CRIMINAL LAW - that branch or division of law which defines crimes, treats of their

nature and provides for their punishment.

Article 1. Time when Act takes effect. - This Code shall take effect on the first
day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty-two.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL LAW

1. GENERAL - it is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory
(Art. 14, NCC)

EXCEPTIONS:
a) Treaty stipulations
b) Laws of preferential application
c) Principles of Public International Law.

The following persons are exempted:

a. Sovereigns and other chief of d. plenipotentiary,
state e. minister resident,
b. Ambassadors, f. and charges daffaires.
c. ministers,

Consuls, vice-consuls and other commercial representatives of foreign nation cannot

claim the privileges and immunities accorded to ambassadors and ministers.

2. TERRITORIAL penal laws of the Philippines are enforceable only within its territory.

EXCEPTIONS: (Art. 2, RPC) i.e., enforceable even outside Philippine territory.

1) Offense committed while on a Philippine ship or airship

2) Forging or counterfeiting any coin or currency note of the Philippines or
obligations and securities issued by the Government.
3) Introduction into the country of the above-mentioned obligations and securities.
4) While being public officers or employees should commit an offense in the exercise
of their functions.
5) Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations
defined in Title One of Book Two.

EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION: Penal laws not applicable within or without

Philippine territory if so provided in treaties and laws of preferential application. (Art.2,
RPC)

3. PROSPECTIVE

GENERAL RULE: Penal laws cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it
was not punishable when committed.

EXCEPTION: (it may be applied retroactively) When the new law is favorable to the
accused.

EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION

a) The new law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes
of actions.

b) Offender is a habitual criminal.

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LIMITATIONS ON THE POWER OF CONGRESS TO ENACT PENAL LAWS:

1. No ex post facto law shall be enacted

2. No bill of attainder shall be enacted
3. No law that violates equal protection clause of the constitution shall be enacted
4. No law which imposes cruel and unusual punishments nor excessive fines
shall be enacted.

THEORIES IN CRIMINAL LAW

1. Classical Theory - basis of criminal liability is human free will. Under this theory,
the purpose of penalty is retribution. The RPC is generally governed by this theory.

2. Positivist Theory basis of criminal liability is the sum of the social and economic
phenomena to which the actor is exposed wherein prevention and correction is the
purpose of penalty. This theory is exemplified in the provisions regarding impossible
crimes and habitual delinquency.

3. Eclectic or Mixed Theory combination of positivist and classical thinking wherein

crimes that are economic and social in nature should be dealt in a positive manner;
thus, the law is more compassionate.

PRELIMINARY TITLE
ART. 2 APPLICATION OF ITS PROVISIONS
Article 2. Application of its provisions. - Except as provided in the treaties
and laws of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be
enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its
atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its
jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine
Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the
Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these
islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding
number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in
the exercise of their functions; or
5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law
of nations, defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code.

RULES ON VESSELS:

1.) Philippine vessel or aircraft.

Must be understood as that which is registered in the Philippine Bureau of

Customs.

2.) On Foreign Merchant Vessels

ENGLISH RULE: Crimes committed aboard a vessel within the territorial waters of a
country are triable in the courts of such country.

EXCEPTION: When the crimes merely affect things within the vessel or when they only
refer to the internal management thereof.
 FRENCH RULE:
GENERAL RULE: Crimes committed aboard vessel within the territorial waters of a
country are not triable in the courts of said country.

EXCEPTION: When their commission affects the peace and security of the territory or
when the safety of the state is endangered.

In the Philippines, we follow the English Rule.

In the case of a foreign warship, the same is not subject to territorial laws.

ART. 3 FELONIES
Article 3. Definition. - Acts and omissions punishable by law are felonies
(delitos).
Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means
of fault (culpa).
There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberate intent; and there is
fault when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of
foresight, or lack of skill.
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Felonies are acts or omissions punishable by the RPC.

ELEMENTS OF FELONIES (GENERAL)

1. there must be an act or omission ie, there must be external acts.

2. the act or omission must be punishable by the RPC.
3. the act is performed or the omission incurred by means of dolo or culpa.

NULLUM CRIMEN, NULLA POENA SINE LEGE

There is no crime where there is no law punishing it.
CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES ACCORDING TO THE MEANS BY WHICH THEY ARE
COMMITTED:

1. Intentional Felonies the act is performed with deliberate intent or malice.

Requisites of DOLO or MALICE:

a. Freedom b. Intelligence c. Criminal Intent

Mistake of Fact is a misapprehension of fact on the part of the person causing

injury to another. Such person is not criminally liable as he acted without criminal
intent.

Requisites of mistake of fact as a defense:

a. That the act done would have been lawful had the facts been as the
accused believed them to be.
b. That the intention of the accused in performing the act should be lawful.
c. That the mistake must be without fault or carelessness on the part of the
accused.

2. Culpable Felonies - performed without malice.

Requisites of CULPA:

a. Freedom
b. Intelligence

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 c. Negligence and Imprudence

REASON FOR PUNSHING ACTS OF NEGLIGENCE: A man must use common sense and
exercise due reflection in all his acts; it is his duty to be cautious, careful and prudent.

Mala Prohibita - the class of crimes punishable by SPECIAL LAWS and where criminal
intent is not, as a rule, necessary, it being sufficient that the offender has the intent to
perpetrate the act prohibited by the special law.

MALA IN SE vs. MALA PROHIBITA

MALA IN SE MALA PROHIBITA
1. As to moral trait The moral trait is considered. The moral trait of the offender is not
of the offender Liability will arise only when there considered. It is enough that the
is dolo or culpa. prohibited act was voluntarily done.
2. As to use of good Good faith or lack of criminal intent Good faith is not a defense.
faith as a defense is a valid defense; unless the crime
is the result of culpa.
3. As to degree of The degree of accomplishment of The act gives rise to a crime only
accomplishment of the crime is taken into account in when it is consummated.
the crime punishing the offender.
4. As to mitigating Mitigating and aggravating Mitigating and aggravating
and aggravating circumstances are taken into circumstances are generally not
circum-stances account in imposing the penalty. taken into account.

5. As to degree of When there is more than one Degree of participation is generally

participation offender, the degree of not taken into account. All who
participation of each in the participated in the act are punished
commission of the crime is taken to the same extent.
into account.
6. As to what laws Violation of the RPC (General rule) Violation of Special Laws (General
are violated rule)

Intent distinguished from Motive

INTENT MOTIVE
1. Is the purpose to use a particular means 1. Is the moving power which impels one to
to effect such result act
2. Is an element of the crime, except in 2. Is NOT an element of the crime
unintentional felonies (culpable)
3. Is essential in intentional felonies 3. Is essential only when the identity of the
perpetrator is in doubt
ART. 4 CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Article 4. Criminal liability. - Criminal liability shall be incurred:
1. By any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act
done be different from that which he intended.
2. By any person performing an act which would be an offense against
persons or property, were it not for the inherent impossibility of its
accomplishment or on account of the employment of inadequate or
ineffectual means.

-------------

PAR. 1 - Criminal Liability for a felony different from that intended to be

committed

REQUISITES:

a) That an intentional felony has been committed.

b) That the wrong done to the aggrieved party be the direct, natural and logical
consequence of the felony committed.

PROXIMATE CAUSE that cause, which, in the natural and continuous sequence,
unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury without which the result
would not have occurred.

Thus, the person is still criminally liable in:

1. Error in personae- mistake in the identity of the victim.

2. Abberatio ictus mistake in the blow.
3. Praeter intentionem lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong.

PAR. 2 (IMPOSSIBLE CRIME)

REQUISITES:

a) That the act performed would be an offense against persons or property.

b) That the act was done with evil intent.
c) That its accomplishment is inherently impossible, or that the means employed is
either inadequate or ineffectual.
d) That the act performed should not constitute a violation of another provision of the
RPC.
--------------------------------
Article 5. Duty of the court in connection with acts which should be repressed
but which are not covered by the law, and in cases of excessive penalties. -
Whenever a court has knowledge of any act which it may deem proper to
repress and which is not punishable by law, it shall render the proper decision,
and shall report to the Chief Executive, through the Department of Justice, the
reasons which induce the court to believe that said act should be made the
subject of penal legislation.
In the same way the court shall submit to the Chief Executive, through the
Department of Justice, such statement as may be deemed proper, without
suspending the execution of the sentence, when a strict enforcement of the
provisions of this Code would result in the imposition of a clearly excessive
penalty, taking into consideration the degree of malice and the injury caused
by the offense.
ART. 6 CONSUMMATED, FRUSTRATED & ATTEMPTED FELONIES
Article 6. Consummated, frustrated, and attempted felonies. - Consummated
felonies as well as those which are frustrated and attempted, are punishable.
A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its execution and
accomplishment are present; and it is frustrated when the offender performs
all the acts of execution which would produce the felony as a consequence but
which, nevertheless, do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the
will of the perpetrator.
There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony
directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which
should produce the felony by reason of some cause or accident other than his
own spontaneous desistance.

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STAGES OF EXECUTION:

1. CONSUMMATED FELONY

When all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are present.

2. FRUSTRATED FELONY

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ELEMENTS:

a) The offender performs all the acts of execution.

b) All the acts performed would produce the felony as a consequence.
c) But the felony is not produced.
d) By the reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
WHAT CRIMES DO NOT ADMIT OF FRUSTRATED STAGE?

1) Rape
2) Bribery
3) Corruption of Public Officers
4) Adultery
5) Physical Injury

3. ATTEMPTED FELONY

ELEMENTS:

a) The offender commences the commission of the felony directly by overt acts.
b) He does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony.
c) The offenders acts are not stopped by his own spontaneous desistance.

DESISTANCE - is an absolutory cause which negates criminal liability because the law
encourages a person to desist from committing a crime.

- this is applicable only in the attempted stage.

OVERT ACTS Some physical activity or deed, indicating intention to commit a

particular crime, more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried to its
complete termination following its natural course, without being frustrated by external
obstacles, nor by voluntary desistance of the perpetrator will logically ripen into a
concrete offense.

INDETERMINATE OFFENSE: One where the purpose of the offender in performing an

act is not certain. The accused maybe convicted for a felony defined by the acts
performed by him up to the time of desistance.

2 STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CRIME:

1) Internal acts

Such as mere ideas in the mind of person.

Not punishable.

2) External acts cover:

a) Preparatory acts - ordinarily not punished except when considered by law as

independent crimes (e.g. Art. 304, Possession of picklocks and similar tools)

b) Acts of Execution - punishable under the RPC

ART. 7 LIGHT FELONIES

Article 7. When light felonies are punishable. - Light felonies are punishable
only when they have been consummated, with the exception of those
committed against person or property.

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 Light Felonies are punishable only when they have been consummated

EXCEPT: If committed against persons or property, punishable even if not

consummated.

Only principals and accomplices are liable, accessories are not liable even if
committed against persons or property.

ART. 8 CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT FELONY

Article 8. Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony. - Conspiracy and proposal
to commit felony are punishable only in the cases in which the law specially
provides a penalty therefor.
A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement
concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it.
There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony
proposes its execution to some other person or persons.
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REQUISITES OF CONSPIRACY

1. That 2 or more persons came to an agreement.

2. That the agreement pertains to the commission of a felony.
3. That the execution of the felony was decided upon.

2 CONCEPTS OF CONSPIRACY

1. Conspiracy as a crime by itself.

EXAMPLE: conspiracy to commit rebellion or insurrection, treason, sedition.

2. Conspiracy as a means of committing a crime

a) There is a previous and express agreement;

b) The participants acted in concert or simultaneously which is indicative of a
meeting of the minds towards a common criminal objective. There is an implied
agreement.

GENERAL RULE: Mere conspiracy or proposal to commit a felony is not punishable since
they are only preparatory acts

EXCEPTION: in cases in which the law specially provides a penalty therefor, such as in
treason, coup detat, and rebellion or insurrection

The act of one is the act of all

GENERAL RULE: When conspiracy is established, all who participated therein,

irrespective of the quantity or quality of his participation is liable equally, whether
conspiracy is pre-planned or instantaneous. EXCEPTION: Unless one or some of the
conspirators committed some other crime which is not part of the intended crime.

EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION: When the act constitutes a single indivisible

offense.

Conspiracy may be inferred when two or more persons proceed to perform overt acts
towards the accomplishment of the same felonious objective, with each doing his act,

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 so that their acts though seemingly independent were in fact connected, showing a
common design.

