Direct Assaults, Revised Penal Code

Updated onNovember 23, 2023

1. Concept
Art. 148. Direct assaults – Any persons who, without a public uprising, shall employ force or intimidation for th
attainment of any of the purposes enumerated in defining the crimes of rebellion and sedition, or shall attack, em
force, or seriously intimidate or resist any person in authority of any of his agents, while engaged in the perform
official duties, or on occasion of such performance, shall suffer the penalty of prisión correccional in its medium
maximum periods and a fine not exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos (₱200,000), when the assault is comm
with a weapon or when the offender is a public officer or employee, or when the offender lays hands upon a per
authority. If none of these circumstances be present, the penalty of prisión correccional in its minimum period a
not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000) shall be imposed. (Act No. 3815, Revised Penal Code)
Direct assault is committed by any person or persons who, without a public uprising shall
attack, employ force, or seriously intimidate or resist any person in authority or any of his
agents, while engaged in the performance of official duties or on occasion of such
performance. (People v. Balbar, En Banc, G.R. No. L-20216 and L-20217, 29 November
1987)

2. Modes of commission
2 modes of committing the offense:

1) By any person or persons who, without a public uprising, shall employ force or
intimidation for the attainment of any of the purposes enumerated in defining the crimes
of rebellion and sedition; or,

2) By any person or persons who, without a public uprising, shall attack, employ force, or
seriously intimidate or resist any person in authority or any of his agents, while engaged
in the performance of official duties, or on occasion of such performance. (Guelos v.
People, G.R. No. 177000, 19 June 2017)

a. Tantamount to rebellion and sedition

Elements of the offense:

1) That the offender employs force or intimidation;

2) That the purpose is for the attainment of any of the purposes enumerated in defining
the crimes of rebellion and sedition;

3) That there is no public uprising. (People v. Recto, supra.)

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The first mode is tantamount to rebellion or sedition, without the element of public
uprising. (People v. Recto, En Banc, G.R. No. 129069, 17 October 2001)

b. Persons in authority engaged in performance of official

duties or on occasion thereof
Elements of the offense:

1) That the offender (a) makes an attack, (b) employs force, (c) makes a serious
intimidation, or (d) makes a serious resistance;

2) That the person assaulted is a person in authority or his agent;

3) That at the time of the assault, the person in authority or his agent (a) is engaged in the
actual performance of official duties, or that he is assaulted by reason of the past
performance of official duties; and,

4) That the offender knows that the one he is assaulting is a person in authority or his
agent in the exercise of his duties.

5) That there is no public uprising. (Gelig v. People, G.R. No. 173150, 28 July 2010)

The second mode is the more common form of assault and is aggravated when: (a) the
assault is committed with a weapon; or (b) when the offender is a public officer or
employee; or (c) when the offender lays hand upon a person in authority. (De Guzman v.
People, G.R. No. 138553, 30 June 2005)

1) Accused must have knowledge that person attacked is a person in

authority
It is essential that the accused must have knowledge that the person attacked was a person
in authority or his agent in the exercise of his duties, because the accused must have the
intention to offend, injure, or assault the offended party as a person in authority or agent
of a person in authority. (People v. Rodil, G.R. No. L-35156, 20 November 1981)

Case Law

1) In Gelig v. People, on the day of the commission of the assault, Gemma (a public
schoolteacher) was engaged in the performance of her official duties, that is, she was
busy with paperwork while supervising and looking after the needs of pupils who are
taking their recess in the classroom to which she was assigned. Lydia was already angry
when she entered the classroom and accused Gemma of calling her son a “sissy”. Lydia
refused to be pacified despite the efforts of Gemma and instead initiated a verbal abuse

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that enraged the victim. Gemma then proceeded towards the principal’s office but Lydia
followed and resorted to the use of force by slapping and pushing her against a wall
divider. The violent act resulted in Gemma’s fall to the floor. (Supra.)

2) In People v. Balbar, the accused entered a classroom and placed his arms around and
kissed the eye of the victim (a schoolteacher) who just finished writing on the
blackboard. After the victim pushed back and run, she was pursued and caught by the
accused who carried a “daga” (a local dagger). The accused embraced her holding the
weapon and they fall on the for resulting in slight physical injuries. In overturning the
trial court’s dismissal of the charge of direct assault on the ground that there were no
allegations on the Information showing the accused knew that the victim was a person in
authority, the Supreme Court held that “the information sufficiently alleges that the
accused knew that fact, since she was in her classroom and engaged in the performance
of her duties. He therefore knew that she was a person in authority, as she was so by
specific provision of law. It matters not that such knowledge on his part is not expressly
alleged, complainant’s status as a person in authority being a matter of law and not of
fact, ignorance whereof could not excuse non-compliance on his part (Article 3, Civil
Code).” (Supra.)

