Cases of voluntary surrender.

1. The accused, after plunging a bolo into the victim's chest, ran toward the municipal building. Upon
seeing a patrolman, he immediately threw away his bolo, raised his two hands, offered no resistance
and said to the patrolman "here is my bolo, I stabbed the victim." There was intent or desire to
surrender voluntarily to the authorities. (People vs. Tenorio, No. L-15478, March 30, 1962, 4 SCRA 700,
703)

2. After the commission of the crime, the accused fled to a hotel to hide not from the police authorities
but from the companions of the deceased who pursued him to the hotel but could not get to him
because the door was closed after the accused had entered. Once in the hotel, the accused dropped his
weapon at the door and when the policemen came to investigate, he readily admitted ownership of the
weapon and then voluntarily went with them. He was 300 MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES Surrender and
Confession of Guilt Art. 13 Par. 7 investigated by the fiscal the following day. No warrant had been
issued for his arrest. The accused was granted the benefit of the mitigating circumstance of voluntary
surrender. (People vs. Dayrit, 108 Phil. 100, 103)

3. Immediatel y after the shooting, the accused having all the opportunity to escape, did not do so but
instead called up the police department. When the policemen went to the scene of the crime to
investigate, he voluntarily approached them and without revealing his identity, told them that he would
help in connection with the case as he knew the suspect and the latter's motive. When brought to the
police station immediately thereafter as a possible witness, he confided to the investigators that he was
voluntarily surrendering and also surrendering the fatal gun used in the shooting of the victim. These
acts of the accused were held strongly indicative of his intent or desire to surrender voluntarily to the
authorities. (People vs. Benito, No. L-32042, Feb. 13, 1975, 62 SCRA 351, 355)
4. The two accused left the scene of the crime but made several attempts to surrender to various local
officials which somehow did not materialize for one reason or another. It was already a week after when
they were finally able to surrender. Voluntary surrender avails. After committing the crime, the accused
defied no law or agent of the authority, and when they surrendered, they did so with meekness and
repentance. (People vs. Magpantay, No. L-19133, Nov. 27, 1964, 12 SCRA 389, 392, 393)

5. Tempered justice suggests that appellants be credited with voluntary surrender in mitigation. That
they had no opportunity to surrender because the peace officers came, should not be charged against
them. For one thing is certain—they yielded their weapons at the time. Not only that. They voluntarily
went with the peace officers to the municipal building. These acts, in legal effect, amount to voluntary
surrender. (People vs. Torres, 3 CAR [2s] 43,57, citing earlier cases)

6. The accused did not offer any resistance nor try to hide when a policeman ordered him to come
down his house. 301 Art. 13 Par. 7 MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES Surrender and Confession of Guilt He
even brought his bolo used to commit the crime and voluntarily gave himself up to the authorities
before he could be arrested. These circumstances are sufficient to consider the mitigating circumstance
of voluntary surrender in his favor. (People vs. Radomes, No. L-68421, March 20, 1986, 141 SCRA 548,
562)
7. All that the records reveal is that the accused trooped to the police headquarters to surrender the
firearm used in committing the crime. It is not clear whether or not he also sought to submit his very
person to the authorities. The accused is given the benefit of the doubt and his arrival at the police
station is considered as an act of surrender. (People vs. Jereza, G.R. No. 86230, Sept. 18, 1990, 189 SCRA
690, 698-699)

8. Where there is nothing on record to show that the warrant for the arrest of the accused had actually
been served on him, or that it had been returned unserved for failure of the server to locate said
accused, and there is direct evidence to show that he voluntarily presented himself to the police when
he was taken into custody. (People vs. Brana, No. L-29210, Oct. 31, 1969, 30 SCRA 307, 316-317)

9.Where immediately after stabbing the deceased, the accused voluntarily yielded the knife he used to
Pilapil, and approximately 9 hours after the stabbing incident, he voluntarilu surrendered himself to the
police authorities (People vs Ramelo, G.R. No. 224888, November 22, 2017)

Q: If the accused escapes from the scene of the crime in order to seek advice from a lawyer, and the
latter ordered him to surrender voluntarily to the authorities, which the accused followed by
surrendering himself to the municipal mayor, will his surrender be considered mitigating?

A: YES, because he fled to the scene of a crime not to escape but to seek legal advice. --- ---
Cases not constituting voluntary surrender.