These overt acts must consist of:

- active participation in the actual commission of the crime itself, or

- moral assistance to his co-conspirators by being present at the time of the
commission of the crime, or
- exerting a moral ascendance over the other co-conspirators by moving them to
execute or implement the criminal plan (PEOPLE vs. ABUT, et al., GR No. 137601,
April 24, 2003)

REQUISITES OF PROPOSAL:

1. That a person has decided to commit a felony; and

2. That he proposes its execution to some other person or persons.

ART. 9 CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES ACCORDING TO GRAVITY

Article 9. Grave felonies, less grave felonies and light felonies. - Grave felonies
are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which
in any of their periods are afflictive, in accordance with article 25 of this Code.
Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in
their maximum period are correctional, in accordance with the above-
mentioned article.
Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which the
penalty of arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both, is
provided.
-----------------

Importance of Classification

1. To determine whether these felonies can be complexed or not.

2. To determine the prescription of the crime and the prescription of the penalty.

Grave felonies are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or
penalties which in any of their periods are afflictive, in accordance with Art. 25 of the
Code.

Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their
maximum period are correctional, in accordance with Art. 25 of the Code.

Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, or both, is provided.

ART. 10 OFFENSES NOT SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE RPC

Article 10. Offenses not subject to the provisions of this Code. - Offenses which
are or in the future may be punishable under special laws are not subject to
the provisions of this Code. This Code shall be supplementary to such laws,
unless the latter should specially provide the contrary.
--------------------------
GENERAL RULE: RPC provisions are supplementary to special laws.

EXCEPTION:

1. Where the special law provides otherwise; and

2. When the provisions of the RPC are impossible of application, either by express
provision or by necessary implication.
 Thus, when the special law adopts the penalties imposed in the RPC, such as reclusin
perpetua or reclusin temporal, the provisions of the RPC on imposition of penalties
based on stage of execution, degree of participation, and attendance of mitigating and
aggravating circumstances may be applied by necessary implication.

Chapter Two: Justifying Circumstances and Circumstances Which Exempt from

Criminal Liability (Arts. 11-12)

ART. 11. JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES

JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES are those where the act of a person is said to be in

accordance with law, so that such person is deemed not to have transgressed the law
and is free from both criminal and civil liability. There is no civil liability, except in par. 4
of Art. 11, where the civil liability is borne by the persons benefited by the act.

Article 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal
liability:
1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the
following circumstances concur;
First. Unlawful aggression;
Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel
it;
Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending
himself.

2. Any one who acts in defense of the person or rights of his spouse,
ascendants, descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or
sisters, or of his relatives by affinity in the same degrees, and those by
consanguinity within the fourth civil degree, provided that the first and
second requisites prescribed in the next preceding circumstance are
present, and the further requisite, in case the provocation was given by
the person attacked, that the one making defense had no part therein.

3. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a stranger,

provided that the first and second requisites mentioned in the first
circumstance of this article are present and that the person defending
be not induced by revenge, resentment, or other evil motive.

4. Any person who, in order to avoid an evil or injury, does an act which
causes damage to another, provided that the following requisites are
present;
First. That the evil sought to be avoided actual exists;
Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;
Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means of
preventing it.

5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful

exercise of a right or office.
6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior for
some lawful purpose.

1. SELF- DEFENSE

REQUISITES:

a) Unlawful aggression (condition sine qua non);

b) Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and
c) Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.

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UNLAWFUL AGGRESSION

- is equivalent to an actual physical assault or, at least

- threatened assault of an immediate and imminent kind which is offensive and

positively strong, showing the wrongful intent to cause injury.

TEST OF REASONABLENESS the means employed depends upon the nature and
quality of the:

(1) weapon used by the aggressor, and

(2) his physical condition, character, size and other circumstances,
(3) and those of the person defending himself,
(4) and also the place and occasion of the assault.

Perfect equality between the weapons used by the one defending himself and that of
the aggressor is not required or material commensurability between the means of
attack and defense.

REASON: Because the person assaulted does not have sufficient tranquility of mind to
think and to calculate.

Rights included in self-defense:

Self-defense includes not only the defense of the person or body of the one assaulted but
also that of his rights, the enjoyment of which is protected by law. Thus, it includes:

1. The right to honor. Hence, a slap on the face is considered as unlawful aggression
directed against the honor of the actor (People vs. Sabio, 19 SCRA 901).

2. The defense of property rights, only if there is also an actual and imminent danger on
the person of the one defending ( People vs Narvaez, 121 SCRA 389).

Stand ground when in the right - the law does not require a person to retreat when
his assailant is rapidly advancing upon him with a deadly weapon.

Under Republic Act 9262, known as the Anti- Violence against Women and their
Children Act of 2004:

Victim-survivors who are found by the courts to be suffering from Battered Woman
Syndrome do not incur any criminal or civil liability notwithstanding the absence of any of
the elements for justifying circumstances of self-defense under the RPC. (Sec. 26, R.A.
No. 9262) The law provides for an additional justifying circumstance.

Battered Woman Syndrome refers to a scientifically defined pattern of

psychological and behavioral symptoms found in women living in battering
relationships as a result of cumulative abuse.

Battery refers to any act of inflicting physical harm upon the woman or her
child resulting to physical and psychological or emotional distress.

2. DEFENSE OF RELATIVES

REQUISITES:

1. Unlawful Aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and
3. In case the provocation was given by the person attacked, the one making the
defense had no part therein.
RELATIVES THAT CAN BE DEFENDED:

1. Spouse
2. Ascendants
3. Descendants
4. Legitimate, natural or adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity in
the same degrees.
5. Relatives by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree.

3. DEFENSE OF STRANGER

REQUISITES:

1. Unlawful Aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and
3. The person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment or other evil motive.

4. AVOIDANCE OF GREATER EVIL OR INJURY

REQUISITES:

1. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists:

2. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it; and
3. There be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.

No civil liability except when there is another person benefited in which case the
latter is the one liable.

Greater evil must not be brought about by the negligence or imprudence or

violation of law by the actor.

5. FULFILLMENT OF DUTY; OR LAWFUL EXERCISE OF RIGHT OR OFFICE.

REQUISITES:

1. That the accused acted in the performance of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a
right or office;
2. That the injury caused or the offense committed be the necessary consequence of
the due performance of duty or the lawful exercise of such right or office.

6. OBEDIENCE TO AN ORDER ISSUED FOR SOME LAWFUL PURPOSE.

REQUISITES:

1. That an order has been issued by a superior.

2. That such order must be for some lawful purpose
3. That the means used by the subordinate to carry out said order is lawful.

Subordinate is not liable for carrying out an illegal order if he is not aware of its
illegality and he is not negligent.
ART. 12. EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES

Exempting Circumstances (or the circumstances for non-imputability) are

those grounds for exemption from punishment, because there is wanting in the agent of
the crime any of the conditions which makes the act voluntary, or negligent.

Article 12. Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability. - The following
are exempt from criminal liability:

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 1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a
lucid interval.
When the imbecile or an insane person has committed an act which the
law defines as a felony (delito), the court shall order his confinement in
one of the hospitals or asylums established for persons thus afflicted,
which he shall not be permitted to leave without first obtaining the
permission of the same court.
2. A person under nine years of age.
3. A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted
with discernment, in which case, such minor shall be proceeded against
in accordance with the provisions of article 80 of this Code.
When such minor is adjudged to be criminally irresponsible, the court, in
conformity with the provisions of this and the preceding paragraph,
shall commit him to the care and custody of his family who shall be
charged with his surveillance and education; otherwise, he shall be
committed to the care of some institution or person mentioned in said
article 80.
4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes
an injury by mere accident without fault or intention of causing it.
5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of irresistible force.
6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an
equal or greater injury.
7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when
prevented by some lawful insuperable cause.

BASIS:
The exemption from punishment is based on the complete absence of intelligence,
freedom of action, or intent, or on the absence of negligence on the part of the accused.

JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCE EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCE

1. It affects the act not the actor. 1. It affects the actor not the act.

2. The act is considered to have been done

2. The act complained of is actually wrongful,
within the bounds of law; hence, legitimate
but the actor is not liable.
and lawful in the eyes of the law.

3. Since the act complained of is actually wrong

3. Since the act is considered lawful, there is
there is a crime but since the actor acted
no crime.
without voluntariness, there is no dolo nor culpa

4. Since there is no crime, nor a criminal,

4. Since there is a crime committed though
there is also no criminal or civil liability.
there is no criminal, there is civil liability.
(except Art. 11, par. 4)

1. IMBECILITY OR INSANITY

Insanity or imbecility exists when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence or

freedom of the will.
An insane person is not so exempt if it can be shown that he acted during
a lucid interval. But an imbecile is exempt in all cases from criminal
liability.

TWO TESTS OF INSANITY:

 1. Test of COGNITION complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the
crime.
2. Test of VOLITION total deprivation of freedom of will.

The defense must prove that the accused was insane at the time of the commission
of the crime because the presumption is always in favor of sanity.

Insanity exists when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the

act. Mere abnormality of the mental faculties will not exclude imputability. The
accused must be "so insane as to be incapable of entertaining criminal intent." He
must be deprived of reason and acting without the least discernment because there is
a complete absence of the power to discern or a total deprivation of freedom of the
will. (PEOPLE vs. ANTONIO, GR No. 144266, November 27, 2002)

2. PERSON UNDER NINE YEARS OF AGE

An infant under the age of nine years is absolutely and conclusively presumed to
be incapable of committing a crime.

The phrase under nine years should be construed nine years or less

3. PERSON OVER NINE YEARS OF AGE AND UNDER 15 ACTING WITHOUT

DISCERNMENT.

Must have acted without discernment.

DISCERNMENT mental capacity to fully appreciate the consequences of an

unlawful act.

Discernment maybe shown by:

a) The manner the crime was committed: or
b) The conduct of the offender after its commission.

4. ACCIDENT WITHOUT FAULT OR INTENTION OF CAUSING IT

Basis: Lack of negligence or intent.

ELEMENTS:
1. A person is performing a lawful act;
2. With due care;
3. He causes injury to another by mere accident;
4. Without fault or intention of causing it.

5. A PERSON WHO ACTS UNDER THE COMPULSION OF AN IRRESISTABLE FORCE

ELEMENTS:
1. That the compulsion is by means of physical force.
2. That the physical force must be irresistable.
3. That the physical force must come from a third person.

Basis: complete absence of freedom or voluntariness.

The force must be so irresistable as to reduce the actor to a mere instrument who act
not only without will but against his will.
6. UNCONTROLLABLE FEAR

ELEMENTS:

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 1. That the threat which causes the fear is of an evil greater than, or at least equal
to, that which he is required to commit;

2. That it promises an evil of such gravity and imminence that the ordinary man
would have succumbed to it.

Duress as a valid defense should be based on real, imminent, or reasonable fear for
ones life or limb and should not be speculative, fanciful, or remote fear.

ACTUS ME INVITO FACTUS NON EST MEUS ACTUS

An act done by me against my will is not my act.

7. INSUPERABLE CAUSE.
INSUPERABLE CAUSE some motive which has lawfully, morally or physically
prevented a person to do what the law commands.

ELEMENTS:

1. That an act is required by law to be done.

2. That a person fails to perform such act.
3. That his failure to perform such act was due to some lawful or insuperable cause.

Examples:

a. The municipal president detained the offended party for three days because to
take him to the nearest justice of the peace required a journey for three days by
boat as there was no other means of transportation. (US vs. Vicentillo, 19 Phil.
118)

The distance which required a journey for three days was considered an
insuperable cause.

Note: Under the law, the person arrested must be delivered to the nearest judicial
authority at most within 18 hours (now 36 hours, Art. 125 RPC); otherwise, the
public officer will be liable for arbitrary detention.

b. A mother who at the time of childbirth was overcome by severe dizziness and
extreme debility, and left the child in a thicket were said child died, is not liable
for infanticide because it was physically impossible for her to take home the child.
(People vs. Bandian, 63 Phil. 530).

The severe dizziness and extreme debility of the woman constitute an

insuperable cause.

ABSOLUTORY CAUSES - are those where the act committed is a crime but for reasons
of public policy and sentiment, there is no penalty imposed.

