the liability of the accused
should be aggravated by recidivism which can easily be proven.
When this aggravating circumstance is present, there must be two or more principals, the one
who gave or offered the price or promise and the one who accepted it, both of whom are
principals.
If without previous promise it was given voluntarily after the crime had been committed as an
expression of his appreciation for the sympathy and aid shown by the other accused, it
should not be taken into consideration for the purpose of increasing the penalty.
The price, reward or promise need not consist of or refer to material things or that the same were
actually delivered, it being sufficient that the offer made by the principal by inducement be
accepted by the principal by direct participation before the commission of the offense.
Par. 12 – That the crime be committed by means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, stranding of a
vessel or intentional damage thereto, derailment of a locomotive, or by the use of any other artifice
involving great waste and ruin.
When another aggravating circumstance already qualifies the crime, any of these aggravating
circumstances shall be considered as generic aggravating circumstance only.
A killing committed through any of these qualifies the crime to murder, except if arson was
resorted to but without intent to kill, in view of P.D. 1613 which provides a specific penalty
for that situation.
PAR. 12 “by means of inundation, fire, etc.” PAR. 10 “on the occasion of a conflagration,
shipwreck, etc.
The crime is committed by means of any such acts The crime is committed on the occasion of a calamity
involving great waste or ruin. or misfortune.
REQUISITES:
The prosecution must prove –
1. The time when the offender determined to commit the crime;
2. An act manifestly indicating that the culprit has clung to his determination; and
3. A sufficient lapse of time between the determination and execution, to allow him to reflect upon
the consequences of his act and to allow his conscience to overcome the resolution of his will.
To establish evident premeditation, it must be shown that there was a period sufficient to afford
full opportunity for meditation and reflection, a time adequate to allow the conscience to
overcome the resolution of the will, as well as outward acts showing the intent to kill. It must be
shown that the offender had sufficient time to reflect upon the consequences of his act but still
29
persisted in his determination to commit the crime. (PEOPLE vs. SILVA, et. al., GR No. 140871,
August 8, 2002)
The essence of evident premeditation is that the execution of the criminal act is preceded by
cool thought and reflection upon the resolution to carry out the criminal intent within a space
of time sufficient to arrive at a calm judgment. (PEOPLE vs. ABADIES, GR No. 135975, August
14, 2002)
When the offender decides to kill a particular person and premeditated on the killing of the
latter, but when he carried out his plan he actually killed another person, it cannot properly
be said that he premeditated on the killing of the actual victim.
But if the offender premeditated on the killing of any person, it is proper to consider against
the offender the aggravating circumstance of premeditation, because whoever is killed by
him is contemplated in his premeditation.
Craft (astucia) - involved the use of intellectual trickery or cunning on the part of the
accused.
Fraud (fraude) – insidious words or machinations used to induce the victim to act in a
manner which would enable the offender to carry out his design.
FRAUD CRAFT
Where there is a direct inducement by insidious The act of the accused done in order not to arouse the
words or machinations, fraud is present. suspicion of the victim constitutes craft.
According to Justice Regalado, the fine distinctions between “craft” and “fraud” would not really
be called for as these terms in Art. 14 are variants of means employed to deceive the victim and if
all are present in the same case, they shall be applied as a single aggravating circumstance.
Craft and fraud may be absorbed in treachery if they have been deliberately adopted as the
means, methods or forms for the treacherous strategy, or they may co-exist independently where
they are adopted for a different purpose in the commission of the crime.
For instance:
In People vs. San Pedro (Jan. 22, 1980), where the accused pretended to hire the driver in
order to get his vehicle, it was held that there was craft directed to the theft of the vehicle,
separate from the means subsequently used to treacherously kill the defenseless driver.
In People vs. Masilang (July 11, 1986) there was also craft where after hitching a ride, the
accused requested the driver to take them to a place to visit somebody, when in fact they had
already planned to kill the driver.
Disguise (disfraz) – resorting to any device to conceal identity.
The test of disguise is whether the device or contrivance resorted to by the offender was intended
to or did make identification more difficult, such as the use of a mask or false hair or beard.
Par. 15 – That (1) advantage be taken of superior strength, or (2) means be employed to weaken the
defense.
Par. 15 enunciates two aggravating circumstances, namely, that advantage was taken of superior
strength, or that means were employed by the offender to weaken the defense of the victim, either
of which qualifies a killing to murder.
1. One who attacks another with passion and obfuscation does not take advantage of his superior
strength.
2. When a quarrel arose unexpectedly and the fatal blow was struck at a time when the aggressor and
his victim were engaged against each other as man to man.
For abuse of superior strength, the test is the relative strength of the offender and his victim,
whether or not he took advantage of his greater strength.
When there are several offenders participating in the crime, they must all be principals by
direct participation and their attack against the victim must be concerted and intended to be
so.
Abuse of superior strength is inherent in the crime of parricide where the husband kills the
wife. It is generally accepted that the husband is physically stronger than the wife.
Abuse of superior strength is also present when the offender uses a weapon which is out of
proportion to the defense available to the offended party.
31
“Means employed to weaken defense” - the offender employs means that materially weakens the
resisting power of the offended party.
1. Where one, struggling with another, suddenly throws a cloak over the head of his opponent and
while in this situation he wounds or kills him.
2. One who, while fighting with another, suddenly casts sand or dirt upon the latter eyes and then
wounds or kills him.
3. When the offender, who had the intention to kill the victim, made the deceased intoxicated,
thereby materially weakening the latter’s resisting power.
This circumstance is applicable only to crimes against persons, and sometimes against person
and property, such as robbery with physical injuries or homicide.
Treachery (alevosia) – is present when the offender commits any of the crimes against person,
employing means, methods or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and specially to
insure its execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might
make.
REQUISITES OF TREACHERY:
1. That at the time of the attack, the victim was not in a position to defend himself; and
2. That the offender consciously adopted the particular means, method or form of attack employed
by him.
The test of treachery is not only the relative position of the parties but, more specifically,
whether or not the victim was forewarned or afforded the opportunity to make a defense or
to ward off the attack.
When the aggression is continuous, treachery must be present in the beginning of the assault.
(PEOPLE vs. MANALAD, GR No. 128593, August 14, 2002)
Thus, even if the deceased was shot while he was lying wounded on the ground, it appearing
that the firing of the shot was a mere continuation of the assault in which the deceased was
wounded, with no appreciable time intervening between the delivery of the blows and the
firing of the shot, it cannot be said that the crime was attended by treachery.
When the assault was not continuous, in that there was interruption, it is sufficient that treachery was
present at the moment the fatal blow was given.
Hence, even though in the inception of the aggression which ended in the death of the
deceased, treachery was not present, if there was a break in the continuity of the aggression and at
the time of the fatal wound was inflicted on the deceased he was defenseless, the circumstance of
treachery must be taken into account.
1. The victim was not predetermined but there was a generic intent to treacherously kill any first
two persons belonging to a class. (The same rule obtains for evident premeditation).
2. There was aberratio ictus and the bullet hit a person different from that intended. (The rule is
different in evident premeditation).
3. There was error in personae, hence the victim was not the one intended by the accused. (A different
rule is applied in evident premeditation).
REASON FOR THE RULE: When there is treachery, it is impossible for either the intended victim or
the actual victim to defend himself against the aggression.
TREACHERY ABSORBS:
1. Craft 4. Cuadrilla (“band”)
2. Abuse of superior strength 5. Aid of armed men
3. Employing means to weaken the defense 6. Nighttime
Par. 17 – That means be employed or circumstances brought about which add ignominy to the
natural effects of the act.
Ignominy – is a circumstance pertaining to the moral order, which adds disgrace and obloquy to the
material injury caused by the crime.
The means employed or the circumstances brought about must tend to make the effects of the
crime more humiliating to victim or to put the offended party to shame, or add to his moral suffering.
Thus it is incorrect to appreciate ignominy where the victim was already dead when his body was
dismembered, for such act may not be considered to have added to the victim’s moral suffering or
humiliation. (People vs. Carmina, G.R. No. 81404, January 28, 1991)
Applicable to crimes against chastity, less serious physical injuries, light or grave coercion,
and murder.
Unlawful entry – when an entrance is effected by a way not intended for the purpose.
Unlawful entry must be a means to effect entrance and not for escape.
One who acts, not respecting the walls erected by men to guard their property and provide for their
personal safety, shows a greater perversity, a greater audacity; hence, the law punishes him with
more severity.
33
Par. 19 – That as a means to the commission of a crime, a wall, roof, floor, door, or window be
broken.
This circumstance is aggravating only in those cases where the offender resorted to any of
said means to enter the house. If the wall, etc., is broken in order to get out of the place, it is
not an aggravating circumstance.
PAR. 19 PAR. 18
It involves the breaking (rompimiento) of the Presupposes that there is no such breaking as by
enumerated parts of the house. entry through the window.
If the offender broke a window to enable himself to reach a purse with money on the table
near that window, which he took while his body was outside of the building, the crime of
theft was attended by this aggravating circumstance. It is not necessary that the offender
should have entered the building.
Par. 20 – That the crime be committed
Par. 21 – That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately augmented by causing
other wrong not necessary for its commission.
Cruelty – there is cruelty when the culprit enjoys and delights in making his victim suffer slowly and
gradually, causing unnecessary physical pain in the consummation of the criminal act.
