CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS

Death Caused in a Tumultuous Affray

The concept of a “tumultuous affray” is that a group of people are

engaged in a violent fight, where the following requisites are present:

1. The persons are not composed of identifiable groups;

2. A person is killed;

3. It cannot be identified who killed the person.

The idea is to punish those who most probably killed the victim, such
that Articles 251 and 252 makes liable those persons who:

1. Inflicted serious physical injuries upon the person who died; or

2. Used any act of violence upon the person who died or suffered serious
or less serious physical injuries.

It does not appear from the law that there will be criminal liability for
anyone who used violence upon another resulting in slight physical injuries.

Giving Assistance to Suicide

Suicide is not a crime in the Philippines for two reasons, first, there is no
law defining suicide as a crime and punishing it; and second, public policy
demands that those persons who commit suicide or attempt to do so deserve
compassion and liberality, not judgment.

The law punishes those who assist others to commit suicide because in
effect, those who assist are considered accomplices or principals to homicide,
as the case may be.

This is true because:

Where a person assists another to commit suicide, the penalty is prision

mayor, which is the penalty next lower in degree than reclusion temporal. But
where the assistance is to the effect that the person assisting does the killing
himself, the penalty is reclusion temporal.

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 Recall that reclusion temporal is the penalty for homicide, while prision
mayor is the penalty imposed upon an accomplice to homicide.

The penalty of arresto mayor in its medium and maximum periods for
cases of assistance where the suicide was not consummated is not the same
penalty for attempted homicide (Prision correccional) or frustrated homicide
(prision mayor). The penalty is imposed to deter those from assisting a person
from committing homicide and in hopes of deterring the commission of
suicide itself.

Suicide and Reckless Imprudence

Even if the law does not punish suicide, any and all consequences of the
suicidal act which causes damage to property or to persons will bring with it
civil and criminal liabilities.

The reason is because those who commit suicide must bear in mind the
possible damage the act will cause.

Suppose a person commits suicide by using a gun. Upon firing the gun
the bullet went through the person’s head and injured a person in an adjacent
room. If the person died, there is no criminal liability because first, suicide is
not a crime and second, death extinguishes criminal liability. Civil liability on
the other hand arising from the injury suffered by a person in an adjacent
room will be claimed from the person’s estate. But if the person committing
suicide survived, they will be criminally liable for reckless imprudence
resulting in physical injuries for the injury suffered by the person in the
adjacent room.

Although it is sound doctrine that those who commit acts not

constituting crimes are not liable for all the natural consequences of the act,
the injury suffered by the person in the adjacent room was caused not by the
suicide itself, but by the negligence of the person committing it.

Discharge of Firearms

To be liable for this felony the offender must discharge a firearm at

another person, without intending to hit or kill them.

This is because the discharge of a firearm at another person with the

intention to inure will be punished as serious, less serious or slight physical
injuries. If the discharge of the firearm is coupled with an intention to kill, the
crime would be homicide or murder, as the case may be, in the proper stage of
execution.

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Abortion

Abortion is the premature termination of pregnancy, resulting to the

demise of the unborn fetus.

Intentional Abortion is present when a person other than the pregnant

woman:

1. Uses violence upon any pregnant woman to cause an abortion, with or

without her consent;

2. Causes an abortion upon a pregnant woman without her consent and

without using violence (as in the case where an abortive substance is
used);

3. Causes an abortion upon a pregnant woman with her consent.

Any act of violence by any person upon a pregnant woman that

unintentionally causes an abortion shall be punished as unintentional
abortion.

But if the abortion is performed by the pregnant woman herself, or

allows another person to perform the abortion, she will be criminally liable
for the abortion.

Physicians and midwives are liable for the abortion if they perform it
themselves or assist in its commission. On the part of physicians, the
prescription of abortive substances where there is no need for it will cause
them to be criminally liable.

Pharmacists who dispense abortive substances from a pharmacy

without a requisite prescription from a physician will also be criminally liable.

On the part of physicians, midwives and pharmacists, this is without

prejudice to their possible administrative liability as healthcare professionals.

Duel

A duel has the following participants:

1. The duelists, who are those who fight each other in a duel; and

2. The seconds, who are persons chosen by the duelists whose duty was to
ensure that the duel was carried out under honorable conditions, on a
proper field of honor and with equally deadly weapons.

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 The law punishes the holding of duel itself, and cases where one of the
duelists is killed or suffers physical injuries. The seconds are punished as
accomplices.