Other absolutory causes:

1. Spontaneous desistance (Art. 6)

2. Accessories who are exempt from criminal liability (Art. 20)
3. Death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances (Art. 247)
4. Persons exempt from criminal liability for theft, swindling and malicious mischief
(Art. 332)
5. Instigation

Entrapment is NOT an absolutory cause. A buy-bust operation conducted in

connection with illegal drug-related offenses is a form of entrapment.
 ENTRAPMENT INSTIGATION
1. Ways and means are resorted to for the 1. Instigator induces the would-be accused to
capture of lawbreaker in the execution of his commit the crime, hence he becomes a co-
criminal plan. principal.

2. not a bar to the prosecution and conviction 2. it will result in the acquittal of the accused.
of the lawbreaker

ART.13 MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES those which if present in the commission of the crime,

do not entirely free the actor from criminal liability but serve only to reduce the penalty.

One single fact cannot be made the basis of more than one mitigating circumstance.
Hence, a mitigating circumstance arising from a single fact, absorbs all the other
mitigating circumstances arising from the same fact.

Article 13. Mitigating circumstances. - The following are mitigating

circumstances:
1. Those mentioned in the preceding chapter, when all the requisites
necessary to justify the act or to exempt from criminal liability in the
respective cases are not attendant.
2. That the offender is under eighteen years of age or over seventy
years. In the case of the minor, he shall be proceeded against in
accordance with the provisions of article 80.
3. That the offender had no intention to commit so grave a wrong as that
committed.
4. That sufficient provocation or threat on the part of the offended party
immediately preceded the act.
5. That the act was committed in the immediate vindication of a grave
offense to the one committing the felony (delito) his spouse,
ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or
sisters or relatives by affinity within the same degrees.
6. That of having acted upon an impulse so powerful as naturally to have
produced passion or obfuscation.
7. That the offender had voluntarily surrendered himself to a person in
authority or his agents, or that he had voluntarily confessed his guilt
before the court prior to the presentation of the evidence for the
prosecution.
8. That the offender is deaf and dumb, blind or otherwise suffering some
physical defect which thus restricts his means of action, defense, or
communication with his fellow beings.
9. Such illness of the offender as would diminish the exercise of the will-
power of the offender without however depriving him of consciousness
of his acts.
10. And, finally, any other circumstance of a similar nature and
analogous to those above mentioned.

BASIS : Diminution of either freedom of action intelligence or intent or on the lesser

perversity of the offender.
CLASSES ORDINARY PRIVILEGED
Source Subsections 1-10 of Art. 13 (RPC) Arts. 68, 69 and 64 of RPC

15
 If not offset (by an aggravating
circumstance) it will operate to have the
As to the effect
penalty imposed at its minimum period,
provided the penalty is a divisible one
It operates to reduce the
penalty by one to two degrees
depending upon what the law
provides

As to offset May be offset by aggravating circums-tance Cannot be offset

1. INCOMPLETE JUSTIFYING OR EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES

Applies, when all the requisites necessary to justify the act are not attendant.

But in the case of incomplete self-defense, defense of relatives, and defense

of a stranger, unlawful aggression must be present, it being an indispensable
requisite.

2. UNDER 18, OR OVER 70 YEARS OLD

It is the age of the accused at the time of the commission of the crime which
should be determined. His age at the time of the trial is immaterial.

Legal effects of various ages of offender

1. Nine (9) years of age and below exempting circumstance. (Art. 12, par. 2)
2. Over 9 but not more than 15 exempting unless, he acted with discernment in
which case penalty is reduced to at least two (2) degrees lower than that
imposed. (Art. 12, par. 3; Art. 68, par. 1)
3. Above 15 but under 18 - regardless of discernment, penalty is reduced by one (1)
degree lower than that imposed. (Art. 68 par. 2)
4. Minor delinquent under 18 years of age, sentence suspended (Art. 192, PD 603 as
amended by PD 1179)
5. 18 years or over full criminal responsibility.
6. 70 years or over mitigating, no imposition of death penalty; if already imposed,
execution of death penalty is suspended and commuted.

BASIS: diminution of intelligence

3. NO INTENTION TO COMMIT SO GRAVE A WRONG

Rule for the application:

Can be taken into account only when the facts proven show that there is a notable and
evident disproportion between the means employed to execute the criminal act and its
consequences.

Intention may be ascertained by considering:

a) the weapon used

b) the part of the body injured
c) the injury inflicted
BASIS : Intent is Diminished

4. PROVOCATION OR THREAT

PROVOCATION any unjust or improper conduct or act of the offended party, capable of
exciting, inciting or irritating any one.
REQUISITES:

1. The provocation must be sufficient.

2. It must originate from the offended party.
3. The provocation must be immediate to the commission of the crime by the person
who is provoked.

The threat should not be offensive and positively strong. Otherwise, the threat to
inflict real injury is an unlawful aggression, which may give rise to self-defense.

5. VINDICATION OF GRAVE OFFENSE

REQUISITES:

1. That there be a grave offense done to the one committing the felony, his spouse,
ascendants; descendants, legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters or
relatives by affinity within the same degrees;

2. That the felony is committed in immediate vindication of such grave offense.

Immediate allows for a lapse of time unlike in sufficient provocation, as long as the
offender is still suffering from the mental agony brought about by the offense to him.

PROVOCATION VINDICATION

1. It is made directly only to the person 1. The grave offense may be committed also
committing the felony. against the offenders relatives mentioned by law.

2. The cause that brought about the 2. The offended party must have done a grave
provocation need not be a grave offense. offense to the offender or his relatives mentioned
by law.

3. It is necessary that the provocation or 3. The vindication of the grave offense may be
threat immediately preceded the act. proximate, which admits of an INTERVAL of time.

6. PASSION OR OBFUSCATION

It requires that:

1. The accused acted upon an impulse.

2. The impulse must be so powerful that it naturally produced passion or obfuscation in

him.

REQUISITES:

1. That there be an act, both unlawful and sufficient to produce such a condition of
mind;

2. That said act which produced the obfuscation was not far removed from the
commission of the crime by a considerable length of time, during which the
perpetrator might recover his normal equanimity.

17
 A mitigating circumstance only when the same arose from lawful sentiments.

BASIS: Loss of reasoning and self-control, thereby diminishing the exercise of his will
power.

WHEN PASSION OR OBFUSCATION NOT MITIGATING: When committed:

1. In the spirit of lawlessness, or

2. In a spirit of revenge

PASSION/ OBFUSCATION PROVOCATION

- produced by an impulse which may be

- the provocation comes from the injured party.
caused by provocation
- the offense need not be immediate. It is only
-must immediately precede the commission of
required that the influence thereof lasts until
the crime.
the moment the crime is committed

7. SURRENDER AND CONFESSION OF GUILT

REQUISITES OF VOLUNTARY SURRENDER:

1. That the offender had not been actually arrested;

2. That the offender surrendered himself to a person in authority or to the latters
agent;
3. That the surrender was voluntary.

WHEN SURRENDER VOLUNTARY

A surrender to be voluntary must be spontaneous, showing the intent of the accused to

submit himself unconditionally to the authorities, either because:

1. he acknowledges his guilt; or

2. he wishes to save them the trouble and expense necessarily incurred in his search
and capture.

REQUISITES OF VOLUNTARY PLEA OF GUILTY:

1. That the offender spontaneously confessed his guilt.

2. That the confession of guilt was made in open court, that is, before the competent
court that is to try the case; and

3. That the confession of guilt was made prior to the presentation of evidence for the
prosecution.

BASIS: lesser perversity of the offender.

8. PHYSICAL DEFECT OF OFFENDER

When the offender is deaf and dumb, blind or otherwise suffering from some
physical defect, restricting his means of action, defense or communication with
others.

The physical defect must relate to the offense committed.

 BASIS: diminution of element of voluntariness.

9. ILLNESS OF THE OFFENDER

REQUISITES:

1. That the illness of the offender must diminish the exercise of his will-power.

2. That such illness should not deprive the offender of consciousness of his acts.

Includes illness of the mind not amounting to insanity.

BASIS: diminution of intelligence and intent.

10.SIMILAR AND ANALOGOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

EXAMPLES:

1) Impulse of jealousy, similar to passion and obfuscation.

2) Testifying for the prosecution, analogous to plea of guilty

Chapter Four: Circumstances which Aggravate Criminal Liability (Art. 14)

Aggravating circumstances are those which, if attendant in the commission of the

crime, serve to have the penalty imposed in its maximum period provided by law for the
offense or change the nature of the crime.

Article 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following are aggravating

circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public position.

19
2. That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to the
public authorities.
3. That the act be committed with insult or in disregard of the respect
due to the offended party on account of his rank, age, or sex, or that
it be committed in the dwelling of the offended party, if the latter has
not given provocation.
4. That the act be committed with abuse of confidence or obvious
ungratefulness.
5. That the crime be committed in the palace of the Chief Executive, or
in his presence, or where public authorities are engaged in the
discharge of their duties, or in a place dedicated to religious worship.
6. That the crime be committed in the nighttime, or in an uninhabited
place, or by a band, whenever such circumstances may facilitate the
commission of the offense.
Whenever more than three armed malefactors shall have acted
together in the commission of an offense, it shall be deemed to have
been committed by a band.
7. That the crime be committed on the occasion of a conflagration,
shipwreck, earthquake, epidemic, or other calamity or misfortune.
8. That the crime be committed with the aid of armed men or persons
who insure or afford impunity.
9. That the accused is a recidivist.
A recidivist is one who, at the time of his trial for one crime, shall
have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime
embraced in the same title of this Code.
10. That the offender has been previously punished for an offense to
which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two or more
crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty.
11. That the crime be committed in consideration of a price, reward, or
promise.
12. That the crime be committed by means of inundation, fire, poison,
explosion, stranding of a vessel or intentional damage thereto,
derailment of a locomotive, or by the use of any other artifice
involving great waste and ruin.
13. That the act be committed with evident premeditation.
14. That craft, fraud, or disguise be employed.
15. That advantage be taken of superior strength, or means be
employed to weaken the defense.
16. That the act be committed with treachery (alevosia).
There is treachery when the offender commits any of the crimes
against the person, employing means, methods, or forms in the
execution thereof which tend directly and specially to insure its
execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which the
offended party might make.
17. That means be employed or circumstances brought about which add
ignominy to the natural effects of the act.
18. That the crime be committed after an unlawful entry.
There is an unlawful entry when an entrance is effected by a way not
intended for the purpose.
19. That as a means to the commission of a crime a wall, roof, floor, door,
or window be broken.
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under fifteen
years of age or by means of motor vehicles, motorized watercraft,
airships, or other similar means. (As amended by Rep. Act No. 5438,
approved Sept. 9, 1968.)
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately
augmented by causing other wrong not necessary for its
commission.
BASIS: They are based on the greater perversity of the offender manifested in the
commission of the felony as shown by:

1. the motivating power itself,

2. the place of the commission,
3. the means and ways employed
4. the time, or
5. the personal circumstances of the offender, or the offended party.

KINDS OF AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES:

1. Generic those which apply to all crimes, such as:

a) Advantage taken of public position;

b) Contempt or insult of public authorities;
c) Crime committed in the dwelling of the offended party;
d) Abuse of confidence or obvious ungratefulness;
e) Place where crime is committed;
f) Nighttime, uninhabited place, or band;
g) Recidivism (reincidencia);
h) Habituality (reiteracion);
i) Craft, fraud or disguise;
j) Unlawful entry;
k) Breaking of parts of the house;
l) Use of persons under 15 years of age.

2. Specific those which apply only to specific crimes, such as ignominy in crimes
against chastity and cruelty and treachery which are applicable only to crimes against
persons.

a) Disregard of rank, age or sex due the offended party;

b) Abuse of superior strength or means be employed to weaken the defense;
c) Treachery (alevosia);
d) Ignominy;
e) Cruelty;
f) Use of unlicensed firearm in the murder or homicide committed therewith (RA
8294).

3. Qualifying those that change the nature of the crime.

Alevosia (treachery) or evident premeditation qualifies the killing of a person to

murder.

Art. 248 enumerates the qualifying aggravating circumstances which quality the
killing of person to murder.

4. Inherent those which of necessity accompany the commission of the crime,

therefore not considered in increasing the penalty to be imposed, such as:

a) Evident premeditation in robbery, theft, estafa, adultery and concubinage;

b) Abuse of public office in bribery;
c) Breaking of a wall or unlawful entry into a house in robbery with the use of force
upon things;
d) Fraud in estafa;
e) Deceit in simple seduction;
f) Ignominy in rape.