REQUISITES OF CRUELTY:
Cruelty is not inherent in crimes against persons. In order for it to be appreciated, there must
be positive proof that the wounds found on the body of the victim were inflicted while he
was still alive in order unnecessarily to prolong physical suffering.
If the victim was already dead when the acts of mutilation were being performed, this would
also qualify the killing to murder due to outraging of his corpse.
Unlike mitigating circumstances (par. 10, Art. 13), there is no provision for aggravating
circumstances of a similar or analogous character.
Alternative circumstances – are those which must be taken into consideration as aggravating or
mitigating according to the nature and effects of the crime and the other conditions attending its
commission.
BASIS: The nature and effects of the crime and the other conditions attending its commission.
----------------
Article 15. Their concept. - Alternative circumstances are those which must be taken into
consideration as aggravating or mitigating according to the nature and effects of the crime and the
other conditions attending its commission. They are the relationship, intoxication and the degree
of instruction and education of the offender.
The alternative circumstance of relationship shall be taken into consideration when the offended
party is the spouse, ascendant, descendant, legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister, or
relative by affinity in the same degrees of the offender.
The intoxication of the offender shall be taken into consideration as a mitigating circumstance
when the offender has committed a felony in a state of intoxication, if the same is not habitual or
subsequent to the plan to commit said felony; but when the intoxication is habitual or intentional,
it shall be considered as an aggravating circumstance.
----------------
1. Relationship;
2. Intoxication; and
3. Degree of instruction and education of the offender.
RELATIONSHIP
The alternative circumstance of relationship shall be taken into consideration when the offended
party is the –
a) Spouse,
b) Ascendant,
c) Descendant,
d) Legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister, or
e) Relative by affinity in the same degree of the offender.
But the relationship of uncle and niece is not covered by any of the relationship mentioned.
35
WHEN RELATIONSHIP MITIGATING AND WHEN AGGRAVATING:
Thus, relationship is mitigating in the crimes of robbery (Arts. 294-302), usurpation (Art. 312),
fraudulent insolvency (Art. 314) and arson (Arts. 321-322, 325-326).
c) When the crime is homicide or murder, relationship is aggravating even if the victim of
the crime is a relative of a lower degree.
3. In crimes against chastity, like acts of lasciviousness (Art. 336), relationship is always aggravating,
regardless of whether the offender is a relative of a higher or lower degree of the offended party.
When the qualification given to the crime is derived from the relationship between the
offender and the offended party, it is neither mitigating nor aggravating, because it is
inseparable from and inherent in the offense. (e.g. parricide, adultery and concubinage).
1. Mitigating –
2. Aggravating –
i. If intoxication is habitual, or
ii. If it is intentional (subsequent to the plan to commit a felony).
TO BE ENTITLED TO THE MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF INTOXICATION, IT MUST BE
SHOWN:
1. That at the time of the commission of the criminal act, the accused has taken such quantity of
alcoholic drinks as to blur his reason and deprive him of a certain degree of control, and
2. That such intoxication is not habitual, or subsequent to the plan to commit the felony.
INSTRUCTION OR EDUCATION
- as an alternative circumstance, does not refer only to literary but more to the level of
intelligence of the accused.
- refers to the lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the full significance of one’s acts.
- Low degree of instruction and education or lack of it is generally mitigating. High degree of
instruction and education is aggravating, when the offender took advantage of his learning in
committing the crime.
EXCEPTIONS:
1. Crimes against property (e.g. arson, estafa, theft, robbery)
2. Crimes against chastity, and
3. Treason – because love of country should be a natural feeling of every citizen, however
unlettered or uncultured he may be.
ART. 16. Who are criminally liable ---- The following are criminally liable for grave and
less grave felonies:
-----------------------------------
REASON: In the commission of light felonies, the social wrong as well as the individual prejudice is
so small that penal sanction is deemed not necessary for accessories.
37
The classification of the offenders as principal, accomplice, or an accessory is essential under the
RPC. The classification maybe applied to special laws only if the latter provides for the same
graduated penalties as those provided under the RPC.
Is the holder of the injured right: the man, the juristic person, the group, and the State.
Only natural persons can be the active subject of crime because of the highly personal nature of the
criminal responsibility. (natural persons -- ?)
Corpses and animals cannot be passive subjects because they have no rights that may be injured.
EXCEPTION: Under Art. 253, the crime of defamation may be committed if the imputation tends
to blacken the memory of one who is dead.
This article applies only when the offenders are to be judged by their individual, and not
collective, liability.
ART. 17 PRINCIPALS
1. Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act (PRINCIPAL BY DIRECT
PARTICIPATION)
2. Those who directly force or induce others to commit it (PRINCIPAL BY INDUCTION)
3. Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without which it
would not have been accomplished (PRINCIPAL BY INDISPENSABLE COOPERATION).
-------------
REQUISITES:
2. That they carried out their plan and personally took part in its execution by acts which directly tended
to the same end (execution).
That the principal by direct participation must be at the scene of the commission of the crime,
personally taking part in its execution.
1. That the inducement be made directly with the intention of procuring the commission of the
crime; and
2. That such inducement be the determining cause of the commission of the crime by the material
executor. (determining cause -- ?)
One cannot be held guilty of having instigated the commission of the crime without first being
shown that the crime was actually committed (or attempted) by another.
In these cases, there is no conspiracy, not even a unity of criminal purpose and
intention. Only the one using the force or causing the fear is criminally liable. The
material executor is not criminally liable because of Art. 12, pars. 5 and 6 (exempting
circumstances)
The one giving the price or offering the reward or promise is a principal by inducement
while the one committing the crime in consideration thereof is a principal by direct
participation. There is collective criminal responsibility.
The person who used the words of command is a principal by inducement while the
person who committed the crime because of the words of command is a principal by
direct participation. There is also collective criminal responsibility.
The inducement must precede the act induced and must be so influential in producing the
criminal act that without it, the act would not have been performed.
If the person who actually committed the crime had reason of his own to commit the crime, it
cannot be said that the inducement was influential in producing the criminal act.
39
PRINCIPAL BY INDUCEMENT OFFENDER WHO MADE PROPOSAL TO COMMIT
A FELONY
In both
When liable
Becomes liable only when the crime is committed by The mere proposal to commit a felony is punishable in
the principal by direct participation. treason or rebellion.
2. One cannot be held guilty of having instigated the commission of a crime without first being
shown that the crime has been actually committed by another.
But if the one charged as principal by direct participation is acquitted because he acted
without criminal intent or malice, his acquittal is not a ground for the acquittal of the
principal by inducement.
REASON FOR THE RULE: In exempting circumstances, such as when the act is not
voluntary because of lack of intent on the part of the accused, there is a crime committed,
only that the accused is not a criminal.
REQUISITES:
1. Participation in the criminal resolution, that is, there is either anterior conspiracy or unity of
criminal purpose and intention immediately before the commission of the crime charged; and
2. Cooperation in the commission of the offense by performing another act, without which it would not
have been accomplished.
MEANING OF “cooperation in the commission of the offense”
Means to desire or wish in common a thing. But that common will or purpose does not necessarily
mean previous understanding, for it can be explained or inferred from the circumstances of each case.
This is present when the offenders are criminally liable in the same manner and to the same
extent. The penalty to be imposed must be the same for all.
In the absence of any previous conspiracy, unity of criminal purpose and intention immediately
before the commission of the crime, or community of criminal design, the criminal responsibility
arising from different acts directed against one and the same person is individual and not
collective, and each of the participants is liable only for the act committed by him.
-----------------------
ART. 18 ACCOMPLICES
Accomplices are persons who, not acting as principals, cooperate in the execution of the offense
by previous and simultaneous acts, which are not indispensable to the commission of the crime.
(previous and simultaneous acts)
-----------------------
They act as mere instruments who perform acts not essential to the perpetration of the offense.
REQUISITES:
1. That there be community of design; that is, knowing the criminal design of the principal by direct
participation, he concurs with the latter his purpose;
2. That he cooperates in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts, with the
intention of supplying material or moral aid in the execution of the crime in an efficacious way;
and
3. That there be a relation between the acts done by the principal and those attributed to the person
charged as an accomplice.
The person charged as an accomplice should not have inflicted a mortal wound. If he inflicted a
mortal wound, he becomes a principal by direct participation.
41
In case of doubt, the participation of the offender will be considered that of an accomplice
rather than that of a principal.
-----------------------
ART. 19 ACCESSORIES
Accessories are those who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without
having participated therein either as principals or accomplices, take part subsequent (after the
commission of the crime) to its commission in any of the following acts:
-----------------------
1. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime.
3. By harboring (sheltering), concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal of the crime,
provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whatever the author of the
crime is guilty treason, parricide , murder, or an attempt to take the life of the chief executive,
or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.
In profiting by the effects of the crime, the accessory must receive the property from the
principal. He should not take it without the consent of the principal. If he took it without the
consent of the principal, he is not an accessory but a principal in the crime of theft.
a) Public officers who harbor, conceal or assist in the escape of the principal of any crime (not light
felony) with abuse of his public functions.
Requisites:
b) Private persons who harbor, conceal or assist in the escape of the author of the crime who is
guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or attempts against the life of the President, or who is known
to be habitually guilty of some other crime.
