ARTICLE 15.

ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES – Video 8

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.

DISCUSSION:

ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES – Mitigating or aggravating according to the nature and effects

of the crime and other conditions attending its commission

o RELATIONSHIP
o INTOXICATION
o DEGREE OF INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION OF THE OFFENDER

1. RELATIONSHIP

o When it can be considered as an ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCE ? – if you are:

 Spouse
 Ascendant
 Descendant
 Legitimate
 Natural
 Adopted brother or sister
 Or relative by affinity in the same degree of the offender

o When can an alternative circumstance of relationship be considered EXEMPTING

CIRCUMSTANCE?
 In the case of an accessory who is related to the principal within a relationship
prescribed in Article 20 it will be considered exempting
 Also, in Article 247, a spouse does not incur criminal liability for a crime of less
serious physical injury or serious physical injuries if this was inflicted after having
surprised the offended spouse or paramour or mistress committing the actual
sexual intercourse (if you catch your spouse cheating, it can be an exempting
circumstance.
  Commonly given in Article 332: when the crime of theft, malicious mischief, and
swindling or estafa – those are the instances when relationship can be
considered as an exempting circumstance

o When can an alternative circumstance of relationship be considered AGGRAVATING

CIRCUMSTANCE?
 In crimes against persons, in cases where the offended party is a relative of a
higher degree than the offender (example: the grandson kills the grandfather).
 When the offender and the offended party are relatives of the same level (like
killing a brother, a brother-in-law, a half-brother or adoptive brother)
 When crime against persons is any of the serious physical injuries even if the
offended party is a descendant of the offender, the relationship is aggravating.
But the serious physical injuries must not be inflicted by a parent upon his child
by excessive chastisement.
 When the crime is serious physical injuries in accordance with Article 263 even if
the offended party is of a lower level, it will still be considered as aggravating
 But when a crime is less serious physical injuries or slight physical injury, the
offended party must be a relative of higher degree than the offender.
 When the crime against person is homicide or murder, relationship is
aggravating even if the victim of the crime is a relative of a lower degree
 When crimes against chastity, relationship is always aggravating
 In the crime of Qualified Seduction, the offended woman must be a virgin and
less than 18 years old, but if the offender is a brother of the offended woman or
an ascendant of an offended woman regardless of whether the woman has bad
reputation, even if the woman is over 60 years old, RELATIONSHIP becomes
aggravating
 In qualified seduction, relationship is considered QUALIFYING CIRCUMSTANCE

o When can an alternative circumstance of relationship be considered a MITIGATING

CIRCUMSTANCE?
 When the crime is less serious physical injuries or slight physical injuries, if the
offended party is a relative of a higher degree than the offender then it is
considered as mitigating circumstance
 When crime against person is homicide or murder, the relationship is always
aggravating even if the victim of the crime is a relative of a lower degree
 In crimes against chastity, it is always aggravating, never mitigating

o It cannot be stretched to include persons attached by common law relations, in this

case, if in the case there is no blood relationship or legal bond, then the alternative
circumstance of relationship cannot be considered

2. INTOXICATION

o Influence of alcohol is the most common form of intoxication

o It is only the alternative circumstance of intoxication in which if not mitigating, is
automatically aggravating

o When can intoxication be considered mitigating?

 There must be an indication that cause of alcoholic intake of the offender he is
suffering from diminished self-control, it is not the quantity of the alcoholic drink
rather it is the effect of the alcohol upon the offender which shall be the basis of
the mitigating circumstance (alcohol hits us differently)
  When the offender is not a HABITUAL DRINKER
 Your degree of intent has been lessened because of intoxication
 Intoxication is not related to committing a crime

o When can intoxication be considered aggravating?

 If your intoxication is HABITUAL
 If it is intentional to emboldened the offender to commit the crime (example:
you drink alcohol to give you confidence to commit the crime)

3. DEGREE OF INSTRUCTION OR EDUCATION

o It refers to the lack of sufficient intelligence of and knowledge of the full significance of
one’s acts
o Being illiterate does not mitigate liability if the crime committed is one which one
inherently understands as wrong
o To be considered mitigating, the degree of instruction must have some reasonable
connection to the offense
o The high degree of learning should be taken in relation to the crime committed whether
his education puts him into a better position than the ordinary offender (so there must
be an effect to the crime that has been committed)
o Low degree of education or instruction may be mitigating but it is never aggravating
(you might not be fully aware of what you are doing)
o Conversely, high degree of education may be aggravating but never mitigating

PERSONS CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR FELONIES

ARTICLE 16. Who are Criminally Liable

The following are criminally liable for grave and less grave felonies:

1. Principals
2. Accomplices
3. Accessories

The following are criminally liable for light felonies:

1. Principals
2. Accomplices

ARTICLE 17. Principals. — The following are considered principals:

1. Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act;

2. Those who directly force or induce others to commit it;

3. Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without which
it would not have been accomplished.