5. Special those which arise under special conditions to increase the penalty of the
offense and cannot be offset by mitigating circumstances, such as:

21
 a) Quasi-recidivism (Art. 160);
b) Complex crimes (Art. 48);
c) Error in personae (Art. 49);
d) Taking advantage of public position and membership in an organized/syndicated
crime group (Par.1[a], Art. 62).

GENERIC AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE QUALIFYING AGGRAVATING

CIRCUMSTANCE
As to its effect
Increases the penalty which should be imposed To give the crime its proper and exclusive name
upon the accused to the maximum period but and to place the author thereof in such a
without exceeding the limit prescribed by law. situation as to deserve no other penalty than
that specially prescribed by law for said crime.

As to whether it can be offset by a mitigating circumstance

May be offset by a mitigating circumstance. Cannot be offset by a mitigating circumstance

RULES ON AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES

1. Aggravating circumstances shall not be appreciated if:

a) They constitute a crime specially punishable by law, or

b) They are included by the law in defining a crime and prescribing a penalty
therefore, shall not be taken into account for the purpose of increasing the
penalty.

EXAMPLE: That the crime be committed by means of fire,explosion (Art. 14, par. 12)
is in itself a crime of arson (Art. 321) or a crime involving destruction (Art.
324). It is not to be considered to increase the penalty for the crime of
arson or for the crime involving destruction.

2. The same rule shall apply with respect to any aggravating circumstance inherent in
the crime to such a degree that it must of necessity accompany the commission
thereof. (Art. 62, par. 2)

3. Aggravating circumstances which arise:

a) From the moral attributes of the offender, or

b) From his private relations with the offended party, or
c) From any personal cause, shall only serve to aggravate the liability of the
principals, accomplices and accessories as to whom such circumstances are
attendant. (Art. 62, par. 3)
The circumstances which consist:
a) In the material execution of the act, or
b) In the means employed to accomplish it,
shall serve to aggravate the liability of those persons only who had knowledge of
them at the time of the execution of the act or their cooperation therein. Except
when there is proof of conspiracy in which case the act of one is deemed to be the act
of all, regardless of lack of knowledge of the facts constituting the circumstance. (Art.
62, par. 4)

4. Aggravating circumstances, regardless of its kind, should be specifically alleged in the

information AND proved as fully as the crime itself in order to increase the penalty.
(Sec. 9, Rule 110, 2000 Rules of Criminal Procedure)
5. When there is more than one qualifying aggravating circumstance present, one of
them will be appreciated as qualifying aggravating while the others will be considered
as generic aggravating.

ART. 14 AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Par. 1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public position.

Applicable only when the offender is a public officer.

The offender must have abused his public position or at least use of the same
facilitated the commission of the offense.
This circumstance cannot be taken into consideration in offenses where taking
advantage of official position is made by law an integral element of the crime,
such as in malversation under Art. 217, or in falsification of a document
committed by public officers under Art. 171.
Taking advantage of a public position is also inherent in the case of accessories
under Art. 19, par. 3 (harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the
principal of the crime), and in crimes committed by public officers (Arts. 204-245).

Par. 2 That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to the public
authorities.

REQUISITES OF THIS CIRCUMSTANCE:

1. That the public authority is engaged in the exercise of his functions.

2. That he who is thus engaged in the exercise of said functions is not the person
against whom the crime is committed.
3. The offender knows him to be a public authority.
4. His presence has not prevented the offender from committing the criminal act.

Public authority sometimes also called a person in authority, is a public officer who is
directly vested with jurisdiction, that is, a public officer who has the power to govern and
execute the laws; like a mayor, councilor, governor, barangay captain and barangay
chairman.

A teacher or professor of a public or recognized private school is not a public

authority within the contemplation of this paragraph. While he is a person in authority
under Art. 152, that status is only for purposes of Art. 148 (direct assault) and Art.
152 (resistance and disobedience).

Par. 3 That the act be committed

1. with insult or in disregard of the respect due the offended

party on account of his:
(a) rank,
(b) age, or
(c) sex, or

2. that it be committed in the dwelling of the offended party, if

the latter has not given provocation.

The four circumstances enumerated should be considered as one aggravating

circumstance only.
Disregard of rank, age or sex is essentially applicable only to crimes against person or
honor. They are not taken into account in crimes against property.

23
 To be appreciated as an aggravating circumstance, there must be evidence that in
the commission of the crime, the offender deliberately intended to offend or insult the
sex, age and rank of the offended party.

Rank of the offended party is the designation or title of distinction used to fix the
relative position of the offended party in reference to others.

- there must be a difference in the social condition of the offender and the
offended party.

Age of the offended party may refer to old age or the tender age of the victim.

Sex of the offended party refers to the female sex, not to the male sex.

THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF DISREGARD OF RANK, AGE, OR SEX IS

NOT APPLICABLE IN THE FOLLOWING CASES:

1. When the offender acted with passion and obfuscation.

2. When there exists a relationship between the offended party and the offender.
3. When the condition of being a woman is indispensable in the commission of the
crime. (e.g. in parricide, abduction, seduction and rape)

Disregard of sex and age are not absorbed in treachery because treachery refers to
the manner of the commission of the crime, while disregard of sex and age pertains
to the relationship of the victim (People vs. Lapaz, March 31, 1989).

Dwelling must be a building or structure, exclusively used for rest and comfort. A
combination of a house and a store or a market stall where the victim slept is not a
dwelling.

- dwelling includes dependencies, the foot of the staircase and enclosure under
the house.

The aggravating circumstance of dwelling requires that the crime be wholly or

partly committed therein or in any integral part thereof.
Dwelling does not mean the permanent residence or domicile of the offended
party or that he must be the owner thereof. He must, however, be actually living
or dwelling therein even for a temporary duration or purpose.
It is not necessary that the accused should have actually entered the dwelling of
the victim to commit the offense; it is enough that the victim was attacked inside
his own house, although the assailant may have devised means to perpetrate the
assault from without.
WHAT AGGRAVATES THE COMMISSION OF THE CRIME IN ONES DWELLING:

1. The abuse of confidence which the offended party reposed in the offender by
opening the door to him; or

2. The violation of the sanctity of the home by trespassing therein with violence or
against the will of the owner.

MEANING OF PROVOCATION IN THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF

DWELLING:

The provocation must be:

 1. Given by the owner of the dwelling,
2. Sufficient, and
3. Immediate to the commission of the crime.

If all these conditions are present, the offended party is deemed to have given the
provocation, and the fact that the crime is committed in the dwelling of the
offended party is not an aggravating circumstance.

REASON: When it is the offended party who has provoked the incident, he loses
his right to the respect and consideration due him in his own house.

DWELLING IS NOT AGGRAVATING IN THE FOLLOWING CASES:

1. When both the offender and the offended party are occupants of the same house,
and this is true even if offender is a servant in the house.

EXCEPTION: In case of adultery in the conjugal dwelling, the same is aggravating.

However, if the paramour also dwells in the conjugal dwelling, the applicable
aggravating circumstance is abuse of confidence.

2. When robbery is committed by the use of force upon things, dwelling is not
aggravating because it is inherent.

But dwelling is aggravating in robbery with violence against or intimidation of

persons because this class of robbery can be committed without the necessity of
trespassing the sanctity of the offended partys house.

3. In the crime of trespass to dwelling, it is inherent or included by law in defining the

crime.

4. When the owner of the dwelling gave sufficient and immediate provocation.

There must exist a close relation between the provocation made by the victim and
the commission of the crime by the accused.

5. The victim is not a dweller of the house.

Par. 4. That the act be committed with

a) abuse of confidence or
b) obvious ungratefulness.

Par. 4 provides two aggravating circumstances which, if present in the same case and
must be independently appreciated.

While one may be related to the other in the factual situation in the case, they cannot
be lumped together as abuse of confidence requires a special confidential
relationship between the offender and the victim, but this is not so in ungratefulness.

REQUISITES OF ABUSE OF CONFIDENCE:

1. That the offended party had trusted the offender.

2. That the offender abused such trust by committing a crime against the offended
party.
3. That the abuse of confidence facilitated the commission of the crime.
Abuse of confidence is inherent in malversation (Art. 217), qualified theft (Art. 310),
estafa by conversion or misappropriation (Art. 315), and qualified seduction (Art.
337).

25
REQUISITES OF OBVIOUS UNGRATEFULNESS

1. That the offended party had trusted the offender;

2. That the offender abused such trust by committing a crime against the offended
party.
3. That the act be committed with obvious ungratefulness.

The ungratefulness contemplated by par. 4 must be such clear and manifest

ingratitude on the part of the accused.

Par. 5 That the crime be committed

a) in the palace of the Chief Executive, or in his presence, or

b) where public authorities are engaged in the discharge of their duties, or
c) in a place dedicated to religious worship.

Except for the third which requires that official functions are being performed at the
time of the commission of the crime, the other places mentioned are aggravating per
se even if no official duties or acts of religious worship are being conducted there.

Cemeteries, however respectable they may be, are not considered as place dedicated
to the worship of God.

PAR. 5. Where public authorities are PAR. 2. Contempt or insult to public

engaged in the discharge of their duties authorities

IN BOTH
Public authorities are in the performance of their duties

Place where public duty is performed

In their office. Outside of their office.

The offended party

May or may not be the public authority Public authority should not be the offended
party

Par. 6. That the crime be committed

a. in the nighttime, or
b. in an uninhabited place, or
c. by a band, whenever such circumstance may facilitate the commission of
the offense.

When present in the same case and their element are distinctly palpable and can
subsist independently, they shall be considered separately.

WHEN NIGHTTIME, UNINHABITED PLACE OR BAND AGGRAVATING:

1. When it facilitated the commission of the crime; or

2. When especially sought for by the offender to insure the commission of the crime
or for the purpose of impunity; or
3. When the offender took advantage thereof for the purpose of impunity.
Nighttime (obscuridad) that period of darkness beginning at end of dusk and ending
at dawn. Nights are from sunset to sunrise.

It is necessary that the commission of the crime was begun and completed at
nighttime.

When the place of the crime is illuminated by light, nighttime is not aggravating.

GENERAL RULE: Nighttime is absorbed in treachery.

EXCEPTION: Where both the treacherous mode of attack and nocturnity were
deliberately decided upon in the same case, they can be considered separately if such
circumstances have different factual bases. Thus:

In People vs. Berdida, et. al. (June 30, 1966), nighttime was considered since it
was purposely sought, and treachery was further appreciated because the
victims hands and arms were tied together before he was beaten up by the
accused.

In People vs. Ong, et. al. (Jan. 30, 1975), there was treachery as the victim was
stabbed while lying face up and defenseless, and nighttime was considered upon
proof that it facilitated the commission of the offense and was taken advantage of
by the accused.

Uninhabited place (despoblado) one where there are no houses at all; a place at a
considerable distance from town, or where the houses are scattered at a great distance
from each other.

What actually determines whether this aggravating circumstance should be

considered against the accused, aside from the distance and isolation of the place, is
the reasonable possibility of the victim receiving or securing aid from third persons.

Band (en cuadrilla) whenever more than three (i.e., at least four) armed malefactors
shall have acted together in the commission of an offense, it shall be deemed committed
by a band.

The requisite four armed persons contemplated in this circumstance must all be
principals by direct participation who acted together in the execution of the acts
constituting the crime.

If one of them was a principal by inducement, there would be no cuadrilla but

the aggravating circumstance of having acted with the aid of armed men may be
considered against the inducer if the other two acted as his accomplice.

This aggravating circumstance is absorbed in the circumstance of abuse of

superior strength.

This aggravating circumstance is not applicable in crimes against chastity.

Par. 7 That the crime be committed on the occasion of a conflagration,

shipwreck, earthquake, epidemic or other calamity or misfortune.

REASON FOR THE AGGRAVATION:

The debased form of criminality met in one who, in the midst of a great calamity,
instead of lending aid to the afflicted, adds to their suffering by taking advantage of their

27
misfortune to despoil them. Therefore it is necessary that the offender took advantage of
the calamity or misfortune.

Par. 8 That the crime be committed with the aid of

a. armed men or
b. persons who insure or afford impunity.

REQUISITES:

1. That armed men or persons took part in the commission of the crime, directly or
indirectly.

2. That the accused availed himself of their aid or relied upon them when the crime
was committed.

This aggravating circumstance requires that the armed men are accomplices who
take part in that minor capacity directly or indirectly, and not when they were
merely present at the crime scene. Neither should they constitute a band, for then
the proper aggravating circumstance would be cuadrilla.