Requisites:
i. Treason,
ii. Parricide,
iii. Murder,
iv. An attempt against the life of the President, or
v. That the principal is known to be habitually guilty of some
other crime.
Where the alleged principal is acquitted, it is neither proper nor possible to convict the defendant
as an accessory. The responsibility of the accessory is subordinate to that of the principal in a
crime.
Neither the letter nor the spirit of the law requires that the principal be convicted before one may
be punished as an accessory. As long as the corpus delicti is proved and the accessory’s
participation as such is shown, he can be held criminally responsible and meted out the
corresponding penalty (Inovero vs. Coronel, CA, 65 O.G. 3160).
The prescribed acts of the accessory under par. 2 must have been intended to prevent the
discovery of the crime, hence, mere silence does not make one an accessory. If, however, the
crime involved is a conspiracy to commit treason, his silence may hold him liable for misprision
of treason (Art. 116) but as a principal thereof.
Where the accused misleads the authorities by giving them false information, such act is
equivalent to concealment and he should be held as an accessory.
Fencing – is an act, with intent to gain, of buying, selling, receiving, possessing, keeping, or in any
other manner dealing in anything of value which a person knows or should have known to be
derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.
Fence – is a person who commits the act of fencing. A fence who receives stolen property as above-
provided is not an accessory but a principal in the crime defined in and punished by the Anti-
Fencing Law.
Mere possession of anything of value which has been the subject of robbery or theft shall be prima
facie (on its face) evidence of fencing.
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ART. 20 – ACCESSORIES WHO ARE EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABLITY
The penalties prescribed for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are such with
respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and
sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees, with the single exception of accessories
falling within the provisions of paragraph 1 of the next preceding article.
The exemption provided for in this article is based on the ties of blood and the preservation of the
cleanliness of one’s name, which compels one to conceal crimes committed by relatives so near as
those mentioned in this article.
1. spouse, or
2. ascendant, or
3. descendant, or
4. legitimate, natural or adopted brother, sister or relative by affinity within the same
degree.
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EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY EVEN IF THE PRINCIPAL IS RELATED TO HIM, IF
SUCH ACCESSORY –
REASON: Because such acts are prompted not by affection but by a detestable greed.
REASON: Ties of blood or relationship constitutes a more powerful incentive than the call of duty.
P.D. 1829 penalizes the act of any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or
delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.
Penalty – is the suffering that is inflicted by the State for the transgression of the law.
1. Must be productive of suffering, without however affecting the integrity of the human
personality.
2. Must be commensurate with the offense – different crimes must be punished with different
penalties.
3. Must be personal – no one should be punished for the crime of another.
4. Must be legal – it is the consequence of a judgment according to law.
5. Must be certain – no one may escape its effects.
6. Must be equal for all.
7. Must be correctional.
The State has an existence of its own to maintain, a conscience to assert, and moral principles to be
vindicated. Penal justice must therefore be exercised by the State in the service and satisfaction of a
duty, and rests primarily on the moral rightfulness of the punishment inflicted.
The basis of the right to punish violations of penal law is the police power of the State.
1. Prevention – to prevent or suppress the danger to the State arising from the criminal act of the
offender.
2. Self-defense – so as to protect society from the threat and wrong inflicted by the criminal.
3. Reformation – the object of punishment in criminal cases is to correct and reform the offender.
4. Exemplarity – the criminal is punished to serve as an example to deter others from committing
crimes.
5. Justice – that crime must be punished by the State as an act of retributive justice, a vindication of
absolute right and moral law violated by the criminal.
1. Retribution or expiation – the penalty is commensurate with the gravity of the offense.
2. Correction or reformation – shown by the rules which regulate the execution of the penalties
consisting in deprivation of liberty.
3. Social defense – shown by its inflexible severity to recidivists and habitual delinquents.
ART. 21 – PENALTIES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED
No felony shall be punishable only by the penalty prescribed by law at the time of its
commission.
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It is a guaranty to the citizen of this country that no acts of his, will be considered criminal
until the Government has made it so by law and has provided a penalty.
REASON: Because a law cannot be rationally obeyed unless it is first shown, and a man cannot be
expected to obey an order that has not been given.
Penal laws shall have a retroactive effect insofar as they favor the persons guilty of felony, who is
not habitual criminal, as this term is defined in rule 5 of article 62 of this code, although at the time
of the publication of such laws a final sentence has been pronounced and the convict is serving the
same.
-----------------------------------
EXCEPTION: When retrospective will be favorable to the person guilty of a felony; Provided that:
2. The new or amendatory law does NOT provide against its retrospective application.
Habitual delinquent – a person who, within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last
conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft, estafa, or
falsification, is found guilty of any said crimes a third time or oftener.
An act which when committed was not a crime, cannot be made so by statute without violating the
constitutional inhibition as to ex post facto laws. An ex post facto law is one which:
1. Makes criminal an act done before the passage of the law and which was innocent when done;
2. Aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when committed;
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3. Changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to the crime
when committed;
4. Alters the legal rules of evidence, and authorizes conviction upon a less or different testimony
than the law required at the time of the commission of the offense;
5. Assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only, in effect imposing a penalty or deprivation of
a right for something which when done was lawful; and
6. Deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has become entitled,
such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a proclamation of amnesty.
If retroactive effect of a new law is justified, it shall apply to the defendant even if he is:
The retroactive effect of criminal statutes does not apply to the culprit’s civil liability.
REASON: The rights of offended persons or innocent third parties are not within the gift of
arbitrary disposal of the State.
The provisions of Art. 22 are applicable even to special laws which provide more favorable
conditions to the accused.
The right to punish offenses committed under an old penal law is not extinguished if the
offenses are still punishable in the repealing penal law.
When a penal law, which impliedly repealed an old law, is itself repealed, the repeal of the
repealing law revives the prior penal law, unless the language of the repealing statute
provides otherwise.
A pardon by the offended party does not extinguish criminal action except as provided in article
344 of this code; but civil liability with regard to the interest of the injured party is extinguished
by his express waiver.
--------------------------
GENERAL RULE – Pardon by the offended party does not extinguish the criminal liability of the
offender.
REASON: A crime committed is an offense against the State. Only the Chief Executive can pardon the
offenders.
EXCEPTION - Pardon by the offended party will bar criminal prosecution in the following crimes:
Adultery and Concubinage (Art. 344, RPC)
- Pardon must be given PRIOR to the institution of the criminal action. However, marriage
between the offender and the offended party EVEN AFTER the institution of the criminal action or
conviction of the offender will extinguish the criminal action or remit the penalty already imposed
against the offender, his co-principals, accomplices and accessories after the fact.
- The subsequent valid marriage between the offender and the offended party shall
extinguish criminal liability or the penalty imposed. In case the legal husband is the offender,
subsequent forgiveness by the wife as offended party shall also produce the same effect.
Pardon by the offended party under Art. 344 is ONLY A BAR to criminal prosecution; it is NOT a
ground for extinguishment of criminal liability.
Nevertheless, civil liability may be extinguished by the EXRESS WAIVER of the offended party.
AN OFFENSE CAUSES
TWO CLASSES OF INJURIES:
The offended party cannot pardon the offender so The offended party may waive the indemnity and the
as to relieve him of the penalty. State has no reason to insist in its payment.
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3. Suspension from the employment or public office during the trial or in
order to institute proceedings.
4. Fines and other corrective measures which, in the exercise of their
administrative or disciplinary powers, superior officials may impose
upon their subordinates.
5. Deprivation of rights and the reparations which the civil law may
establish in penal form.
--------------------------------
1. Because they are not imposed as a result of judicial proceedings. Those mentioned in paragraphs
1, 3 and 4 are merely preventive measures before conviction of offenders.
2. The offender is not subjected to or made to suffer these measures in expiation of or as punishment
for a crime.
Par. 1 does not refer to the confinement of an insane or imbecile who has not been arrested for a
crime. It refers to “accused persons” who are detained “by reason of insanity or imbecility.”
Paragraphs 3 and 4 refer to administrative suspension and administrative fines and not to
suspension or fine as penalties for violations of the RPC.
The deprivations of rights established in penal form by the civil laws is illustrated in the case of
parents who are deprived of their parental authority if found guilty of the crime of corruption of
their minor children, in accordance with Art. 332 of the Civil Code.
Where a minor offender was committed to a reformatory pursuant to Art. 80 (now, PD 603), and
while thus detained he commits a crime therein, he cannot be considered a quasi-recidivist since
his detention was only a preventive measure, whereas a quasi-recidivism presupposes the
commission of a crime during the service of the penalty for a previous crime.
--- The penalties which may be imposed according to this code, and their different classes, are
those included in the following;
Capital punishment:
Death
Afflictive penalties:
Reclusion perpetua,
Reclusion temporal,
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification,
Prision mayor.
Correctional penalties:
Prision Correctional,
Arresto mayor,
Suspension,
Destierro.
Light penalties:
Arresto menor
Public censure.
ACCESSORIES PENALTIES
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification
Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for,
the profession or calling.
Civil interdiction,
Indemnification,
Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and proceeds of the offense.
Payment of costs.
The scale in Art. 25 is only a general classification of penalties based on their severity, nature and
subject matter.
The scale of penalties in Art. 70 is provided for successive service of sentences imposed on the
same accused, in consideration of their severity and natures.
The scales in Art. 71 are for the purpose of graduating the penalties by degrees in accordance
with the rules in Art. 61.