2) Persons in Authority
In direct assaults, the victim is a person in authority or his agent, and the attack,
employment of force or intimidation is committed on the occasion of the performance of
official duties or by reason of such performance of official duties or by reason of such
performance. (Villanueva v. Ortiz, G.R. No. L-15344, 30 May 1960)

By express provision of law (Com. Act No. 578, now part of Article 152 of the Revised
Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 1978), “teachers, professors, and persons
charged with the supervision of public or duly recognized private schools, colleges and
universities shall be deemed persons in authority, in applying the provisions of Article
148.” This special classification is obviously intended to give teachers protection, dignity,
and respect while in the performance of their official duties. (People v. Balbar, En Banc,
G.R. No. L-20216 and L-20217, 29 November 1987)

3) Failure to allege in Information, not defective

Failure to expressly alleged in the information that the accused had knowledge that the
person attacked was a person in authority does not render the information defective so
long as there are facts alleged therein from which it can be implied that the accused knew
that the person attacked was a person in authority. (People v. Rodil, G.R. No. L-35156,
20 November 1981)

Case Law

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1) In People v. Balbar, Complainant was a teacher. The information sufficiently alleges
that the accused knew that fact, since she was in her classroom and engaged in the
performance of her duties. He therefore knew that she was a person in authority, as she
was so by specific provision of law. It matters not that such knowledge on his part is not
expressly alleged, complainant’s status as a person in authority being a matter of law and
not of fact, ignorance whereof could not excuse non-compliance on his part (Article 3,
Civil Code). This article applies to all kinds of domestic laws, whether civil or penal (De
Luna vs. Linatoc, 74 Phil. 15) and whether substantive or remedial (Zulueta vs. Zulueta, 1
Phil. 254) for reasons of expediency, policy and necessity. (People v. Balbar, En Banc,
G.R. No. L-20216 and L-20217, 29 November 1987)

a) Remedy is to re-file a valid Information

The fiscal’s proper course of action is not a petition for review on certiorari but the
refiling of a valid information against the accused. (People v. Rodil, G.R. No. L-35156,
20 November 1981)

4) When a complex crime

When the assault results in the killing of that agent or of a person in authority for that
matter, there arises the complex crime of direct assault with murder or homicide. (People
v. Abalos, G.R. No. 88189, 09 July 1996)

Case Law

1) Considering that Antonio Macalipay was a kagawad who was in the actual
performance of his duties when he was shot, the attack on him constituted direct
assault… Applying the provisions of Articles 148 (direct assault), 249 (homicide) and 48
(penalty for complex crimes), appellant should be held liable for the complex crime of
qualified direct assault with homicide. The penalty to be imposed on him should be for
homicide, which is the more serious crime, to be imposed in the maximum period. This
penalty shall comprise the maximum of his indeterminate sentence, and the minimum
shall be within the range of the penalty next lower than that prescribed for homicide.
(People v. Recto, En Banc, G.R. No. 129069, 17 October 2001)

CHAPTER 4: ASSAULT UPON, AND RESISTANCE AND DISTURBANCE TO,

PERSONS IN AUTHORITY AND THEIR AGENTS

COMMON PROVISIONS

PERSON IN AUTHORITY: In applying the provisions of the preceding and other

articles of the Revised Penal Code, any person directly vested with jurisdiction, whether
as an individual or as a member of some court or governmental corporation, board, or

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commission, shall be deemed a person in authority. A barrio captain and a barangay
chairman shall also be deemed a person in authority. (Article 152, Ibid.)

AGENT OF A PERSON IN AUTHORITY: A person who, by direct provision of law or

by election or by appointment by competent authority, is charged with the maintenance of
public order and the protection and security of life and property, such as a barrio
councilman, barrio policeman and barangay leader and any person who comes to the aid
of persons in authority, shall be deemed an agent of a person in authority. (Paragraph 2,
Article 152, Ibid.)

TEACHERS, PROFESSORS, LAWYERS IN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE OF

DUTIES: In applying the provisions of Articles 148 and 151 of this Code, teachers,
professors and persons charged with the supervision of public or duly recognized private
schools, colleges and universities, and lawyers in the actual performance of their
professional duties or on the occasion of such performance, shall be deemed persons in
authority

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