WHEN THIS AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE SHALL NOT BE CONSIDERED:

1. When both the attacking party and the party attacked were equally armed.
2. When the accused as well as those who cooperated with him in the commission of
the crime acted under the same plan and for the same purpose.

Par. 6 By a band Par. 8. With the aid of armed men

As to their number
Requires more than three armed malefactors
At least two
(i.e., at least four)
As to their action
Requires that more than three armed This circumstance is present even if one of the
malefactors shall have acted together in the offenders merely relied on their aid, for actual
commission of an offense. aid is not necessary.

If there are four armed men, aid of armed men is absorbed in employment of a band.
If there are three armed men or less, aid of armed men may be the aggravating
circumstance.

Aid of armed men includes armed women.

Par. 9 That the accused is a recidivist.

REQUISITES:
1. That the offender is on trial for an offense;
2. That he was previously convicted by final judgment of another crime;
3. That both the first and the second offenses are embraced in the same title of the
Code;
4. That the offender is convicted of the new offense.

MEANING OF at the time of his trial for one crime.

It is employed in its general sense, including the rendering of the judgment. It is meant to
include everything that is done in the course of the trial, from arraignment until after
sentence is announced by the judge in open court.

Being an ordinary aggravating circumstance, recidivism affects only the periods of a

penalty, except in prostitution and vagrancy (Art. 202) and gambling (PD 1602)
wherein recidivism increases the penalties by degrees. No other generic aggravating
circumstance produces this effect.

In recidivism it is sufficient that the succeeding offense be committed after the

commission of the preceding offense provided that at the time of his trial for the
second offense, the accused had already been convicted of the first offense.

If both offenses were committed on the same date, they shall be considered as only
one, hence, they cannot be separately counted in order to constitute recidivism. Also,
judgments of convicted handed down on the same day shall be considered as only
one conviction.

REASON: Because the Code requires that to be considered as separate convictions, at

the time of his trial for one crime the accused shall have been previously convicted
by final judgment of the other.

To prove recidivism, it is necessary to allege the same in the information and to

attach thereto certified copy of the sentences rendered against the accused.

Recidivism must be taken into account no matter how many years have intervened
between the first and second felonies.

Even if the accused was granted a pardon for the first offense, but he commits
another felony embraced in the same title of the Code, the first conviction is still
counted to make him a recidivist since pardon does not obliterate the fact of his prior
conviction.

The rule is different in the case of amnesty which theoretically considers the
previous transgressions as not punishable.

Par. 10 That the offender has been previously punished for an offense to
which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two or more crimes
to which it attaches a lighter penalty.

REQUISITES of REITERACION or HABITUALITY:

1. That the accused is on trial for an offense;
2. That he previously served sentence for another offense to which the law attaches an
a) Equal or
b) Greater penalty, or
c) For two or more crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty than that for the
new offense; and
3. That he is convicted of the new offense
REITERACION RECIDIVISM
As to the first offense
It is necessary that the offender shall have It is enough that a final judgment has been
served out his sentence for the first offense rendered in the first offense.

As to the kind of offenses involved

The previous and subsequent offenses must Requires that the offenses be included in the
not be embraced in the same title of the same title of the Code.
Code.

29
THE FOUR FORMS OF REPETITION ARE:

1. Recidivism (par. 9, Art. 14) where a person, on separate occasions, is convicted of

two offenses embraced in the same title in the RPC. This is a generic aggravating
circumstance.

2. Reiteracion or habituality (par. 10, Art. 14) where the offender has been previously
punished for an offense to which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two
crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty. This is a generic aggravating circumstance.

3. Multi-recidivism or habitual delinquency (Art. 62, par, 5) where a person within a

period of ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious
or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification, is found guilty of
the said crimes a third time or oftener. This is an extraordinary aggravating
circumstance.

4. Quasi-recidivism (Art. 160) Where a person commits felony before beginning to

serve or while serving sentence on a previous conviction for a felony. This is a special
aggravating circumstance.

Since reiteracion provides that the accused has duly served the sentence for
his previous conviction/s, or is legally considered to have done so, quasi-
recidivism cannot at the same time constitute reiteracion, hence this
aggravating circumstance cannot apply to a quasi-recidivist.

If the same set of facts constitutes recidivism and reiteracion, the liability of
the accused should be aggravated by recidivism which can easily be proven.

Par. 11 That the crime be committed in consideration of a price, reward or

promise.

When this aggravating circumstance is present, there must be two or more

principals, the one who gave or offered the price or promise and the one who
accepted it, both of whom are principals.

If without previous promise it was given voluntarily after the crime had been
committed as an expression of his appreciation for the sympathy and aid shown
by the other accused, it should not be taken into consideration for the purpose of
increasing the penalty.

The price, reward or promise need not consist of or refer to material things or that the
same were actually delivered, it being sufficient that the offer made by the principal
by inducement be accepted by the principal by direct participation before the
commission of the offense.
Par. 12 That the crime be committed by means of inundation, fire, poison,
explosion, stranding of a vessel or intentional damage thereto, derailment of a
locomotive, or by the use of any other artifice involving great waste and ruin.

When another aggravating circumstance already qualifies the crime, any of these
aggravating circumstances shall be considered as generic aggravating
circumstance only.

A killing committed through any of these qualifies the crime to murder, except if
arson was resorted to but without intent to kill, in view of P.D. 1613 which
provides a specific penalty for that situation.

PAR. 12 by means of inundation, fire, PAR. 10 on the occasion of a

etc. conflagration, shipwreck, etc.
 The crime is committed by means of any such The crime is committed on the occasion of a
acts involving great waste or ruin. calamity or misfortune.

Par. 13 That the act be committed with evident premeditation

REQUISITES:
The prosecution must prove
1. The time when the offender determined to commit the crime;
2. An act manifestly indicating that the culprit has clung to his determination; and
3. A sufficient lapse of time between the determination and execution, to allow him
to reflect upon the consequences of his act and to allow his conscience to
overcome the resolution of his will.

To establish evident premeditation, it must be shown that there was a period

sufficient to afford full opportunity for meditation and reflection, a time adequate to
allow the conscience to overcome the resolution of the will, as well as outward acts
showing the intent to kill. It must be shown that the offender had sufficient time to
reflect upon the consequences of his act but still persisted in his determination to
commit the crime. (PEOPLE vs. SILVA, et. al., GR No. 140871, August 8, 2002)

The essence of evident premeditation is that the execution of the criminal act is
preceded by cool thought and reflection upon the resolution to carry out the
criminal intent within a space of time sufficient to arrive at a calm judgment.
(PEOPLE vs. ABADIES, GR No. 135975, August 14, 2002)

Evident premeditation is presumed to exist when conspiracy is directly

established. When conspiracy is merely implied, evident premeditation cannot be
presumed, the latter must be proved like any other fact. (PEOPLE vs. SAPIGAO, et.
al., GR No. 144975, June 18, 2003)

Premeditation is absorbed by reward or promise.

When the offender decides to kill a particular person and premeditated on the
killing of the latter, but when he carried out his plan he actually killed another
person, it cannot properly be said that he premeditated on the killing of the actual
victim.

But if the offender premeditated on the killing of any person, it is proper to

consider against the offender the aggravating circumstance of premeditation,
because whoever is killed by him is contemplated in his premeditation.

Par. 14 That (1) craft, (2) fraud, or (3) disguise be employed

Craft (astucia) - involved the use of intellectual trickery or cunning on the part
of the accused.

- it is a chicanery resorted to by the accused to aid in the

execution of his criminal design. It is employed as a scheme
in the execution of the crime.

Fraud (fraude) insidious words or machinations used to induce the victim to

act in a manner which would enable the offender to carry
out his design.

31
 FRAUD CRAFT
Where there is a direct inducement by The act of the accused done in order not to
insidious words or machinations, fraud is arouse the suspicion of the victim constitutes
present. craft.

According to Justice Regalado, the fine distinctions between craft and fraud would
not really be called for as these terms in Art. 14 are variants of means employed to
deceive the victim and if all are present in the same case, they shall be applied as a
single aggravating circumstance.

Craft and fraud may be absorbed in treachery if they have been deliberately adopted
as the means, methods or forms for the treacherous strategy, or they may co-exist
independently where they are adopted for a different purpose in the commission of
the crime.

For instance:

In People vs. San Pedro (Jan. 22, 1980), where the accused pretended to hire
the driver in order to get his vehicle, it was held that there was craft directed to
the theft of the vehicle, separate from the means subsequently used to
treacherously kill the defenseless driver.

In People vs. Masilang (July 11, 1986) there was also craft where after hitching
a ride, the accused requested the driver to take them to a place to visit
somebody, when in fact they had already planned to kill the driver.

Disguise (disfraz) resorting to any device to conceal identity.

The test of disguise is whether the device or contrivance resorted to by the offender
was intended to or did make identification more difficult, such as the use of a mask or
false hair or beard.

The use of an assumed name in the publication of a libel constitutes disguise.

Par. 15 That (1) advantage be taken of superior strength, or (2) means be

employed to weaken the defense.

Par. 15 enunciates two aggravating circumstances, namely, that advantage was taken
of superior strength, or that means were employed by the offender to weaken the
defense of the victim, either of which qualifies a killing to murder.

MEANING OF advantage be taken:

To deliberately use excessive force that is out of proportion to the means for self-defense
available to the person attacked. (PEOPLE vs. LOBRIGAS, et. al., GR No. 147649,
December 17, 2002)
NO ADVANTAGE OF SUPERIOR STRENGTH IN THE FOLLOWING:

1. One who attacks another with passion and obfuscation does not take advantage of
his superior strength.

2. When a quarrel arose unexpectedly and the fatal blow was struck at a time when the
aggressor and his victim were engaged against each other as man to man.

For abuse of superior strength, the test is the relative strength of the offender and
his victim, whether or not he took advantage of his greater strength.
 When there are several offenders participating in the crime, they must all be
principals by direct participation and their attack against the victim must be
concerted and intended to be so.

Abuse of superior strength is inherent in the crime of parricide where the husband
kills the wife. It is generally accepted that the husband is physically stronger than
the wife.

Abuse of superior strength is also present when the offender uses a weapon which
is out of proportion to the defense available to the offended party.

by a band abuse of superior strength

The element of band is appreciated when the The gravamen of abuse of superiority is the
offense is committed by more than three armed taking advantage by the culprits of their
malefactors regardless of the comparative collective strength to overpower their relatively
strength of the victim or victims. weaker victim or victims.

Hence, what is taken into account here is not

the number of aggressors nor the fact that they
are armed, but their relative physical strength
vis-a vis the offended party.

Abuse of superior strength absorbs cuadrilla (band).

Means employed to weaken defense - the offender employs means that materially
weakens the resisting power of the offended party.

EXAMPLES OF means employed to weaken defense

1. Where one, struggling with another, suddenly throws a cloak over the head of his
opponent and while in this situation he wounds or kills him.
2. One who, while fighting with another, suddenly casts sand or dirt upon the latter eyes
and then wounds or kills him.
3. When the offender, who had the intention to kill the victim, made the deceased
intoxicated, thereby materially weakening the latters resisting power.

This circumstance is applicable only to crimes against persons, and sometimes

against person and property, such as robbery with physical injuries or homicide.

Par. 16 That the act be committed with treachery (alevosia).

Treachery (alevosia) is present when the offender commits any of the crimes against
person, employing means, methods or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly
and specially to insure its execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense
which the offended party might make.

REQUISITES OF TREACHERY:

1. That at the time of the attack, the victim was not in a position to defend himself; and

2. That the offender consciously adopted the particular means, method or form of attack
employed by him.

33
 The test of treachery is not only the relative position of the parties but, more
specifically, whether or not the victim was forewarned or afforded the opportunity
to make a defense or to ward off the attack.

RULES REGARDING TREACHERY:

1. Applicable only to crimes against persons.

2. Means, methods or forms need not insure accomplishment of crime.
3. The mode of attack must be consciously adopted.
Treachery is taken into account even if the crime against the person is complexed
with another felony involving a different classification in the Code. Accordingly, in
the special complex crime of robbery with homicide, treachery but can be
appreciated insofar as the killing is concerned.
The suddenness of attack does not, of itself, suffice to support a finding of
alevosia, even if the purpose was to kill, so long as the decision was made all of a
sudden and the victims helpless position was accidental.
Treachery must be appreciated in the killing of a child even if the manner of
attack is not shown. It exists in the commission of the crime when the adult
person illegally attacks a child of tender years and causes his death.