1. Principal penalties – those expressly imposed by the court in the judgment of conviction.
May be further classified based on divisibility
i. Divisible – are those that have fixed duration and are divisible into three periods.
ii. Indivisible – are those which have no fixed duration. These are:
1) Death
2) Reclusión perpetua
3) Perpetual absolute or special disqualification
4) Public censure
2. Accessory penalties – are those that are deemed included in the principal penalties.
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c) Based on subject matter
1. Corporal (Death).
2. Deprivation of freedom (Reclusion, Prision, Arresto).
3. Restriction of freedom (Destierro).
4. Deprivation of rights (Disqualification and Suspension).
5. Pecuniary (Fine).
EXAMPLES:
I. Perpetual absolute disqualification is a principal penalty in prevaricacion (Art. 204) and
perpetual special disqualification, in malversation (Art. 217).
II. Temporary absolute disqualification is a principal penalty when the accessory acts with
abuse of public functions (Art, 19[3] and Art. 58) and temporary special disqualification, in
direct bribery (Art. 206).
III. Suspension is a principal penalty in rendition of unjust interlocutory orders (Art. 206).
Bond to keep the peace is imposed only in the crime of threats (Art. 284), either grave (Art. 282) or
light (Art. 283).
ART. 26 FINE – WHEN AFFLICTIVE, CORRECTIONAL OR LIGHT PENALTY
--- A fine whether imposed as a single or as an alternative penalty, shall be considered an afflictive
penalty, if it exceeds 6,000 pesos, a correctional penalty, if it does not exceeds 6,000 pesos but is not
less than 200 pesos; and a light penalty if it be less than 200 pesos.
FINE IS:
This article determines the classification of a fine whether imposed as a single or as an alternative
penalty for a crime.
The rule herein does not apply where the fine involved is in a compound penalty, that is, it is
imposed in conjunction with another penalty.
Where the fine in question is exactly P200, under Art. 9 it is a light felony, hence the felony
involved is a light felony; whereas under Art. 26, it is a correctional penalty, hence the offense
involved is a less grave felony. It has been held that this discrepancy should be resolved liberally
in favor of the accused, hence Art. 9 prevails over Art. 26 (People vs. Yu Hai, 99 Phil. 725)
-The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be from twenty years and one day to forty years.
---If the offender shall be in prison, the term of the duration of the temporary penalties shall be
computed from the day on which the judgment of conviction shall have become final.
If the offender be not in prison, the term of the duration of the penalty consisting of deprivation of
liberty shall be computed from the day that the offender is placed at the disposal of the judicial
authorities for the enforcement of the penalty. The duration of the other penalties shall be
computed only from the day on which the defendant commences to serve his sentence.
1. When the offender is in prison – the duration of temporary penalties is from the day on which the
judgment of conviction becomes final.
2. When the offender is not in prison – the duration of penalties consisting in deprivation of liberty,
is from the day that the offender is placed at the disposal of judicial authorities for the
enforcement of the penalty.
3. The duration of other penalties – the duration is from the day on which the offender commences
to serve his sentence.
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ART. 29 – PERIOD OF PREVENTIVE IMPRISONMENT DEDUCTED FROM TERM OF
IMPRISONMENT
--- Offenders who have undergone preventive imprisonments shall be credited in the services of
their sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty, with the full time during which they have
undergone preventive imprisonment, if the detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing to
abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, except in the following
cases:
1.When they are recidivists, or have been convicted previously twice or more times of any
crime ; and
2. When upon being summoned for the execution of their sentence they have failed to surrender
voluntarily.
If the detention prisoners does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed
upon convicted prisoners, he shall be credited in the service of his sentence with fourth-fifths
of the time during which he has undergone preventive imprisonments. (As amended by
Republic Act 6127, June 17, 1970)
Whenever an accused has undergone preventive imprisonment for a period equal or more
than be possible maximum imprisonment of the offence charged to which he may b
sentenced and his case is not yet terminated, he shall be released immediately without
prejudice to the continuation of the trial thereof or the proceeding on appeal, if the same is
under review. In case the maximum penalty to which the accused may be sentenced is
destierro, he shall be released after thirty(30) days preventive imprisonment.
Preventive imprisonment – is the period of detention undergone by an accused where the crime with
which he is charged is non-bailable or, even if bailable, he is unable to post the requisite bail.
When is the detention prisoner entitled to the full credit of his preventive imprisonment?
If the detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed
upon convicted prisoners.
When will he be credited only with four-fifths the time during which he has undergone
preventive imprisonment?
If the detention prisoner does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon
convicted prisoners.
In the case of a youthful offender who has been proceeded against under the
Child and Youth Welfare Code, he shall be credited in the service of his
sentence with the full time of his actual detention, whether or not he agreed
to abide by the same disciplinary rules of the institution.
The following offenders are not entitled to be credited with the full time or four-fifths of the time
of preventive imprisonment:
2. Those who, upon being summoned for the execution of their sentence, failed to surrender
voluntarily.
Habitual delinquents are included in No. 1.
A plebiscite is not mentioned or contemplated in Art.30, par. 2 (deprivation of the right to vote),
hence, the offender may vote in that exercise, subject to the provisions of pertinent election laws
at the time.
Perpetual absolute disqualification is effective during the lifetime of the convict and even after the
service of the sentence.
Temporary absolute disqualification lasts during the term of the sentence, and is removed after
the service of the same, EXCEPT:
2) Loss of all rights to retirement pay or other pension for any office formerly held.
Bond to keep the peace is different from bail bond which is posted for the provisional release of a
person arrested for or accused of a crime.
2. Reclusión perpetua,or
3. Reclusión temporal
--A pardon shall not work the restoration of the right to hold public office, or the right suffrage,
unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of the pardon.
A pardon shall in no case exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil indemnity imposed
upon him by the sentence.
EXCEPTION: When any or both such rights is/are expressly restored by the terms of the pardon.
2. It shall not exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil liability.
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1. That the power can be exercised only after conviction “by final judgment”;
GENERAL RULE: When the principal penalty is remitted by pardon, only the effect of that principal
penalty is extinguished, but not the accessory penalties attached to it.
EXCEPTION: When an absolute pardon is granted after the term of imprisonment has expired, it
removes what is left of the consequences of conviction.
PARDON BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ART. PARDON BY OFFENDED PARTY (ART. 23)
36)
As to the crime covered
Can extend to any crime, unless otherwise Applies only to crimes against chastity under the RPC.
provided by or subject to conditions in the
Constitution or the laws.
When granted
Can be extended only after conviction by final Can be validly granted only before the institution of
judgment of the accused. the criminal action.
To whom granted
To any or all of the accused In adultery and concubinage, must include both
offenders.
As to whether it can be conditional
May be absolute or conditional Cannot validly be made subject to a condition.
ART. 37 – COSTS
----What are included. –Costs shall include fees and indemnities in the course of the judicial
proceedings, whether they be fixed or unalterable amounts previously determined by law or
regulations in force, or amounts not subject to schedule.
Costs or costs of suit – are the expenses of litigation allowed and regulated by the Rules of Court to
be assessed against or to be recovered by a party in litigation.
1. Fees, and
2. Indemnities, in the course of judicial proceedings.
Are chargeable to the accused only in cases of conviction. In case of acquittal, the costs are de
officio, meaning each party bearing his own expenses.
The payment of costs is a matter that rests entirely upon the discretion of courts.
ART. 38 - PECUNIARY LIABILITIES
---Order of payment--- in case the property of the offender should not be sufficient for the
payment of all his pecuniary liabilities, the same shall be met in the following order:
In case the property of the offender should not be sufficient for the payment of all his pecuniary
liabilities.
---If the convict has no property with which to meet the fine mentioned in paragraph 3 of the next
preceding article, he shall be subject to a subsidiary personal liability at the rate of one day for
each eight pesos, subject to the following:
Subsidiary penalty – it is a subsidiary personal liability to be suffered by the convict who has no
property with which to meet the fine, at the rate of one day for each eight pesos (P8.00), subject to the
rules provided for in Art. 39.
Subsidiary penalty shall be proper only if the accused has no property with which to pay the fine,
and not as a matter of choice on his part by opting to go to jail instead of paying.
Subsidiary penalty is not an accessory penalty, hence it must be specifically imposed by the court
in its judgment, otherwise, the accused cannot be made to serve the corresponding subsidiary
imprisonment.
New law prescribes current minimum wage in Metro Manila on time of conviction instead of 8
pesos.
1. If the penalty imposed is prisión correccional or arresto and fine – subsidiary imprisonment is not to
exceed 1/3 of the term of the sentence, and in no case to continue for more than one year. Fraction
or part of a day, not counted.
a) not to exceed 6 months – if the culprit is prosecuted for grave or less grave felony, and
3. When the penalty imposed is higher than prisión correccional – no subsidiary imprisonment.
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4. If the penalty imposed is not to be executed by confinement, but of fixed duration – subsidiary
penalty shall consist in the same deprivations as those of the principal penalty, under the same
rules as nos. 1, 2 and 3 above.
5. In case the financial circumstances of the convict should improve, he shall pay the fine,
notwithstanding the fact that the convict suffered subsidiary personal liability therefor.
When the penalty prescribed for the offense is imprisonment, it is the penalty actually imposed
by the Court, not the penalty provided for by the Code, which should be considered in
determining whether or not subsidiary penalty should be imposed.