Challenging to a Duel

This is committed any person who shall challenge another, or incite

another to give or accept a challenge to a duel, or shall scoff at or decry
another publicly for having refused to accept a challenge to fight a duel.

Note that to be a “duel,” there must be an intention to mutually fight one

another at a specified time, date and place, with or without the use of
weapons, which will result to one of the duelists being killed.

The fact that the duel presupposes the death of one of the duelists is
what makes the act illegal, such that fighting matches in boxing, mixed martial
arts and other full-contact martial art events are excluded from the definition
of duel (even if a challenge to fight was given) because these events do not
include an understanding or an acceptance that the fight is a “fight to the
death.”

Physical Injuries

The crime of physical injuries is present only where the offender

inflicted them upon the victim without having an intention to kill. This is
because the infliction of injuries coupled with an intention to kill is punished
as attempted, frustrated or consummated homicide, murder, parricide or
infanticide, as the case may be.

Mutilation

Mutilation is the intentional deprivation of another person of a body

part. Under Article 262, the body part mutilated may be the penis (for which
the penalty imposable is reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua) or any other
body part, such as an arm, a finger or an ear (for which the imposable penalty is
prision mayor medium to prision mayor maximum).

But to be punishable as mutilation, the cutting off or the removal of the

body part must be intentional, such that the use of a weapon or the manner of
attack must be done in such a way as to intentionally cut off that body part. If
the mutilation was unintentional, the crime committed may be serious
physical injuries.

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Serious Physical Injuries

The physical injury is serious if the use of violence upon any person
results to any of the following:

1. The injured person shall become insane, imbecile, impotent, or blind;

2. The person injured shall have lost the use of speech or the power to
hear or to smell, or shall have lost an eye, a hand, a foot, an arm, or a leg
or shall have lost the use of any such member, or shall have become
incapacitated for the work in which he was therefor habitually engaged;

Compared to Mutilation: Mutilation is the intentional cutting,

lopping or removal or a body part. If there was violence
intentionally used upon the victim but without intentionally cutting
or lopping off a body part, but nevertheless the violence resulted to
the loss of a body part, the crime is serious physical injuries.

3. The person injured shall have become deformed, or shall have lost any
other part of his body, or shall have lost the use thereof, or shall have
been ill or incapacitated for the performance of the work in which he as
habitually engaged for a period of more than ninety days;

A permanent visible scar is considered a deformity, such that the

offender is liable for serious physical injury.

Incapacity for work under this paragraph refers to incapacity to

perform the usual and habitual work of the victim for a period of
more than 90 days.

4. The person injured shall have suffered illness or incapacity for labor for
more than thirty days.

Incapacity for labor under this paragraph refers to incapacity to

perform any work for a period of more than 30 days.

Administering injurious substances or beverages upon another person,

who may be sober or of a weak mind or is credulous (believes things too easily)
is punished as serious physical injuries.

If the violent act is not among those enumerated above and causes
incapacity for labor or need for medical attention for at least ten (10) days but
not more than thirty (30) days, the crime is less serious physical injuries.

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 The infliction of any less serious physical injuries upon the
offender's parents, ascendants, guardians, curators, teachers, or
persons of rank, or persons in authority is a qualifying
aggravating circumstance, and shall be punished by prision
correccional in its minimum and medium periods, provided that,
in the case of persons in authority, the deed does not constitute
the crime of direct or indirect assault, as the case may be.

Paragraph 2 of Article 265 provides:

“Whenever less serious physical injuries shall have been

inflicted with the manifest intent to kill or offend the injured
person, or under circumstances adding ignominy to the
offense in addition to the penalty of arresto mayor, a fine
not exceeding 500 pesos shall be imposed.”

To be punished as less serious physical injuries, the injuries must

not have been inflicted to kill the victim. While there may be
intent to kill, the physical injuries here do not constitute the
killing blow and may only be acts consistent with ignominy or
cruelty.

Physical injuries not falling under any of the above are treated as slight
physical injuries. They include the following:

1. In case of physical injuries which shall incapacitate the offended party

for labor from one to nine days, or shall require medical attendance
during the same period;

2. In case of physical injuries which do not prevent the offended party

from engaging in his habitual work nor require medical assistance;

3. By ill-treating another by deed without causing any injury.

Illustration

Jose had an altercation with Jacinto. Angered by Jose’s words,

Jacinto pushed Jose, causing the latter to stagger back a few steps.
Even if Jose did not suffer any injury, Jacinto is liable for slight
physical injury because he ill-treated Jose by deed.