WHEN MUST TREACHERY BE PRESENT:

When the aggression is continuous, treachery must be present in the beginning of the
assault. (PEOPLE vs. MANALAD, GR No. 128593, August 14, 2002)

Thus, even if the deceased was shot while he was lying wounded on the ground, it
appearing that the firing of the shot was a mere continuation of the assault in
which the deceased was wounded, with no appreciable time intervening between
the delivery of the blows and the firing of the shot, it cannot be said that the
crime was attended by treachery.

When the assault was not continuous, in that there was interruption, it is sufficient that
treachery was present at the moment the fatal blow was given.

Hence, even though in the inception of the aggression which ended in the death
of the deceased, treachery was not present, if there was a break in the continuity
of the aggression and at the time of the fatal wound was inflicted on the deceased
he was defenseless, the circumstance of treachery must be taken into account.

ALEVOSIA SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EVEN IF:

1. The victim was not predetermined but there was a generic intent to treacherously kill
any first two persons belonging to a class. (The same rule obtains for evident
premeditation).
2. There was aberratio ictus and the bullet hit a person different from that intended.
(The rule is different in evident premeditation).
3. There was error in personae, hence the victim was not the one intended by the
accused. (A different rule is applied in evident premeditation).
REASON FOR THE RULE: When there is treachery, it is impossible for either the
intended victim or the actual victim to defend himself against the aggression.

TREACHERY ABSORBS:
1. Craft 4. Cuadrilla (band)
2. Abuse of superior strength 5. Aid of armed men
3. Employing means to weaken the 6. Nighttime
defense
Par. 17 That means be employed or circumstances brought about which add
ignominy to the natural effects of the act.

Ignominy is a circumstance pertaining to the moral order, which adds disgrace and
obloquy to the material injury caused by the crime.

MEANING OF which add ignominy to the natural effects thereof

The means employed or the circumstances brought about must tend to make the
effects of the crime more humiliating to victim or to put the offended party to shame, or
add to his moral suffering. Thus it is incorrect to appreciate ignominy where the victim
was already dead when his body was dismembered, for such act may not be considered
to have added to the victims moral suffering or humiliation. (People vs. Carmina, G.R.
No. 81404, January 28, 1991)

Applicable to crimes against chastity, less serious physical injuries, light or grave
coercion, and murder.

Par. 18 That the crime be committed after an unlawful entry.

Unlawful entry when an entrance is effected by a way not intended for the purpose.

Unlawful entry must be a means to effect entrance and not for escape.

REASON FOR AGGRAVATION:

One who acts, not respecting the walls erected by men to guard their property and
provide for their personal safety, shows a greater perversity, a greater audacity; hence,
the law punishes him with more severity.

Par. 19 That as a means to the commission of a crime, a wall, roof, floor, door,
or window be broken.

This circumstance is aggravating only in those cases where the offender resorted
to any of said means to enter the house. If the wall, etc., is broken in order to get
out of the place, it is not an aggravating circumstance.

PAR. 19 PAR. 18

It involves the breaking (rompimiento) of the Presupposes that there is no such breaking as
enumerated parts of the house. by entry through the window.

If the offender broke a window to enable himself to reach a purse with money on
the table near that window, which he took while his body was outside of the
building, the crime of theft was attended by this aggravating circumstance. It is
not necessary that the offender should have entered the building.
Par. 20 That the crime be committed

(1) with the aid of persons under fifteen years of age, or

(2) by means of motor vehicles, airships, or other similar means.

TWO DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES GROUPED IN THIS PARAGRAPH:

1. With the aid of persons under fifteen years of age:

Tends to repress, so far as possible, the frequent practice resorted to by
professional criminals to avail themselves of minors taking advantage of their
irresponsibility.

35
2. By means of motor vehicles, airships, or other similar means:
Intended to counteract the great facilities found by modern criminals in said
means to commit crime and flee and abscond once the same is committed.
Use of motor vehicle is aggravating where the accused purposely and
deliberately used the motor vehicle in going to the place of the crime, in
carrying away the effects thereof, and in facilitating their escape.

MEANING OF or other similar means

Should be understood as referring to motorized vehicles or other efficient means of
transportation similar to automobile or airplane.

Par. 21 That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately
augmented by causing other wrong not necessary for its commission.

Cruelty there is cruelty when the culprit enjoys and delights in making his victim
suffer slowly and gradually, causing unnecessary physical pain in the consummation of
the criminal act.

REQUISITES OF CRUELTY:

1. That the injury caused be deliberately increased by causing other wrong;

2. That the other wrong be unnecessary for the execution of the purpose of the
offender.

Cruelty is not inherent in crimes against persons. In order for it to be appreciated,

there must be positive proof that the wounds found on the body of the victim
were inflicted while he was still alive in order unnecessarily to prolong physical
suffering.

If the victim was already dead when the acts of mutilation were being performed,
this would also qualify the killing to murder due to outraging of his corpse.

IGNOMINY (PAR.17) CRUELTY (PAR. 21)

Involves moral suffering Refers to physical suffering

Unlike mitigating circumstances (par. 10, Art. 13), there is no provision for
aggravating circumstances of a similar or analogous character.

ART. 15 ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES

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.

BASIS: The nature and effects of the crime and the other conditions attending its
commission.
----------------
Article 15. Their concept. - 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.
----------------

THE ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE:

1. Relationship;
2. Intoxication; and
3. Degree of instruction and education of the offender.

RELATIONSHIP
The alternative circumstance of relationship shall be taken into consideration when the
offended party is the

a) Spouse,
b) Ascendant,
c) Descendant,
d) Legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister, or
e) Relative by affinity in the same degree of the offender.

OTHER RELATIVES INCLUDED:

1. The relationship of stepfather or stepmother and stepson or stepdaughter.

REASON: It is the duty of the stepparents to bestow upon their stepchildren a
mothers/fathers affection, care and protection.

2. The relationship of adopted parent and adopted child.

But the relationship of uncle and niece is not covered by any of the relationship
mentioned.

WHEN RELATIONSHIP MITIGATING AND WHEN AGGRAVATING:

1. As a rule, relationship is mitigating in crimes against property, by analogy to the

provisions of Art. 332.

Thus, relationship is mitigating in the crimes of robbery (Arts. 294-302),

usurpation (Art. 312), fraudulent insolvency (Art. 314) and arson (Arts. 321-322,
325-326).

2. In crimes against persons

a) It is aggravating where the offended party is a relative of:

i. a higher degree than the offender, or

ii. when the offender and the offended party are relatives of
the same level (e.g. brothers)

b) But when it comes to physical injuries:

i. It is aggravating when the crime involves serious

physical injuries (Art. 263), even if the offended party is

37
 a descendant of the offender. But the serious physical
injuries must not be inflicted by a parent upon his child
by excessive chastisement.
ii. It is mitigating when the offense committed is less
serious physical injuries or slight physical injuries, if the
offended party is a relative of a lower degree.
iii. It is aggravating if the offended party is a relative of a
higher degree of the offender.

c) When the crime is homicide or murder, relationship is aggravating even if the

victim of the crime is a relative of a lower degree.

d) In rape, relationship is aggravating where a stepfather raped his stepdaughter

or in a case where a father raped his own daughter.

3. In crimes against chastity, like acts of lasciviousness (Art. 336), relationship is always
aggravating, regardless of whether the offender is a relative of a higher or lower
degree of the offended party.

When the qualification given to the crime is derived from the relationship between
the offender and the offended party, it is neither mitigating nor aggravating,
because it is inseparable from and inherent in the offense. (e.g. parricide, adultery
and concubinage).

WHEN INTOXICATION MITIGATING AND WHEN AGGRAVATING:

1. Mitigating

i. If intoxication is not habitual, or

ii. If intoxication is not subsequent to the plan to commit a felony.

2. Aggravating

i. If intoxication is habitual, or
ii. If it is intentional (subsequent to the plan to commit a felony).
TO BE ENTITLED TO THE MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF INTOXICATION, IT
MUST BE SHOWN:

1. That at the time of the commission of the criminal act, the accused has taken such
quantity of alcoholic drinks as to blur his reason and deprive him of a certain degree
of control, and
2. That such intoxication is not habitual, or subsequent to the plan to commit the felony.

To be mitigating, the accuseds state of intoxication must be proved. Once

intoxication is established by satisfactory evidence, in the absence of proof
to the contrary, it is presumed to be non-habitual or unintentional.

INSTRUCTION OR EDUCATION
- as an alternative circumstance, does not refer only to literary but more to the
level of intelligence of the accused.
- refers to the lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the full significance of
ones acts.
- Low degree of instruction and education or lack of it is generally mitigating. High
degree of instruction and education is aggravating, when the offender took
advantage of his learning in committing the crime.

GENERAL RULE: Lack of sufficient education is mitigating.

EXCEPTIONS:
 1. Crimes against property (e.g. arson, estafa, theft, robbery)
2. Crimes against chastity, and
3. Treason because love of country should be a natural feeling of every citizen,
however unlettered or uncultured he may be.

ART. 16 WHO ARE CRIMINALLY LIABLE

ART. 16. Who are criminally liable ---- The following are criminally liable
for grave and less grave felonies:

FOR GRAVE AND LESS GRAVE FELONIES

1. Principals
2. Accomplices
3. Accessories

FOR LIGHT FELONIES

1. Principals
2. Accomplices

-----------------------------------

Accessories are not liable for light felonies.

REASON: In the commission of light felonies, the social wrong as well as the
individual prejudice is so small that penal sanction is deemed not necessary for
accessories.

The classification of the offenders as principal, accomplice, or an accessory is

essential under the RPC. The classification maybe applied to special laws only if the
latter provides for the same graduated penalties as those provided under the RPC.

TWO PARTIES IN ALL CRIMES

1. Active subject (the criminal)

Art. 16 enumerates the active subjects of the crime.

2. Passive subject (the injured party)

Is the holder of the injured right: the man, the juristic person, the group, and the
State.

Only natural persons can be the active subject of crime because of the highly
personal nature of the criminal responsibility. (natural persons -- ?)

However, corporation and partnership can be a passive subject of a crime.

39
 Corpses and animals cannot be passive subjects because they have no rights that
may be injured.

EXCEPTION: Under Art. 253, the crime of defamation may be committed if the
imputation tends to blacken the memory of one who is dead.

This article applies only when the offenders are to be judged by their individual, and
not collective, liability.

ART. 17 PRINCIPALS

THE FOLLOWING ARE PRINCIPALS:

1. Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act (PRINCIPAL BY
DIRECT PARTICIPATION)
2. Those who directly force or induce others to commit it (PRINCIPAL BY
INDUCTION)
3. Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act
without which it would not have been accomplished (PRINCIPAL BY
INDISPENSABLE COOPERATION).

-------------

Par. 1 Principals by direct participation

REQUISITES:

1. That they participated in the criminal resolution(planning); and

2. That they carried out their plan and personally took part in its execution by acts
which directly tended to the same end (execution).

MEANING OF personally took part in its execution

That the principal by direct participation must be at the scene of the commission of the
crime, personally taking part in its execution.

Par. 2 Principals by induction

REQUISITES

1. That the inducement be made directly with the intention of procuring the commission
of the crime; and

2. That such inducement be the determining cause of the commission of the crime by
the material executor. (determining cause -- ?)

One cannot be held guilty of having instigated the commission of the crime without
first being shown that the crime was actually committed (or attempted) by
another.

Thus, there can be no principal by inducement (or by indispensable

cooperation) unless there is a principal by direct participation. But there can
be a principal by direct participation without a principal by inducement (or by
indispensable cooperation).
TWO WAYS OF BECOMING PRINCIPAL BY INDUCTION:

1. By directly forcing another to commit a crime by

a) Using irresistible force.

b) Causing uncontrollable fear.

In these cases, there is no conspiracy, not even a unity of criminal

purpose and intention. Only the one using the force or causing the fear is
criminally liable. The material executor is not criminally liable because of
Art. 12, pars. 5 and 6 (exempting circumstances)

2. By directly inducing another to commit a crime by

a) Giving of price, or offering of reward or promise.