4. Where the penalty imposed is a fine and another penalty without fixed duration, like censure.
The rules on subsidiary penalty in Art. 39 are applicable to crimes punishable by special laws
by force of Art. 10 of the Code.
3. Prisión Mayor
4. Prisión correccional
ii. Perpetual special disqualification from suffrage, if the duration of imprisonment exceeds 18
months, unless expressly remitted in the pardon of the principal penalty.
There is perpetual special disqualification from suffrage, only when the duration of the
imprisonment exceeds 18 months.
5. Arresto – suspension of the right to hold office and the right of suffrage during the term of the
sentence.
The Code does not provide for any accessory penalty for destierro.
Imposable on felonies punished by the RPC. Imposable on crimes punishable by special laws.
---- Every penalty imposed for the commission of a felony shall carry with it the forfeiture of the
proceeds of the crime and the instruments tools with which it was committed.
Such proceeds and instruments or tools shall be confiscated and forfeited in favor of the
Government unless they be property of a third person not liable for the offense, but those articles
which are not subject of lawful commerce shall be destroyed.
1. Every penalty imposed carries with it the forfeiture of the proceeds of the crime and the
instruments or tools used in the commission of the crime.
2. The proceeds and instruments or tools of the crime are confiscated and forfeited in favor of the
Government.
3. Property of a third person not liable for the offense, is not subject to confiscation and forfeiture.
4. Property not subject of lawful commerce (whether it belongs to the accused or to third person)
shall be destroyed.
The confiscation and forfeiture of the proceeds and instruments of a crime is an accessory penalty.
This accessory penalty presupposes a judgment of conviction. However, even if the accused is
acquitted on reasonable doubt, but the instruments or proceeds are contraband, the judgment of
acquittal shall order their forfeiture for appropriate disposition.
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ART. 46. PENALTY TO BE IMPOSED UPON PRINCIPALS IN GENERAL
Article 46. Penalty to be imposed upon principals in general. - The penalty prescribed by law for the
commission of a felony shall be imposed upon the principals in the commission of such felony.
(Read also Arts. 50 -51)
Whenever the law prescribes a penalty for a felony in general terms, it shall be understood as
applicable to the consummated felony.
GENERAL RULE: The penalty prescribed by law in general terms shall be imposed upon the principals
for a consummated felony.
EXCEPT: When the penalty to be imposed upon the principal in frustrated or attempted felony is
fixed by law.
GRADUATION OF PENALTIES
1. BY DEGREES – refers to
a) the stages of execution (consummated, frustrated, or attempted); and
b) the degree of the criminal participation of the offender (whether as principal,
accomplice or accessory).
2. BY PERIODS – refers to the proper period of the penalty which should be imposed when
aggravating or mitigating circumstances attend the commission of the crime.
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Article 47. In what cases the death penalty shall not be imposed; Automatic review of death penalty
cases. - The death penalty shall be imposed in all cases in which it must be imposed under existing
laws, except when the guilty person is below eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the
commission of the crime or is more than seventy years of age or when upon appeal or automatic
review of the case by the Supreme Court, the required majority vote is not obtained for the
imposition of the death penalty, in which cases the penalty shall be reclusion perpetua.
In all cases where the death penalty is imposed by the trial court, the records shall be forwarded to
the Supreme Court for automatic review and judgment by the court en banc, within twenty (20)
days but not earlier than fifteen (15) days after the promulgation of the judgment or notice of
denial of any motion for new trial or reconsideration. The transcript shall also be forwarded
within ten (10) days after the filing thereof by the stenographic reporter. (As amended by Section
22, Republic Act No. 7659.)
1. UNDER AGE. When the offender is below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the
crime.
2. OVER AGE. When the guilty person is more than seventy (70) years of age.
3. NO COURT MAJORITY. When upon appeal or automatic review of the case by the Supreme
Court, the vote of eight members is not obtained for the imposition of the death penalty.
Automatic review is available only in cases where death penalty is imposed (R.A. 7659).
CRIMES PUNISHABLE BY DEATH UNDER THE DEATH PENALTY LAW (RA 7659)
1. Treason
2. Qualified Piracy
3. Qualified Bribery
4. Parricide
5. Murder
6. Infanticide
7. Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention
8. Robbery – with Homicide, Rape, Intentional Mutilation, or Arson
9. Rape – with the use of a deadly weapon, or by two or more persons
- where the victim became insane
- with Homicide
10. Qualified Rape
11. Destructive Arson
12. Plunder
13. Violation of certain provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act
14. Carnapping
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3. When the other crime is an indispensable part or an element of the other offenses.
4. Where one of the offenses is penalized by a special law.
Art. 48 does not apply when the law provides one single penalty for special complex crime.
These include –
Robbery with Homicide
Robbery with Rape
Rape with Homicide
Kidnapping with Serious Physical Injuries
Kidnapping with Homicide or Murder
The penalty for complex crime is the penalty for the most serious crime, the same to be applied in
its maximum period.
If different crimes resulting from one single act are punished with the same penalty, the penalty
for any one of them shall be imposed, the same to be applied in the maximum period.
Art. 48 applies to crimes through negligence. E.g.: offender found guilty of a complex crime of
homicide with less serious physical injuries through reckless imprudence.
When 2 felonies constituting a complex crime are punishable by imprisonment and fine,
respectively, only the penalty of imprisonment should be imposed. REASON: fine is not included
in the list of penalties in the order of severity, and it is the last in the graduated scales in Art. 71 of
the RPC.
Plurality of Crimes- consists in the successive execution, by the same individual, of different criminal
acts, upon any of which no conviction has yet been declared.
KINDS:
1. FORMAL OR IDEAL PLURALITY- only ONE CRIMINAL LIABILITY.
THREE GROUPS UNDER THE FORMAL TYPE:
a) When the offender commits any of the complex crimes in ART 48.
b) When the law specifically fixes a single penalty for two or more offenses committed.
c) When the offender commits continuing crimes.
2. REAL OR MATERIAL PLURALITY - DIFFERENT CRIMES in law, as well as in the conscience
of the offender; the offender shall be PUNISHED FOR EACH and every offense that he
committed.
CONTINUING CRIME – is a single crime, consisting of a series of acts, but all arising from ONE
CRIMINAL RESOLUTION; length of time in the commission is immaterial.
2. Each act performed by the offender constitutes a 2. The different acts constitute only one crime, all of
separate crime, each act is generated by a criminal the acts performed arise from one criminal resolution
impulse
RULES:
1. If the penalty for the felony committed be higher than the penalty for the offense which the
accused intended to commit, the lower penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period.
2. If the penalty for the felony committed be lower than the penalty for the offense which the accused
intended to commit, the lower penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period.
3. If the act committed also constitutes an attempt or frustration of another crime, and the law
prescribes a higher penalty for either of the latter, the penalty for the attempted or frustrated crime
shall be imposed in its maximum period.
Article 49. Penalty to be imposed upon the principals when the crime committed is different from
that intended. - In cases in which the felony committed is different from that which the offender
intended to commit, the following rules shall be observed:
1. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be higher than that corresponding to
the offense which the accused intended to commit, the penalty corresponding to the latter
shall be imposed in its maximum period.
2. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be lower than that corresponding to
the one which the accused intended to commit, the penalty for the former shall be imposed
in its maximum period.
3. The rule established by the next preceding paragraph shall not be applicable if the acts
committed by the guilty person shall also constitute an attempt or frustration of another
crime, if the law prescribes a higher penalty for either of the latter offenses, in which case
the penalty provided for the attempted or the frustrated crime shall be imposed in its
maximum period.(Read also Arts. 61, 62, and 65)
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Article 50. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of a frustrated crime. - The penalty next lower in
degree than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall be imposed upon the
principal in a frustrated felony.
Article 51. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of attempted crimes. - The penalty lower by two
degrees than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall be imposed upon the
principals in an attempt to commit a felony.
Article 52. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in a consummated crime. - The penalty next
lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall be imposed upon
the accomplices in the commission of a consummated felony.
Article 53. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories to the commission of a consummated felony. -
The penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall
be imposed upon the accessories to the commission of a consummated felony.
Article 54. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in a frustrated crime. - The penalty next lower in
degree than that prescribed by law for the frustrated felony shall be imposed upon the accessories
in the commission of a frustrated felony.
Article 55. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories of a frustrated crime. - The penalty lower by two
degrees than that prescribed by law for the frustrated felony shall be imposed upon the accessories
to the commission of a frustrated felony.
Article 56. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in an attempted crime. - The penalty next lower
in degree than that prescribed by law for an attempt to commit a felony shall be imposed upon the
accomplices in an attempt to commit the felony.
Article 57. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories of an attempted crime. - The penalty lower by
two degrees than that prescribed by law for the attempt shall be imposed upon the accessories to
the attempt to commit a felony.
According to Arts. 50-57, the penalty prescribed by law for the felony shall be lowered by one or two
degrees, as follows:
1. For the principal in frustrated felony – one degree lower;
2. For the principal in attempted felony – two degrees lower;
3. For the accomplice in consummated felony – one degree lower;
4. For the accessory in consummated felony – two degrees lower;
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Accomplice 1 2 3
Accessory/ies 2 3 4
In this diagram, “0” represents the penalty prescribed by law in defining a crime, which is to be
imposed on the principal in a consummated offense, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 64. The
other figures represent the degrees to which the penalty must be lowered, to meet the different
situations anticipated by law.
