MANILA LAW COLLEGE

CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW

EXERCISE # 3

RODELO G. MORAN JANUARY 20,2020

1. DEFINITIONS:

DEFINE and GIVE the meaning of the following:

PRINCIPAL –

Under art.17 of the RPC, the following are considered principals:

1. Principal by direct participation – those who take a direct part in the execution of the act.

2. Principal by induction – those who directly force or induce other to commit it.

3. Principal by indispensable cooperation – those who cooperate in the commission of the

offense by another act without which it would not have been accomplished.

ACCOMPLICE –

Accomplices are those persons who, not being a principal under Art. 17, cooperate in the

execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts. (ART. 18, RPC )

ACCESSORY –

Under Art. 19 of the RPC , 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 to its commission in any of the following:

1. by profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effect of the crime.

2. by concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effect or instruments thereof,

in order to prevent in discovery;

3. by harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principals of the crime, provided

the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever the author of the crime
 is guilty of 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.

The exemptions to this rule are provided in Art. 20 of RPC – 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.

CONSPIRACY –

Conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission

of a felony and decide to commit it.

CORPUS DELICTI –

It literally means the body or substance of the crime. But applied to a particular offense, it means
the actual commission by someone of the particular crime charged.

It is the fact of the commission of the crime that may be proved by the testimonies of eyewitness.

2. DISCUSSIONS:

1. WHO ARE CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR GRAVE AND LESS GRAVE FELONIES?

The following are criminally liable for grave and less grave felonies as defined in Art. 16 of RPC.

1. Principals;

2. Accomplices;

3. Accessories

2. WHO ARE CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR LIGHT FELONIES?

The following are criminally liable for light felonies, to wit:

1. Principals;

2. Accomplices

3. UNDER ARTICLE 17 OF THE RPC, WHO ARE CONSIDERED PRINCIPALS?

Under art.17 of the RPC, the following are considered principals:

1. Principal by direct participation – those who take a direct part in the execution of the act.

2. Principal by induction – those who directly force or induce other to commit it.
 3. Principal by indispensable cooperation – those who cooperate in the commission of the

offense by another act without which it would not have been accomplished.

4. DISTINGUISH AN ACCOMPLICE FROM A CONSPIRATOR.

Conspirators are the author of the crime. Accomplices are merely instruments who perform acts

not essential to the perpetration of the offense.

5. AS A GENERAL RULE, CAN JURIDICAL PERSONS BE THE ACTIVE SUBJECT OF CRIME?

No, as a rule only natural persons can be the active subject of crime because of the highly
personal nature of the criminal responsibility. However, by way of exemption to the rule, under certain
special laws, juridical persons are criminally liable. (i.e. corporation law, security law, election code )may
be fined for certain violations of their provisions.

3. PROBLEMS

EXPLAIN briefly the rule or reason for your answer.

1. IN ONE CASE , A ( THE TRIAL JUDGE ) RULED THAT THE COMMON – LAW – WIFE WHO INDUCED THE
KILLING OF ANOTHER COMMON-LAW-WIFE OF HER HUSBAND BY GIVING MONEY TO THE KILLER IS A
PRINCIPAL BY DIRECT PARTICIPATION. DO YOU AGREE?

No, I do not agree. The first requisites in ordered to be considered principal under Art. 17 of RPC
is, “those who take direct part in the execution of the act”, is principal by direct participation. In this
case, the common- law- wife who induced the killing of another common- law- wife of her husband by
giving money to the killer is principal by induction, while the killer is a principal by direct participation.

2. B (THE MUNICIPAL PRESIDENT ) REFUSES TO PROSECUTE THE CRIME OF HOMICIDE AND TO MAKE
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SAME, LEADING TO THE ESCAPE OF THE OFFENDER. IS B GUILTY AS AN
ACCESSORY?

Yes, he is guilty as an accessory to the crime. Under Art. 19 of the RPC, accessories are those
who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either
as principal or accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission in any of the following manners:

1. x x x x x x x x x x

2. x x x x x x x x x x

3. By harboring, concealing or assisting in the escape of the principals of the crime, provided the
accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whatever the author of the crime is guilty of treason,
parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the chief executive, or is known to be habitually guilty
of some of the crime.
In this case, for refusing to prosecute the crime of homicide and to make an investigation of same serious
occurrence and making it possible for the principal offender to escape, the municipal president was
found guilty as accessory.( U.S. v. Yacat 1 phil. 443 )

3. C (THE COMPANY TREASURER ) SIGNED THE CHECK ( WHICH THE LATTER BOUNCED ) IN BEHALF OF
HIS COMPANY ( THE DRAWER OF THE CHECK ). CHARGED WITH VIOLATION OF B.P. 22, C CONTENDS
THAT HE CANNOT BE HELD CRIMINALLY LIABLE AS HE IS NOT THE DRAWER OF THE CHECK. DO YOU
AGREE?