ARTICLE 18. Accomplices. — Accomplices are those persons who, not being included in article
17, cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.
ARTICLE 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 to its commission in any of the following manners:

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

2. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments

thereof, in order to prevent its discovery.

3. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal 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.

ARTICLE 20. Accessories Who are Exempt from Criminal Liability. — 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.

DISCUSSION:

WHO ARE CRIMINALLY LIABLE?

o The following are criminally liable for grave and less grave felonies: (DEGREE OF
PARTICIPATION)

1. Principals
2. Accomplices
3. Accessories

o The following are criminally liable for light felonies:

1. Principals
2. Accomplices

NOTE: Accessories cannot be held liable for light felonies because of the
impossibility of the penalty

o Under RPC, when there are more than 1 person participated in the commission of the
crime, the law looks into their participation (this is the degree of their participation)
o This classification is true only under the RPC, and is not applied under special laws
because the penalties on the latter are never graduated (Example: BP 22 has no
principals, accomplices and accessories)

1. PRINCIPAL
o Who is principal? – As provided in Article 17, there are 3 principals considered:

1. Principal by Direct Participation

 this offender directly participated in the crime
 They materially execute the crime
 They appear at the scene of the crime (Note: if you do not appear
at the scene of the crime: Your non-appearance is deemed
desistance which is favored and encouraged conspiracy is
generally not a crime unless the law specifically provides a penalty
therefore and there is no basis for the criminal liability because
there is no criminal participation. Again if you do not appear at
the scene of the crime, you are not liable by direct participation. )

 They performed acts necessary in the commission of the offense

2. Principal by Inducement
 Inducement must be strong enough that the person induced
could not resist
 You must induced someone to commit a crime in such a manner
that the person you induce could not resist
 This is tantamount to IRRESISTIBLE FORCE
 If that person you induced COULD RESIST, then he exercised his
own judgement in committing the crime
 When does principal by induction become liable? – only when the
principal by direct participation committed the act induced
 In Principal by inducement, it presupposes that there are two
principals: the inducement and direct participation (crime could
not happen if there is no principal by direct participation)
 Principal by induction can only be held liable if the principal by
direct participation actually committed the act that he was
induced to commit

 What are the effects of the acquittal of the principal by direct

participation upon the liability of the principal by inducement?
o Conspiracy is negated by the acquittal of co-defendant, the
principal by induction may not also be held liable
o However, the opposite is not true. If the principal by
inducement is acquitted, that does not necessarily mean
that the principal by direct participation will also be
acquitted.

 Can principal by inducement be held liable even if they do not

appear at the scene of the crime?
o YES, principals by inducement may be held liable even if
they don’t appear in the scene of the crime because what
is material to them is they are the ones who actually
induced others to commit the crime. (Note: Principal by
direct participation should be the one at the scene of the
crime)
o One is induced to commit a crime either by command or
for any other consideration or any similar act which
constitutes the real and moving cause of crime which was
 done for the purpose of inducing such criminal act and
which was sufficient for that purpose.

3. Principal by Indispensable Cooperation

 The crime would not have been committed had not this principal
cooperated or did something to commit the crime. The focus here
is not just on the participation but on the importance of the
participation in committing the crime
 The basis is the importance of the cooperation to the
consummation of the crime.
 If the crime could hardly be committed without such cooperation,
then such cooperator would be considered as a PRINCIPAL.
 If the cooperation merely facilitated or hasten the consummation
of the crime, the cooperator is merely an ACCOMPLICE
 When can you be considered principal by indispensable
cooperation? – if that cooperation is indispensable, and the crime
could hardly be committed your cooperation then you are a
principal by indispensable cooperation

2. ACCOMPLICES
o Accomplices are the persons who, not being included in Article 17, cooperate in the
execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts

o When can one be regarded as an accomplice?

1. Determine if there exists a conspiracy. As a general rule, the criminal liability of all
will be the same because the act of one is the act of all

o What are the other traits of an accomplice?

1. If there was no previous agreement or understanding

o Conspirator vs Accomplice

CONSPIRATOR
o Knows and joins the criminal design
(actually part and he knows the
criminal design)
o Knows the criminal intention (because
they themselves have the criminal
intentions)
o at the time the criminal intent was
being formulated, you are a
conspirator if you joined the planning
stage (pre meditation stage)
o Conspirators decide that a crime
should be committed
ACCOMPLICE
o Knows and agrees with the criminal
design (not necessarily join)
o Come to know about it after the
principals have already reached the
decision and only then they do agree
to cooperate in its execution
o at the time the criminal intent was
being formulated, you are an
accomplice if you were not there in
the planning, but only there when
they decided to commit the crime
o Accomplices merely ascent to the
 o Conspirators are considered authors plan and cooperate in its
of the crime accomplishment
o Accomplices are merely instruments
who perform acts not essential to the
perpetration of the offense (because
if your performance is essential, then
you are principal by indispensable
cooperation)

o We need to determine if there is conspiracy so that there’s no need to determine the

degree of participation (since in conspiracy, all of them are considered as principals)

o Even if there is conspiracy, can the liability of the principals differ? Yes, not withstanding
conspiracy, the liability of the principals in the killing of the victim may be different,
specially if some of the conspirators do not know the treacherous manner by which a
crime is being committed

3. ACCESSORIES
o 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 manners:
 By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the
crime
 By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or the
instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery
 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 crime.

o WHEN is the Accessory not criminally liable?