Article 58. Additional penalty to be imposed upon certain accessories. - Those accessories falling
within the terms of paragraph 3 of article 19 of this Code who should act with abuse of their public
functions, shall suffer the additional penalty of absolute perpetual disqualification if the principal
offender shall be guilty of a grave felony, and that of absolute temporary disqualification if he
shall be guilty of a less grave felony.
------------------------
------------------------------
EFFECTS:
1. Aggravating circumstances (generic and specific) have the effect of increasing the penalty,
without however exceeding the maximum period provided by law.
2. Mitigating circumstances have the effect of diminishing the penalty.
3. Habitual delinquency has the effect, not only of increasing the penalty because of recidivism
which is generally implied in habitual delinquency, but also of imposing an additional penalty.
1. That the offender had been convicted of any of the crimes of serious or less serious physical
injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification.
2. That after conviction or after serving his sentence, he again committed, and, within 10 years from
his last release of first conviction, he was again convicted of any of the said crimes for the second
time.
3. That after his conviction of, or after serving sentence for the second offense, he again committed,
and, within 10 years from his last release or last conviction, he was again convicted of any of said
offenses, the third time or oftener.
The offender is found guilty within ten years from No period of time between the former conviction and
his last release or last conviction. the last conviction.
As to their EFFECTS
An additional penalty is also imposed If not offset by a mitigating circumstance, serves to
increase the penalty only to the maximum
Article 67. Penalty to be imposed when not all the requisites of exemption of the fourth circumstance
of article 12 are present.- When all the conditions required in circumstance number 4 of article 12 of
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this Code to exempt from criminal liability are not present, the penalty of arresto mayor in its
maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon the culprit
if he shall have been guilty of a grave felony, and arresto mayor in its minimum and medium
periods, if of a less grave felony.
ART. 68. PENALTY TO BE IMPOSED UPON A PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE
This article is not immediately applicable to a minor under 18 years of age, because such minor, if
found guilty of the offense charged, is not sentenced to any penalty. The sentence is suspended and
he is ordered committed to the reformatory institution, IF, his application therefore is approved by
the court.
This article is applicable when the minor’s application for suspension of sentence is
DISAPPROVED or if while in the reformatory institution he becomes INCORRIGIBLE, in which
case he shall be returned to the court for the imposition of the proper penalty.
Article 69. Penalty to be imposed when the crime committed is not wholly excusable. - A penalty
lower by one or two degrees than that prescribed by law shall be imposed if the deed is not wholly
excusable by reason of the lack of some of the conditions required to justify the same or to exempt
from criminal liability in the several cases mentioned in article 11 and 12, provided that the
majority of such conditions be present. The courts shall impose the penalty in the period which
may be deemed proper, in view of the number and nature of the conditions of exemption present
or lacking.
1. THE MAXIMUM DURATION OF THE CONVICT’S SENTENCE shall not be more than three
times the length of time corresponding to the most severe of the penalties imposed upon him.
2. But in no case to exceed 40 years.
3. This rule shall apply only when the convict is to serve 4 or more sentences successively.
4. Subsidiary penalty forms part of the penalty.
The lower or higher penalty shall be taken from the graduated scale in which is comprised the
given penalty.
The courts, in applying such lower or higher penalty, shall observe the following graduated scales:
Prision correccional, From 6 months From 6 months From 2 years, 4 From 4 years, 2
suspension and and 1 day to 6 and 1 day to 2 months and 1 day months and 1 day to
destierro years. years and 4 to 4 years and 2 6 years.
months. months.
Arresto mayor From 1 month From 1 to 2 From 2 months From 4 months and
and 1 day to months. and 1 day to 4 1 day to 6 months.
months. months.
Arresto menor From 1 to 30 From 1 to 10 From 11 to 20 From 21 to 30 days.
days. days. days.
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ART. 77. WHEN THE PENALTY IS A COMPLEX ONE COMPOSED OF THREE DISTINCT
PENALTIES
Article 77. When the penalty is a complex one composed of three distinct penalties. - In cases in
which the law prescribes a penalty composed of three distinct penalties, each one shall form a
period; the lightest of them shall be the minimum, the next the medium, and the most severe the
maximum period.
Whenever the penalty prescribed does not have one of the forms specially provided for in this
Code, the periods shall be distributed, applying for analogy the prescribed rules.
COMPLEX PENALTY - is a penalty prescribed by law composed of three distinct penalties, each
forming a period: the lightest of them shall be the minimum, the next the medium, and the most
severe the maximum period.
1. The Maximum Term – is that which could be properly imposed under the RPC, considering the
aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
2. The MinimumTerm – is within the range of the penalty one degree lower than that prescribed by
the RPC, without considering the circumstances.
BUT when there is a privileged mitigating circumstance, so that the penalty has to be lowered by
one degree, the STARTING POINT for determining the minimum term of the indeterminate penalty is
the penalty next lower than that prescribed by the Code for the offense.
a) The Maximum Term – must not exceed the maximum term fixed by said law.
b) The Minimum Term – must not be less than the minimum term prescribed by the same.
For SPECIAL LAWS, it is anything within the inclusive range of the prescribed penalty. Courts are
given discretion in the imposition of the indeterminate penalty.
The aggravating and mitigating circumstances are not considered unless the special law adopts
the same terminology for penalties as those used in the RPC (such as reclusión perpetua and the
like).
The Indeterminate Sentence Law shall not apply to the following persons:
1. sentenced to death penalty or life imprisonment
2. treason, or conspiracy or proposal to commit treason
3. misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage
4. piracy
5. habitual delinquents
6. escaped from confinement, or evaded sentence
7. granted with conditional pardon by the President, but violated the terms thereof
8. maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed 1 year
9. sentenced to the penalty of destierro or suspension only
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2. But when the paroled prisoner violates any of the conditions of his parole during the period of
surveillance, he may be rearrested to serve the remaining unexpired portion of the MAXIMUM
sentence.
3. Even if a prisoner has already served the MINIMUM, but he is not fitted for release on the parole,
he shall continue to serve until the end of the MAXIMUM term.
THE CHILD AND YOUTH WELFARE CODE (PD 603, as amended)
A child nine years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt
from criminal liability and shall be committed to the care of his or her father or mother, or nearest
relative or family friend in the discretion of the court and subject to its supervision.
The same shall be done for a child over nine years and under fifteen years of age at the time of the
commission of the offense, unless he acted with discernment, in which case he shall be proceeded
against in accordance with Article 192.
1. The purpose of the Child and Youth Welfare Code is to avoid a situation where JUVENILE
OFFENDERS would commingle with ordinary criminals in prison.
2. If the court finds that the youthful offender committed the crime charged against him, it shall
DETERMINE the imposable penalty and the civil liability chargeable against him.
3. The court may not pronounce judgment of conviction but instead SUSPEND all further
proceedings if, upon application of the youthful offender, it finds that the best interest of the public
and that of the offender will be served thereby.
4. The benefits of Article 192 of PD 603, as amended, providing for suspension of sentence, shall
NOT APPLY TO (1) a youthful offender who once enjoyed suspension of sentence under its
provisions, or (2) one who is convicted of an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment.
5. The youthful offender shall be RETURNED to the committing court for pronouncement of
judgment, when the youthful offender, (1) has been found incorrigible, or (2) has willfully failed to
comply with the conditions of his rehabilitation programs; or (3) when his continued stay in the
training institution would be inadvisable.
6. When the youthful offender has reached the age of TWENTY-ONE while in commitment, the
court shall determine whether-
a) To DISMISS the case, if the youthful offender has behaved properly and has shown his
capability to be a useful member of the community; or
b) To PRONOUNCE the judgment of conviction, if the conditions mentioned are not met.
7. In the latter case, the convicted offender may apply for PROBATION. In any case, the youthful
offender shall be credited in the service of his sentence with the full time spent in actual
commitment and detention.
8. The final release of a youthful offender, based on good conduct as provided in Art. 196 shall not
obliterate his CIVIL LIABILITY for damages.
9. A minor who is ALREADY AN ADULT at the time of his conviction is not entitled to a
suspension of sentence.
PROBATION is a disposition under which a defendant after conviction and sentence is released
subject to conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation officer.
B. APPLICATION
This shall apply to all offenders except those entitled to benefits under PD 603 and similar laws.
C. RULES ON GRANT OF PROBATION
1. After having convicted and sentenced a defendant, the trial court MAY SUSPEND the execution
of the sentence, and place the defendant on probation, upon APPLICATION by the defendant
within the period for perfecting an appeal.
2. Probation may be granted whether the sentence imposed a term of imprisonment or fine only.
3. NO application for probation shall be entertained or granted if the defendant has PERFECTED
AN APPEAL from the judgment of conviction.
4. Filing of application for probation operates as a WAIVER OF THE RIGHT TO APPEAL.
5. The application shall be filed with the trial court, and the order granting or denying probation
shall NOT BE APPEALABLE.
6. Accessory penalties are deemed suspended once probation is granted.
D. POST-SENTENCE INVESTIGATION
The convict is not immediately placed on probation. There shall be a prior investigation by the
probation officer and a determination by the court.
1. All information relative to the character, antecedents, environment, mental, and physical
condition of the offender.