No, I disagree. There are instances where the law specifies the officers who shall be criminally
responsible for acts done in behalf of the corporation and are violative of that law. In this case, under
B.P. 22 (bouncing check law ), the person who signed the bouncing check in behalf of the juridical person
which is the drawer thereof shall be criminally liable. Hence, C is liable for the crime and his contention is
not correct.

DEFINITIONS:

PENALTY –

Penalty is the punishment imposed by lawful authority upon a person who commits a deliberate
or negligent act.

DESTIERRO –

It pertains to a punishment whereby the convict is vanished to a certain place and is prohibited
from entering or coming near the place designated in the sentence, not less than 25 km.,but cannot
extend beyond 250 km.

THREEFOLD RULE –

Under this rule, the maximum duration of the convict’s sentence shall not be more than threefold
the length of time corresponding to the most severe of the penalties imposed.( Art. 70, RPC )

PREVENTIVE IMPRISONMENT-

It pertains to the incarceration undergone by a person accused of a crime which is not bailable,
or even if bailable, cannot afford to post a bond. He is called the detention prisoner.

CONTINUING CRIME –

A continous crime is a single crime consisting of a series of acts arising from one criminal
resolution; it is continous, unlawful act or series of act set on foot by a single impulse and operated by an
unintermittent force however long time it may occupy.
DISCUSSIONS:

1. HOW ARE PENALTIES CLASSIFIED UNDER ART. 25 OF THE RPC?

Under art.25 of the RPC, penalties may be classified from the following to wit;

1. PRINCIPAL- provided by law for a felony and which is imposed by the court expressly upo convictions.
2. ACCESSORY- deemed included in the imposition of the principal penalty.

2. DISTINGUISH LIFE IMPRISONMENT FROM RECLUSION PERPETUA.

The two may be distinguish in the following manner;

At first, life imprisonment is imposed for serious offenses penalized by special laws. Whereas, the
second, reclusion perpetua is prescribed under the RPC.

The former does not carry with it any accessory penalty, while the latter has accessory penalty.

The former does not appear to have any definite extent or duration, while the latter entails
imprisonment for at least 30 years which the convict becomes eligible for pardon.

3. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW?

The purpose of the law is to uplift and redeem valuable human material and prevent
unnecessary and excessive deprivation of personal liberty and economic usefulness.

4. WHAT ARE THE TWO TYPES OF COMPLEX CRIMES?

Under Art. 48 the two types of complex crime are the following; to wit:

1. Compound crimes (delito compuesto)- where a single act constitutes two or more grave or less
grave felonies and;

2. Complex crime proper (delito complejo)- where an offense is a necessary means of committing
the other.

5. DISTINGUISH PREVENTIVE IMPRISONMENT FROM SUBSIDIARY IMPRISONMENT.

The distinction between the two is that; in preventive imprisonment is the incarceration
undergone by a person accused of a crime which is not bailable, or even if bailable, cannot afford to post
the bond. During the trial of his case, he is detained in jail. He is called a detention prisoner. While
subsidiary imprisonment, on the other hand is the personal penalty prescribed by law in substitution of
the payment of fine embodied in the decision when the same cannot be satisfied because of the culprit’s
insolvency.
PROBLEMS:

EXPLAIN BRIEFLY THE RULE OR RESON FOR YOUR ANSWER.

1. A PLACED A TIME BOMB IN A PLANE, WHICH CAUSED IT TO EXPLODE IN MID-AIR. AS A RESULT, 10

OF ITS PASSENGERS WERE KILLED. A WAS LATER CONVICTED BY THE TRIAL COURT OF TWO SEPARATE
CRIMES OF MULTIPLE MURDER AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.WAS A’s CONVICTION FOR TWO
SEPARATE CRIMES CORRECT?

Yes he is convicted for two separate crimes. Under Art. 48, in complex crime, although two or
more crimes are actually committed, they constitute only one crime in the eyes of the law, the offender
has only one criminal intent.Hence, there is only one penalty imposed.

2. B WAS SENTENCED BY THE COURT TO SERVE A MAXIMUM IMPRISONMENT OF NOT MORE THAN 6
YEARS. HE THEN APPLIED FOR PROBATION. LATER, HE FILED AN APPEAL. WAS THE FILING OF APPEAL
CORRECT?

No, the filing of appeal is not correct. Probation and appeal are two different and distinct
remedies provided by law to the accused. When an application for probation is filed before the trial
court, the right to appeal is deemed waived.

3. C WAS CONVICTED OF AN ELECTION OFFENSE UNDER THE ELECTION CODE. CAN HE APPLY FOR
PROBATION?

No, he cannot apply for probation. Under P.D. 968, probation is a disposition under which the
defendant after conviction and sentence is release but subject to the condition imposed by the court and
to the supervision of probation officer. The purpose of this law are: (1) to promote the correction and
rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized treatment; (2) to provide an
opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less probable if here were to serve
a prison sentence; and (3) to prevent the commission of an offenses.

In this case, probation is not applicable for the conviction arising from election offense because,
election offenses are under the revised election code and not offenses arising from revised penal code.