The one giving the price or offering the reward or promise is a principal by
inducement while the one committing the crime in consideration thereof is a
principal by direct participation. There is collective criminal responsibility.

b) Using words of command

The person who used the words of command is a principal by inducement

while the person who committed the crime because of the words of command
is a principal by direct participation. There is also collective criminal
responsibility.

The inducement must precede the act induced and must be so influential in
producing the criminal act that without it, the act would not have been performed.

If the person who actually committed the crime had reason of his own to commit the
crime, it cannot be said that the inducement was influential in producing the
criminal act.

PRINCIPAL BY INDUCEMENT OFFENDER WHO MADE PROPOSAL TO

COMMIT A FELONY

In both

There is an inducement to commit a crime

When liable

41
 Becomes liable only when the crime is The mere proposal to commit a felony is
committed by the principal by direct punishable in treason or rebellion.
participation.
However, the person to whom the proposal is
made should not commit the crime,

otherwise, the proponent becomes a principal by

inducement.

What kind of crime involved

Involves any crime The proposal to be punishable must involve only

treason or rebellion.

EFFECTS OF ACQUITTAL OF PRINCIPAL BY DIRECT PARTICIPATION UPON

LIABILITY OF PRINCIPAL BY INDUCEMENT:

1. Conspiracy is negatived by the acquittal of co-defendant.

2. One cannot be held guilty of having instigated the commission of a crime without first
being shown that the crime has been actually committed by another.

But if the one charged as principal by direct participation is acquitted because he

acted without criminal intent or malice, his acquittal is not a ground for the
acquittal of the principal by inducement.

REASON FOR THE RULE: In exempting circumstances, such as when the act is
not voluntary because of lack of intent on the part of the accused, there is a crime
committed, only that the accused is not a criminal.

Par. 3 Principal by indispensable cooperation

REQUISITES:

1. Participation in the criminal resolution, that is, there is either anterior conspiracy or
unity of criminal purpose and intention immediately before the commission of the
crime charged; and

2. Cooperation in the commission of the offense by performing another act, without

which it would not have been accomplished.

MEANING OF cooperation in the commission of the offense

Means to desire or wish in common a thing. But that common will or purpose does not
necessarily mean previous understanding, for it can be explained or inferred from the
circumstances of each case.

If the cooperation is not indispensable, the offender is only an accomplice.

COLLECTIVE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

This is present when the offenders are criminally liable in the same manner and to
the same extent. The penalty to be imposed must be the same for all.
 Principals by direct participation have collective criminal responsibility. Principals by
induction, except those who directly forced another to commit a crime, and principals
by direct participation have collective criminal responsibility. Principals by
indispensable cooperation have collective criminal responsibilities with the principals
by direct participation.

INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

In the absence of any previous conspiracy, unity of criminal purpose and intention
immediately before the commission of the crime, or community of criminal design,
the criminal responsibility arising from different acts directed against one and the
same person is individual and not collective, and each of the participants is liable
only for the act committed by him.

-----------------------

ART. 18 ACCOMPLICES

Accomplices are persons who, not acting as principals, cooperate in the

execution of the offense by previous and simultaneous acts, which are not
indispensable to the commission of the crime. (previous and simultaneous
acts)

-----------------------

They act as mere instruments who perform acts not essential to the perpetration of the
offense.

REQUISITES:

1. That there be community of design; that is, knowing the criminal design of the
principal by direct participation, he concurs with the latter his purpose;

2. That he cooperates in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts,

with the intention of supplying material or moral aid in the execution of the crime in
an efficacious way; and

3. That there be a relation between the acts done by the principal and those attributed
to the person charged as an accomplice.

Before there could be an accomplice, there must be a principal by direct participation.

The person charged as an accomplice should not have inflicted a mortal wound. If he
inflicted a mortal wound, he becomes a principal by direct participation.

In case of doubt, the participation of the offender will be considered that of

an accomplice rather than that of a principal.

-----------------------

ART. 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 (after the commission of the crime) to its
commission in any of the following acts:

43
 -----------------------

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 to prevent its discovery.

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

crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whatever
the author of the crime is guilty 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.

In profiting by the effects of the crime, the accessory must receive the property
from the principal. He should not take it without the consent of the principal. If he
took it without the consent of the principal, he is not an accessory but a principal in
the crime of theft.

TWO CLASSES OF ACCESSORIES CONTEMPLATED IN PAR. 3 OF ART. 19

a) Public officers who harbor, conceal or assist in the escape of the principal of any
crime (not light felony) with abuse of his public functions.

Requisites:

1. The accessory is a public officer.

2. He harbors, conceals, or assists in the escape of the principal.
3. The public officer acts with abuse of his public functions.
4. The crime committed by the principal is any crime, provided it is not a light felony.

b) Private persons who harbor, conceal or assist in the escape of the author of the
crime who is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or attempts against the life of the
President, or who is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.
Requisites:

1. The accessory is a private person.

2. He harbors, conceals or assists in the escape of the author of the crime.

3. The crime committed by the principal is either:

i. Treason,
ii. Parricide,
iii. Murder,
iv. An attempt against the life of the President, or
v. That the principal is known to be habitually guilty of
some other crime.

Where the alleged principal is acquitted, it is neither proper nor possible to convict
the defendant as an accessory. The responsibility of the accessory is subordinate to
that of the principal in a crime.

HOWEVER, conviction of an accessory is possible notwithstanding the acquittal

of the principal, if the crime was in fact committed, but the principal was not held
liable, because of an exempting circumstance (Art. 12), such as insanity or
minority.

Neither the letter nor the spirit of the law requires that the principal be convicted
before one may be punished as an accessory. As long as the corpus delicti is proved
 and the accessorys participation as such is shown, he can be held criminally
responsible and meted out the corresponding penalty (Inovero vs. Coronel, CA, 65
O.G. 3160).

The prescribed acts of the accessory under par. 2 must have been intended to
prevent the discovery of the crime, hence, mere silence does not make one an
accessory. If, however, the crime involved is a conspiracy to commit treason, his
silence may hold him liable for misprision of treason (Art. 116) but as a principal
thereof.

Where the accused misleads the authorities by giving them false information, such
act is equivalent to concealment and he should be held as an accessory.

Anti-Fencing Law of 1979

Pres. Decree 1612

Fencing is an act, with intent to gain, of buying, selling, receiving, possessing, keeping,
or in any other manner dealing in anything of value which a person knows or
should have known to be derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or
theft.

Fence is a person who commits the act of fencing. A fence who receives stolen
property as above-provided is not an accessory but a principal in the crime
defined in and punished by the Anti-Fencing Law.

Mere possession of anything of value which has been the subject of robbery or theft shall
be prima facie (on its face) evidence of fencing.

-------------------------
ART. 20 ACCESSORIES WHO ARE EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABLITY

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.

The exemption provided for in this article is based on the ties of blood and the
preservation of the cleanliness of ones name, which compels one to conceal crimes
committed by relatives so near as those mentioned in this article.

AN ACCESSORY IS EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABLITY WHEN THE PRINCIPAL IS

HIS

1. spouse, or
2. ascendant, or
3. descendant, or
4. legitimate, natural or adopted brother, sister or relative by affinity within the
same degree.

EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY EVEN IF THE PRINCIPAL IS RELATED TO HIM,

IF SUCH ACCESSORY

1. profited by the effects of the crime, or

2. Assisted the offender to profit by the effects of the crime.

REASON: Because such acts are prompted not by affection but by a detestable greed.

45
 Public officer contemplated in par. 3 of Art. 19 is exempt by reason of relationship
to the principal, even if such public officer acted with abuse of his official functions.

REASON: Ties of blood or relationship constitutes a more powerful incentive than the call
of duty.

P.D. 1829 penalizes the act of any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes,
frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution
of criminal cases.

The benefits of the exception in Art. 20 do not apply to PD 1829.

TITILE THREE: PENALTIES

Chapter One: Penalties in General (Arts. 21-24)

Penalty is the suffering that is inflicted by the State for the transgression of the law.

DIFFERENT JURIDICAL CONDITIONS OF PENALTY

1. Must be productive of suffering, without however affecting the integrity of the human
personality.
2. Must be commensurate with the offense different crimes must be punished with
different penalties.
3. Must be personal no one should be punished for the crime of another.
4. Must be legal it is the consequence of a judgment according to law.
5. Must be certain no one may escape its effects.
6. Must be equal for all.
7. Must be correctional.

PURPOSE OF THE STATE IN PUNISHING CRIMES

The State has an existence of its own to maintain, a conscience to assert, and moral
principles to be vindicated. Penal justice must therefore be exercised by the State in the
service and satisfaction of a duty, and rests primarily on the moral rightfulness of the
punishment inflicted.

The basis of the right to punish violations of penal law is the police power of the
State.

THEORIES JUSTIFYING PENALTY:

1. Prevention to prevent or suppress the danger to the State arising from the criminal
act of the offender.

2. Self-defense so as to protect society from the threat and wrong inflicted by the
criminal.

3. Reformation the object of punishment in criminal cases is to correct and reform

the offender.

4. Exemplarity the criminal is punished to serve as an example to deter others from

committing crimes.
5. Justice that crime must be punished by the State as an act of retributive justice, a
vindication of absolute right and moral law violated by the criminal.

THREE-FOLD PURPOSE OF PENALTY UNDER THE CODE:

1. Retribution or expiation the penalty is commensurate with the gravity of the

offense.
2. Correction or reformation shown by the rules which regulate the execution of the
penalties consisting in deprivation of liberty.
3. Social defense shown by its inflexible severity to recidivists and habitual
delinquents.
ART. 21 PENALTIES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED

No felony shall be punishable only by the penalty prescribed by law at

the time of its commission.

---------------------

It is a guaranty to the citizen of this country that no acts of his, will be considered
criminal until the Government has made it so by law and has provided a penalty.

REASON: Because a law cannot be rationally obeyed unless it is first shown, and a man
cannot be expected to obey an order that has not been given.

ART. 22 RETROACTIVE EFFECT OF PENAL LAWS

Penal laws shall have a retroactive effect insofar as they favor the persons
guilty of felony, who is not habitual criminal, as this term is defined in rule 5 of
article 62 of this code, although at the time of the publication of such laws a
final sentence has been pronounced and the convict is serving the same.

-----------------------------------

GENERAL RULE: Penal laws are applied prospectively.

EXCEPTION: When retrospective will be favorable to the person guilty of a felony;

Provided that:

1. The offender is NOT a habitual criminal (delinquent) under Art. 62(5);

2. The new or amendatory law does NOT provide against its retrospective application.

Habitual delinquent a person who, within a period of ten years from the date of his
release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries,
robbery, theft, estafa, or falsification, is found guilty of any said crimes a third time or
oftener.

EX POST FACTO LAW

An act which when committed was not a crime, cannot be made so by statute without
violating the constitutional inhibition as to ex post facto laws. An ex post facto law is one
which:

1. Makes criminal an act done before the passage of the law and which was innocent
when done;
2. Aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when committed;

47
3. Changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to
the crime when committed;
4. Alters the legal rules of evidence, and authorizes conviction upon a less or different
testimony than the law required at the time of the commission of the offense;
5. Assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only, in effect imposing a penalty or
deprivation of a right for something which when done was lawful; and
6. Deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has
become entitled, such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a
proclamation of amnesty.

If retroactive effect of a new law is justified, it shall apply to the defendant even if he
is:

1. presently on trial for the offense;

2. has already been sentenced but service of which has not begun; or
3. already serving sentence

The retroactive effect of criminal statutes does not apply to the culprits civil liability.

REASON: The rights of offended persons or innocent third parties are not within the
gift of arbitrary disposal of the State.

The provisions of Art. 22 are applicable even to special laws which provide more
favorable conditions to the accused.

Criminal liability under the repealed law subsists:

1. When the provisions of the former law are reenacted; or

The right to punish offenses committed under an old penal law is not extinguished
if the offenses are still punishable in the repealing penal law.

2. When the repeal is by implication; or

When a penal law, which impliedly repealed an old law, is itself repealed, the
repeal of the repealing law revives the prior penal law, unless the language of the
repealing statute provides otherwise.

If the repeal is absolute, criminal liability is obliterated.

3. When there is a saving clause.

ART. 23- EFFECT OF PARDON BY THE OFFENDED PARTY

A pardon by the offended party does not extinguish criminal action except as
provided in article 344 of this code; but civil liability with regard to the interest
of the injured party is extinguished by his express waiver.