2. Available institutional and community resources.
G. DISQUALIFIED OFFENDERS
THE BENEFITS OF THE DECREE SHALL NOT BE EXTENDED TO THOSE:
1. Sentenced to serve a maximum term of imprisonment of more the 6 years.
2. Convicted of subversion or any crime against the national security or the public order.
3. Previously convicted by final judgment of an offense punished by imprisonment of not less than 1
month and 1 day and/or a fine not less than P200.
4. Once placed on probation.
H. CONDITIONS OF PROBATION
2 KINDS OF CONDITIONS IMPOSED:
1. Mandatory or general – once violated, the probation is cancelled. They are:
a) Probationer: Presents himself to the probation officer designated to undertake his supervision,
at such place as may be specified in the order, within 72 hours from receipt of order;
b) He reports to the probation officer at least once a month.
2. Discretionary or special – additional conditions listed, which the courts may additionally impose
on the probationer towards his correction and rehabilitation outside prison.
HOWEVER, the enumeration is not inclusive. Probation statutes are liberal in character and
enable the courts to designate practically ANY term it chooses, as long as the probationer’s
Constitutional rights are not jeopardized. Also, they must not be unduly restrictive of
probationer, and not incompatible with the freedom of conscience of probationer.
I. PERIOD OF PROBATION
FOR HOW LONG MAY A CONVICT BE PLACED ON PROBATION?
1. If the convict is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of NOT more than one year, the period of
probation shall not exceed 2 years.
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2. In all other cases, if he is sentenced to more than one year, said period shall not exceed 6 years.
3. When the sentence imposes a fine only and the offender is made to serve subsidiary imprisonment.
The period of probation shall be twice the total number of days of subsidiary imprisonment.
K. TERMINATION OF PROBATION
The court may order the final discharge of the probationer upon finding that, he has fulfilled the
terms and conditions of his probation.
Note that the probation is NOT coterminous with its period. There must be an order issued by the
court discharging the probationer.
Article 78. When and how a penalty is to be executed. - No penalty shall be executed except by
virtue of a final judgment.
A penalty shall not be executed in any other form than that prescribed by law, nor with any other
circumstances or incidents than those expressly authorized thereby.
In addition to the provisions of the law, the special regulations prescribed for the government of
the institutions in which the penalties are to be suffered shall be observed with regard to the
character of the work to be performed, the time of its performance, and other incidents connected
therewith, the relations of the convicts among themselves and other persons, the relief which they
may receive, and their diet.
The regulations shall make provision for the separation of the sexes in different institutions, or at
least into different departments, and also for the correction and reform of the convicts.
Article 79. Suspension of the execution and service of the penalties in case of insanity. - When a
convict shall become insane or an imbecile after final sentence has been pronounced, the execution
of said sentence shall be suspended only with regard to the personal penalty, the provisions of the
second paragraph of circumstance number 1 of article 12 being observed in the corresponding
cases.
If at any time the convict shall recover his reason, his sentence shall be executed, unless the
penalty shall have prescribed in accordance with the provisions of this Code.
The respective provisions of this section shall also be observed if the insanity or imbecility occurs
while the convict is serving his sentence.
Article 80. Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents. - Whenever a minor of either sex, under
sixteen years of age at the date of the commission of a grave or less grave felony, is accused
thereof, the court, after hearing the evidence in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing
judgment of conviction, shall suspend all further proceedings and shall commit such minor to the
custody or care of a public or private, benevolent or charitable institution, established under the
law for the care, correction or education of orphaned, homeless, defective, and delinquent
children, or to the custody or care of any other responsible person in any other place subject to
visitation and supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or any of his agents or representatives,
if there be any, or otherwise by the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, subject
to such conditions as are prescribed hereinbelow until such minor shall have reached his majority
or for such less period as the court may deem proper.(As amended by Republic Act No. 47.)
The court, in committing said minor as provided above, shall take into consideration the religion
of such minor, his parents or next of kin, in order to avoid his commitment to any private
institution not under the control and supervision of the religious sect or denomination to which
they belong.
The Director of Public Welfare or his duly authorized representatives or agents, the
superintendent of public schools or his representatives, or the person to whose custody or care the
minor has been committed, shall submit to the court every four months and as often as required in
special cases, a written report on the good or bad conduct of said minor and the moral and
intellectual progress made by him.
The suspension of the proceedings against a minor may be extended or shortened by the court on
the recommendation of the Director of Public Welfare or his authorized representatives or agents,
or the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, according as to whether the conduct
of such minor has been good or not and whether he has complied with the conditions imposed
upon him, or not. The provisions of the first paragraph of this article shall not, however, be
affected by those contained herein.
If the minor has been committed to the custody or care of any of the institutions mentioned in the
first paragraph of this article, with the approval of the Director of Public Welfare and subject to
such conditions as this official in accordance with law may deem proper to impose, such minor
may be allowed to stay elsewhere under the care of a responsible person.
If the minor has behaved properly and has complied with the conditions imposed upon him
during his confinement, in accordance with the provisions of this article, he shall be returned to
the court in order that the same may order his final release.
In case the minor fails to behave properly or to comply with the regulations of the institution to
which he has been committed or with the conditions imposed upon him when he was committed
to the care of a responsible person, or in case he should be found incorrigible or his continued stay
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in such institution should be inadvisable, he shall be returned to the court in order that the same
may render the judgment corresponding to the crime committed by him.
The expenses for the maintenance of a minor delinquent confined in the institution to which he
has been committed, shall be borne totally or partially by his parents or relatives or those persons
liable to support him, if they are able to do so, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That in case
his parents or relatives or those persons liable to support him have not been ordered to pay said
expenses or are found indigent and cannot pay said expenses, the municipality in which the
offense was committed shall pay one-third of said expenses; the province to which the
municipality belongs shall pay one-third; and the remaining one-third shall be borne by the
National Government: Provided, however, That whenever the Secretary of Finance certifies that a
municipality is not able to pay its share in the expenses above mentioned, such share which is not
paid by said municipality shall be borne by the National Government. Chartered cities shall pay
two-thirds of said expenses; and in case a chartered city cannot pay said expenses, the internal
revenue allotments which may be due to said city shall be withheld and applied in settlement of
said indebtedness in accordance with section five hundred and eighty-eight of the Administrative
Code.(As amended by Com. Act No. 99)
Article 81. When and how the death penalty is to be executed. - The death sentence shall be executed
with preference to any other and shall consist in putting the person under sentence to death by
electrocution. The death sentence shall be executed under the authority of the Director of Prisons,
endeavoring so far as possible to mitigate the sufferings of the persons under sentence during
electrocution as well as during the proceedings prior to the execution.
If the person under sentence so desires, he shall be anaesthetized at the moment of the execution.
As soon as facilities are provided by the Bureau of Prisons, the method of carrying out the sentence
shall be changed to gas poisoning.
The death sentence shall be carried out not later than one (1) year after the judgment has become
final. (As amended by Sec. 24, Republic Act No. 7659.)
Article 82. Notification and execution of the sentence and assistance to the culprit. - The court shall
designate a working day for the execution, but not the hour thereof; and such designation shall not
be communicated to the offender before sunrise of said day, and the execution shall not take place
until after the expiration of at least eight hours following the notification, but before sunset.
During the interval between the notification and the execution, the culprit shall, in so far as
possible, be furnished such assistance as he may request in order to be attended in his last
moments by priests or ministers of the religion he professes and to consult lawyers, as well as in
order to make a will and confer with members of his family or persons in charge of the
management of his business, of the administration of his property, or of the care of his
descendants.
Article 84. Place of execution and persons who may witness the same. - The execution shall take
place in the penitentiary of Bilibid in a space closed to the public view and shall be witnessed only
by the priests assisting the offender and by his lawyers, and by his relatives, not exceeding six, if
he so request, by the physician and the necessary personnel of the penal establishment, and by
such persons as the Director of Prisons may authorize.
Article 85. Provision relative to the corpse of the person executed and its burial. - Unless claimed by
his family, the corpse of the culprit shall, upon the completion of the legal proceedings
subsequent to the execution, be turned over to the institute of learning or scientific research first
applying for it, for the purpose of study and investigation, provided that such institute shall take
charge of the decent burial of the remains. Otherwise, the Director of Prisons shall order the burial
of the body of the culprit at government expense, granting permission to be present thereat to the
members of the family of the culprit and the friends of the latter. In no case shall the burial of the
body of a person sentenced to death be held with pomp.
Article 86. Reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prision mayor, prision correccional and arresto
mayor. - The penalties of reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prision mayor, prision
correccional and arresto mayor, shall be executed and served in the places and penal
establishments provided by the Administrative Code in force or which may be provided by law in
the future.
1. Death or serious physical injuries is caused or are inflicted under exceptional circumstances (Art.
247);
2. Failure to give bond for good behavior in grave and light threats (Art. 284);
3. Penalty for the concubine in concubinage (Art. 334);
4. When, after reducing the penalty by one or more degrees, destierro is the proper penalty.
Article 88. Arresto menor. - The penalty of arresto menor shall be served in the municipal jail, or in
the house of the defendant himself under the surveillance of an officer of the law, when the court
so provides in its decision, taking into consideration the health of the offender and other reasons
which may seem satisfactory to it.