1. The warrant of arrest showed that the accused was in fact arrested. (El Pueblo contra Conwi, 71 Phil.
595, 597)

2. The accused surrendered only after the warrant of arrest was served upon him. (People vs. Roldan,
No. L-22030, May 29,1968 , 23 SCRA 907, 910)

3. Where the accused was actually arrested by his own admission or that he yielded because of the
warrant of arrest, there is no voluntary surrender although the police blotter euphemistically used the
word "surrender." (People vs. Velez, No. L-30038, July 18, 1974, 58 SCRA 21, 30)

4. The accused went into hiding and surrendered only when they realized that the forces of the law
were closing in on them. (People vs. Mationg, No. L-33488, March 29, 1982, 113 SCRA 167, 178) 302
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES Surrender and Confession of Guilt Art. 13 Par. 7

5. Where the accused were asked to surrender by the police and military authorities but they refused
until only much later when they could no longer do otherwise by force of circumstances when they
knew they were completely surrounded and there was no chance of escape. Their surrender was not
spontaneous as it was motivated more by an intent to insure their safety. (People vs. Salvilla, G.R. No.
86163, April 26, 1990, 184 SCRA 671, 678-679; People vs. Sigayan, No. L-18308, April 30,1966,1 6 SCRA
834, 844)
 6. Where the search for the accused had lasted four (4) years, which belies the spontaneity of the
surrender. (People vs. De la Cruz, No. L-30059, Dec. 19, 1970, 36 SCRA 452, 455)

7. Where other than the accused's version in court that he went to a police officer in Dagupan City and
asked the latter to accompany him to Olongapo City after he was told by someone that his picture was
seen posted in the municipal building, no other evidence was presented to establish indubitably that he
deliberately surrendered to the police. (People vs. Garcia, No. L-32071, July 9, 1981, 105 SCRA 325, 343)

8. Where the accused only went to the police station to report that his wife was stabbed by another
person and to seek protection as he feared that the same assailant would also stab him. (People vs.
Trigo, G.R. No. 74515, June 14,1989, 174 SCRA 93, 99)

9. Where the accused went to the PC headquarters not to surrender but merely to report the incident
which does not evince any desire to own the responsibility for the killing of the deceased. (People vs.
Rogales, No. L-17531, Nov. 30, 1962, 6 SCRA 830, 835)

10. Where the Chief of Police placed the accused under arrest in his employer's home to which that
officer was summoned and it does not appear that it was the idea of the accused to send for the police
for the purpose of giving himself up. (People vs. Canoy, 90 Phil. 633, 643)
11. Where the accused accompanied the Chief of Police to the scene of the crimes and he was not yet
charged with, or 303 MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES Surrender and Confession of Guilt Art. 13 Par. 7 304
suspected of having taken any part in, said crimes, and the authorities were not looking for him, and
would not have looked for him if he had not been present at the investigation by the Chief of Police.
(People vs. Canoy, 90 Phil. 633, 644) Where the accused was arrested in his boarding house and upon
being caught, pretended to say that he was on his way to the municipal building to surrender to the
authorities, for that is not the nature of voluntary surrender that may serve to mitigate one's liability in
contemplation of law.

12. Where it took two years and five months after the issuance of warrant of arrest against him before
he surrendered. If he finally gave himself up, it was not to save the State the time and effort of searching
for him, but because he had gotten tired of the life of a fugitive, or seen no other reasonable alternative
to continued absence from his home and constant evasion from police officers.

Q: Supposing that after the accused met a vehicular accident causing multiple homicide because of
reckless imprudence, he surrenders to the authorities immediately thereafter, will his surrender mitigate
his liability because of Art. 13?
A: NO. In cases involving felonies committed by means of culpa, the court is authorized under Art.365 to
impose a penalty upon the offender without regard to the rules on mitigating and aggravating
circumstances. --- ---

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Q: Y, while alighting from his vehicle, was hit by X with his car. This caused X to be thrown four meters
away from his jeepney. X was charged with Frustrated Murder and convicted in the RTC of Frustrated
Homicide. Upon appeal in the CA the crime was modified to Reckless Imprudence resulting in Serious
Physical Injuries. X contends that the CA should have appreciated voluntary surrender as a mitigating
circumstance in his favor. Is X’s contention correct?

A: NO. The mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender cannot be appreciated in his favor. Paragraph
5 of Article 365, Revised Penal Code, expressly states that in the imposition of the penalties, the courts
shall exercise their sound discretion, without regard to the rules prescribed in Article 64 of the Revised
Penal Code (Mariano v. People, G.R. No. 178145, July 7, 2014).

PLEASE CHOOSE A CLASSMATE TO ANSWER… THEN GIVE THE CORRECT ANSWER