1. When the felony committed is a LIGHT FELONY

2. When the accessory is related to the principal as a spouse, ascendant or descendant,
brother or sister, whether the accessory is a relative by affinity within the same
degree, unless the accessory himself profited from the effects or proceeds of the
crime or assisted the offender to profit there from.

o WHEN can you NOT BE AN ACCESSORY?

1. If you DO NOT KNOW the commission of the crime

2. If you participated therein as a principal or as an accomplice

o WHEN is an accessory NOT EXEMPT from criminal liability, even if the principal is related
to him?
  If the accessory has profited from the crime, or if the accessory assisted the offender
to profit by the effects of the crime, then you are considered as an accessory

o WHAT other instances when one becomes an accessory?

 Accessory as a fence (with reference to anti-fencing law), one who knowingly profit
or assists the principal to profit by the effects of robbery or theft is not just an
accessory to the crime but principally liable for fencing
 Acquiring the effects of piracy or burgandage according to PD 522
 Destroying the corpus delicti (the body of the crime) to prevent the discovery of the
crime
 In Homicide and murder, for as long as you are able to justify that the corpse can no
longer be recovered (BM Boniel)
 Harboring or concealing or assisting an offender and that offender committed
TREASON, PARRICIDE, MURDER or ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE, you
are considered as an accessory if you are a civilian. If an offender had committed any
other crime aside from those enumerated, then you are NOT considered as an
accessory
 If you are a public officer, regardless of the crime that was committed by the
offender for as long as you used your public function in assisting the escape of the
offender, you will be considered as an accessory

o Whether the accomplice and accessories may be tried and convicted even before their
principal is found guilty?

 In earlier supreme court rulings, the accessories and accomplices must be charged
along with the principal
 However it is not always true that the accomplices and accessories cannot be
criminally liable without the principal being first to be convicted. On the Rule 110 of
Revised Criminal Procedures, it is required that all those involve in the commission
of the crime must be included in the information. Liability is dependent on the
quantum of evidence adduced by the prosecution.

ACCESSORIES EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY

o Grounds for exemptions under Article 20:

1. Based on ties of blood

2. Preservation of cleanliness of one’s name which compels one to conceal crime
committed by relative so near by those mentioned

o An accessory is NOT EXEMPT from criminal liability even if the principal is related to him
for as long as:

1. He profited from the effects of crime

2. He assisted the offender to profit by the effect of the crime
 3. PD 1829- discusses the penalizing of obstruction and apprehension and prosecution
of criminal offenders. The punishable acts in PD 1829 compared to RPC Article 20 are
prompted by detestable greed not by affection

o 9 Punishable acts in PD 1829 (expanded Article 19 of RPC)

(1) preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal proceeding or from reporting
the commission of any offense or the identity of any offender/s by means of bribery,
misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force or threats;

(2) altering, destroying, suppressing or concealing any paper, record, document, or

object, with intent to impair its verity, authenticity, legibility, availability, or admissibility
as evidence in any investigation of or official proceedings in, criminal cases, or to be
used in the investigation of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;

(3) harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has
reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing
penal laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction;

(4) publicly using a fictitious name for the purpose of concealing a crime, evading
prosecution or the execution of a judgment, or concealing his true name and other
personal circumstances for the same purpose or purposes;

(5) delaying the prosecution of criminal cases by obstructing the service of process or
court orders or disturbing proceedings in the fiscal's offices, in Tanodbayan, or in the
courts;

(6) making, presenting or using any record, document, paper or object with knowledge
of its falsity and with intent to affect the course or outcome of the investigation of, or
official proceedings in, criminal cases;

(7) soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to accept any benefit in consideration of abstaining

from, discounting, or impeding the prosecution of a criminal offender;

(8) threatening directly or indirectly another with the infliction of any wrong upon his
person, honor or property or that of any immediate member or members of his family
in order to prevent such person from appearing in the investigation of, or official
proceedings in, criminal cases, or imposing a condition, whether lawful or unlawful, in
order to prevent a person from appearing in the investigation of or in official
proceedings in, criminal cases;

(9) giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law enforcement
agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the life or property of the
victim; or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence by investigating
authorities for purposes of background information and not for publication and
publishing or disseminating the same to mislead the investigator or to the court.

If any of the acts mentioned herein is penalized by any other law with a higher penalty,
the higher penalty shall be imposed.