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ART. 89. CRIMINAL LIABILITY IS TOTALLY EXTINGUISHED
Article 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. - Criminal liability is totally extinguished:
1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties,
liability therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final
judgment.
2. By service of the sentence.
3. By amnesty, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects.
4. By absolute pardon.
5. By prescription of the crime.
6. By prescription of the penalty.
7. By the marriage of the offended woman, as provided in Article 344 of this Code.
1. By the DEATH of the convict as to personal penalties; BUT as to pecuniary penalties, liability is
extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before or after final judgment
2. By SERVICE OF SENTENCE;
3. By AMNESTY, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects.
4. By ABSOLUTE PARDON
5. By PRESCRIPTION OF THE CRIME
6. By PRESCRIPTION OF PENALTY
7. By MARRIAGE OF THE OFFENDED WOMAN with the offender in the crimes of rape,
seduction, abduction, and acts of lasciviousness. In the crimes of rape, seduction, abduction, and
acts of lasciviousness, the marriage, as provided under Art 344, must be contracted in good faith.
AMNESTY – is an act of the sovereign power granting oblivion or general pardon for a past offense,
and is rarely if ever exercised in favor of a single individual, and is usually extended in behalf of
certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted.
PARDON – is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws,
which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for the
crime he has committed.
Pardon distinguished from Amnesty
PARDON AMNESTY
1. Includes any crime and is exercised individually by 1. A blanket pardon to classes of persons or
the President communities who may be guilty of political offenses.
2. Exercised when the person is already convicted 2. May be exercised even before trial or investigation
is had
3. Merely looks FORWARD and relieves the offender 3. Looks BACKWARD and abolishes and puts into
from the consequences of an offense of which he has oblivion the offense itself; it so overlooks and
been convicted; it does not work for the restoration of obliterates the offense with which he is charged that
the rights to hold public office, or the right of suffrage, the person released by amnesty stands before the law
unless such rights are expressly restored by means of precisely as though he had committed no offense.
pardon.
4. Does not alter the fact that the accused is a recidivist 4. Makes an ex-convict no longer a recidivist, because
as it produces only the extinction of the personal it obliterates the last vestige of the crime.
effects of the penalty.
5. Does not extinguish the civil liability of the offender 5. Does not extinguish the civil liability of the offender
6. Being PRIVATE ACT by the President, must be 6. Being a Proclamation of the Chief Executive with
pleaded and proved by the person pardoned the concurrence of Congress; is a PUBLIC ACT of
which the courts should take judicial notice
Prescription of the crime – is the forfeiture or loss of the right of the State to prosecute the offender,
after the lapse of a certain time.
Prescription of the penalty – is the loss or forfeiture of the right of the government to execute the final
sentence, after the lapse of a certain time.
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to run again when such proceedings terminate without the accused being convicted or acquitted,
or are unjustifiably stopped for any reason not imputable to him.
The term of prescription shall not run when the offender is absent from the Philippine
Archipelago.
Article 92. When and how penalties prescribe. - The penalties imposed by final sentence prescribe
as follows:
1. Death and reclusion perpetua, in twenty years;
2. Other afflictive penalties, in fifteen years;
3. Correctional penalties, in ten years; with the exception of the penalty of arresto mayor,
which prescribes in five years;
4. Light penalties, in one year.
Article 93. Computation of the prescription of penalties. - The period of prescription of penalties
shall commence to run from the date when the culprit should evade the service of his sentence,
and it shall be interrupted if the defendant should give himself up, be captured, should go to some
foreign country with which this Government has no extradition treaty, or should commit another
crime before the expiration of the period of prescription.
OUTLINE
1. Period of prescription commences to run from the date when the culprit evaded the service of his
sentence.
2. It is interrupted when the convict
a) gives himself up,
b) is captured,
c) goes to a foreign country with which we have no extradition treaty, or
d) commits any crime before the expiration of the period of prescription.
ELEMENTS
b. If the convict fails to observe the condition of the parole, the Board of Pardons and Parole is
authorized to :
(1) direct his ARREST AND RETURN TO CUSTODY and thereafter;
(2) to CARRY OUT HIS SENTENCE WITHOUT REDUCTION of the time that has elapsed
between the date of the parole and the subsequent arrest.
5. By PROBATION. See Probation Law
2. For violation of the conditional pardon, the convict 2. For violation of the terms of the parole, the convict
may be ordered re-arrested or re-incarcerated by the CANNOT BE PROSECUTED UNDER ART. 159 OF
Chief Executive, or may be PROSECUTED under Art. THE RPC, he can be re-arrested and re-incarcerated to
159 of the Code serve the unserved portion of his original penalty.
CIVIL LIABILITY
Article 100. Civil liability of a person guilty of felony. - Every person criminally liable for a felony
is also civilly liable.
Article 101. Rules regarding civil liability in certain cases. - The exemption from criminal liability
established in subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of article 12 and in subdivision 4 of article 11 of this
Code does not include exemption from civil liability, which shall be enforced subject to the
following rules:
First. In cases of subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 of article 12, the civil liability for acts committed by an
imbecile or insane person, and by a person under nine years of age, or by one over nine but under
fifteen years of age, who has acted without discernment, shall devolve upon those having such
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person under their legal authority or control, unless it appears that there was no fault or
negligence on their part.
Should there be no person having such insane, imbecile or minor under his authority, legal
guardianship, or control or if such person be insolvent, said insane, imbecile, or minor shall
respond with their own property, excepting property exempt from execution, in accordance with
the civil law.
Second. In cases falling within subdivision 4 of article 11, the persons for whose benefit the harm
has been prevented shall be civilly liable in proportion to the benefit which they may have
received.
The courts shall determine, in sound discretion, the proportionate amount for which each one shall
be liable.
When the respective shares cannot be equitably determined, even approximately, or when the
liability also attaches to the Government, or to the majority of the inhabitants of the town, and, in
all events, whenever the damage has been caused with the consent of the authorities or their
agents, indemnification shall be made in the manner prescribed by special laws or regulations.
Third. In cases falling within subdivisions 5 and 6 of article 12, the persons using violence or
causing the fears shall be primarily liable and secondarily, or, if there be no such persons, those
doing the act shall be liable, saving always to the latter that part of their property exempt from
execution.
Article 102. Subsidiary civil liability of innkeepers, tavernkeepers and proprietors of establishments.
- In default of the persons criminally liable, innkeepers, tavernkeepers, and any other persons or
corporations shall be civilly liable for crimes committed in their establishments, in all cases where
a violation of municipal ordinances or some general or special police regulation shall have been
committed by them or their employees.
Innkeepers are also subsidiarily liable for the restitution of goods taken by robbery or theft within
their houses from guests lodging therein, or for the payment of the value thereof, provided that
such guests shall have notified in advance the innkeeper himself, or the person representing him,
of the deposit of such goods within the inn; and shall furthermore have followed the directions
which such innkeeper or his representative may have given them with respect to the care of and
vigilance over such goods. No liability shall attach in case of robbery with violence against or
intimidation of persons unless committed by the innkeeper's employees.
Article 103. Subsidiary civil liability of other persons. - The subsidiary liability established in the
next preceding article shall also apply to employers, teachers, persons, and corporations engaged
in any kind of industry for felonies committed by their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or
employees in the discharge of their duties.
1. As an offense against the state, because of the disturbance of the social order; and
2. As an offense against the private person injured by the crime, UNLESS it involves the crime of
treason, rebellion, espionage, contempt, and others wherein no civil liability arises on the part of
the offender, either because there are no damages to be compensated or there is no private person
injured by the crime.
EFFECT OF ACQUITTAL
Extinction of the penal action does NOT carry with it extinction of the civil; UNLESS the extinction
proceeds from a declaration in a final judgment that the fact from which the civil liability might arise
did not exist. (See Section 1, Rule 111 of the 2000 Rules on Criminal Procedure. Civil liability arising
from other sources of obligations is not impliedly instituted with the criminal action).
If the offender dies prior to the institution of the action or prior to the finality of judgment, civil
liability ex-delicto is extinguished. (DE GUZMAN vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, G.R. No.
154579. October 8, 2003)
In all these cases, civil liability from sources other than delict are not extinguished.
ART. 101. RULES REGARDING CIVIL LIABILITY IN CERTAIN CASES
EXCEPT:
1. No civil liability in paragraph 4 of Art. 12 which provides for injury caused by mere accident.
2. No civil liability in paragraph 7 of Art. 12 which provides for failure to perform an act
required by law when prevented by some lawful or insuperable cause.
EXCEPT: under paragraph 4, where a person does an act, causing damage to another, in order to
avoid evil or injury, the person benefited by the prevention of the evil or injury shall be civilly liable
in proportion to the benefit he received.
Concurrence of all elements makes the innkeeper, tavernkeeper, or proprietor civilly liable for the
crime committed in his establishment.
1. That the guests notified in advance the innkeeper or the person representing of the deposit of their
goods within the inn or house.
2. The guests followed the directions of the innkeeper or his representative with respect to the care of
and vigilance over such goods.
3. Such goods of the guests lodging therein were taken by robbery with force upon things or theft
committed within the inn or house.
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ELEMENTS
1. The employer, teacher, person, or corporation is engaged in any kind of industry.
2. Any of their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or employees commits a felony while in the
discharge of his duties.
3. The said employee is insolvent and has not satisfied his civil liability.
4.