--------------------------

GENERAL RULE Pardon by the offended party does not extinguish the criminal liability
of the offender.

REASON: A crime committed is an offense against the State. Only the Chief Executive
can pardon the offenders.

EXCEPTION - Pardon by the offended party will bar criminal prosecution in the following
crimes:
Adultery and Concubinage (Art. 344, RPC)

EXPRESS or IMPLIED pardon must be given by offended party to BOTH

offenders.

- Pardon must be given PRIOR to institution of criminal action.

Seduction, Abduction, Acts of Lasciviousness (Art. 344, RPC)

EXPRESS pardon given by offended party or her parents or grandparents or

guardian

- Pardon must be given PRIOR to the institution of the criminal action. However,
marriage between the offender and the offended party EVEN AFTER the institution of the
criminal action or conviction of the offender will extinguish the criminal action or remit
the penalty already imposed against the offender, his co-principals, accomplices and
accessories after the fact.

Rape (as amended by R.A. 8353)

- The subsequent valid marriage between the offender and the offended party
shall extinguish criminal liability or the penalty imposed. In case the legal husband is the
offender, subsequent forgiveness by the wife as offended party shall also produce the
same effect.

Pardon by the offended party under Art. 344 is ONLY A BAR to criminal prosecution; it
is NOT a ground for extinguishment of criminal liability.

Nevertheless, civil liability may be extinguished by the EXRESS WAIVER of the

offended party.

AN OFFENSE CAUSES
TWO CLASSES OF INJURIES:

SOCIAL INJURY PERSONAL INJURY

Produced by the disturbance and alarm which Caused to the victim of the crime who suffered
are the outcome of the offense. damage either to his person, to his property, to
his honor or to her chastity.

Is sought to be repaired through the Is repaired through indemnity.

imposition of the corresponding penalty.

The offended party cannot pardon the The offended party may waive the indemnity and
offender so as to relieve him of the penalty. the State has no reason to insist in its payment.

ART. 24 MEASURES OF PREVENTION OR SAFETY WHICH ARE NOT CONSIDERED

PENALTIES

THE FOLLOWING ARE NOT CONSIDERED AS PENALTIES:

1. The arrest and temporary detention of accused persons,

as well as their detention by reason of insanity or

49
 imbecility, or illness requiring their confinement in a
hospital.
2. The commitment of a minor to any of the institutions
mentioned in Art. 80 (now Art. 192, PD No. 603) and for
the purposes specified therein.
3. Suspension from the employment or public office during
the trial or in order to institute proceedings.
4. Fines and other corrective measures which, in the
exercise of their administrative or disciplinary powers,
superior officials may impose upon their subordinates.
5. Deprivation of rights and the reparations which the civil
law may establish in penal form.

--------------------------------

Reasons why they are not penalties:

1. Because they are not imposed as a result of judicial proceedings. Those mentioned in
paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 are merely preventive measures before conviction of offenders.

2. The offender is not subjected to or made to suffer these measures in expiation of or

as punishment for a crime.

Par. 1 does not refer to the confinement of an insane or imbecile who has not been
arrested for a crime. It refers to accused persons who are detained by reason of
insanity or imbecility.

Paragraphs 3 and 4 refer to administrative suspension and administrative fines and

not to suspension or fine as penalties for violations of the RPC.

The deprivations of rights established in penal form by the civil laws is illustrated in
the case of parents who are deprived of their parental authority if found guilty of the
crime of corruption of their minor children, in accordance with Art. 332 of the Civil
Code.

Where a minor offender was committed to a reformatory pursuant to Art. 80 (now, PD

603), and while thus detained he commits a crime therein, he cannot be considered a
quasi-recidivist since his detention was only a preventive measure, whereas a quasi-
recidivism presupposes the commission of a crime during the service of the penalty
for a previous crime.

Classification of Penalties (Arts. 25-26)

ART. 25 PENALTIES WHICH MAY BE IMPOSED

--- The penalties which may be imposed according to this code, and their
different classes, are those included in the following;

Capital punishment:
Death

Afflictive penalties:
Reclusion perpetua,
Reclusion temporal,
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification,
 Prision mayor.

Correctional penalties:
Prision Correctional,
Arresto mayor,
Suspension,
Destierro.

Light penalties:
Arresto menor
Public censure.

Penalties common to the three preceding classes:

Fine, and
Bond to keep the peace.

ACCESSORIES PENALTIES
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification
Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for,
the profession or calling.

Civil interdiction,
Indemnification,
Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and proceeds of the offense.
Payment of costs.

The scale in Art. 25 is only a general classification of penalties based on their

severity, nature and subject matter.

The scale of penalties in Art. 70 is provided for successive service of sentences

imposed on the same accused, in consideration of their severity and natures.

The scales in Art. 71 are for the purpose of graduating the penalties by degrees in
accordance with the rules in Art. 61.

CLASSIFICATION OF PENALTIES UNDER ARTICLE 25:

a) Based on their severity or gravity

1. Capital,
2. Afflictive,
3. Correctional,
4. Light
This classification corresponds to the classification of felonies in Art. 9, into grave,
less grave and light.

b) Based on their nature

1. Principal penalties those expressly imposed by the court in the judgment of

conviction. May be further classified based on divisibility

i. Divisible are those that have fixed duration and are divisible into three
periods.

ii. Indivisible are those which have no fixed duration. These are:

1) Death
2) Reclusin perpetua

51
 3) Perpetual absolute or special disqualification
4) Public censure

2. Accessory penalties are those that are deemed included in the principal
penalties.

c) Based on subject matter

1. Corporal (Death).
2. Deprivation of freedom (Reclusion, Prision, Arresto).
3. Restriction of freedom (Destierro).
4. Deprivation of rights (Disqualification and Suspension).
5. Pecuniary (Fine).

Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification, perpetual or temporary special

disqualification, and suspension may be principal or accessory penalties.

EXAMPLES:
I. Perpetual absolute disqualification is a principal penalty in prevaricacion (Art.
204) and perpetual special disqualification, in malversation (Art. 217).
II. Temporary absolute disqualification is a principal penalty when the accessory
acts with abuse of public functions (Art, 19[3] and Art. 58) and temporary
special disqualification, in direct bribery (Art. 206).
III. Suspension is a principal penalty in rendition of unjust interlocutory orders (Art.
206).

Bond to keep the peace is imposed only in the crime of threats (Art. 284), either
grave (Art. 282) or light (Art. 283).
ART. 26 FINE WHEN AFFLICTIVE, CORRECTIONAL OR LIGHT PENALTY

--- A fine whether imposed as a single or as an alternative penalty, shall be

considered an afflictive penalty, if it exceeds 6,000 pesos, a correctional
penalty, if it does not exceeds 6,000 pesos but is not less than 200 pesos; and
a light penalty if it be less than 200 pesos.

FINE IS:

1. Afflictive over P6,000.00

2. Correctional P200.00 to P6,000.00
3. Light penalty less than P200.00

Same basis may be applied to Bond to keep the peace by analogy.

This article determines the classification of a fine whether imposed as a single or as

an alternative penalty for a crime.

The rule herein does not apply where the fine involved is in a compound penalty, that
is, it is imposed in conjunction with another penalty.

Where the fine in question is exactly P200, under Art. 9 it is a light felony, hence the
felony involved is a light felony; whereas under Art. 26, it is a correctional penalty,
hence the offense involved is a less grave felony. It has been held that this
discrepancy should be resolved liberally in favor of the accused, hence Art. 9 prevails
over Art. 26 (People vs. Yu Hai, 99 Phil. 725)

HOWEVER, according to Justice Regalado there is no such discrepancy. What is

really in issue is the prescription of the offense vis-a-vis the prescription of the
 penalty, the former being the forfeiture of the right of the State to prosecute the
offender and the latter being the loss of its power to enforce the judgment against
the convict.

Duration and Effects of Penalties (Arts. 27-45)

ART. 27 DURATION OF EACH DIFFERENT PENALTIES

-The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be from twenty years and one day to
forty years.

1. Reclusin Perpetua 20 yrs. and 1 day to 40 yrs.

2. Reclusin Temporal 12 yrs. and 1 day to 20 yrs.
3. Prisin Mayor and Temporary Disqualification 6 yrs. and 1 day to 12
yrs., except when disqualification is an accessory penalty, in which case its
duration is that of the principal penalty.
4. Prisin Correccional, Suspensin, and destierro 6 mos. and 1 day to 6
yrs., except when suspensin is an accessory penalty, in which case its
duration is that of the principal penalty.
5. Arresto mayor 1 mo. And 1 day to 6 mos.
6. Arresto menor 1 day to 30 days
7. Bond to keep the peace the period during which the bond shall be
effective is discretionary on the court.

Destierro is a principal, correctional and divisible penalty.

In what cases is destierro imposed?

1. Serious physical injuries or death under exceptional circumstances. (Art. 247)
2. In case of failure to give bond for good behavior. (Art. 284)
3. As a penalty for the concubine in concubinage. (Art. 334)
4. In cases where after reducing the penalty by one or more degrees, destierro is the
proper penalty.

ART. 28 COMPUTATION OF PENALTIES

---If the offender shall be in prison, the term of the duration of the temporary
penalties shall be computed from the day on which the judgment of conviction
shall have become final.

If the offender be not in prison, the term of the duration of the penalty
consisting of deprivation of liberty shall be computed from the day that the
offender is placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities for the
enforcement of the penalty. The duration of the other penalties shall be

53
computed only from the day on which the defendant commences to serve his
sentence.

1. When the offender is in prison the duration of temporary penalties is from the day
on which the judgment of conviction becomes final.
2. When the offender is not in prison the duration of penalties consisting in deprivation
of liberty, is from the day that the offender is placed at the disposal of judicial
authorities for the enforcement of the penalty.
3. The duration of other penalties the duration is from the day on which the offender
commences to serve his sentence.
-----------------------------

ART. 29 PERIOD OF PREVENTIVE IMPRISONMENT DEDUCTED FROM TERM OF

IMPRISONMENT

--- Offenders who have undergone preventive imprisonments shall be credited

in the services of their sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty, with the
full time during which they have undergone preventive imprisonment, if the
detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing to abide by the same
disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, except in the following
cases:

1. When they are recidivists, or have been convicted previously twice or more times
of any crime ; and
2. When upon being summoned for the execution of their sentence they have failed
to surrender voluntarily.
If the detention prisoners does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary rules
imposed upon convicted prisoners, he shall be credited in the service of his
sentence with fourth-fifths of the time during which he has undergone preventive
imprisonments. (As amended by Republic Act 6127, June 17, 1970)
Whenever an accused has undergone preventive imprisonment for a period equal
or more than be possible maximum imprisonment of the offence charged to which
he may b sentenced and his case is not yet terminated, he shall be released
immediately without prejudice to the continuation of the trial thereof or the
proceeding on appeal, if the same is under review. In case the maximum penalty
to which the accused may be sentenced is destierro, he shall be released after
thirty(30) days preventive imprisonment.
Preventive imprisonment is the period of detention undergone by an accused where
the crime with which he is charged is non-bailable or, even if bailable, he is unable to
post the requisite bail.

These rules on preventive imprisonment apply to all sentences

regardless of the duration thereof, including the so-called perpetual
penalties as long as they involve deprivation of liberty. It applies to
destierro.

When is the detention prisoner entitled to the full credit of his preventive
imprisonment?

If the detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing to abide by the same disciplinary
rules imposed upon convicted prisoners.

When will he be credited only with four-fifths the time during which he has
undergone preventive imprisonment?

If the detention prisoner does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed
upon convicted prisoners.
 In the case of a youthful offender who has been proceeded against
under the Child and Youth Welfare Code, he shall be credited in the
service of his sentence with the full time of his actual detention,
whether or not he agreed to abide by the same disciplinary rules of
the institution.

The following offenders are not entitled to be credited with the full time or
four-fifths of the time of preventive imprisonment:

1. Recidivists or those convicted previously twice or more times of any crime.

2. Those who, upon being summoned for the execution of their sentence, failed to
surrender voluntarily.

Habitual delinquents are included in No. 1.

No. 2 refers to convicts who failed to voluntarily surrender to serve

their penalties under a final judgment, since this is indicative of a
greater defiance of authority. It does not refer to failure or refusal to
voluntarily surrender after the commission of the crime.

Effects of the penalties according to their respective nature.

A plebiscite is not mentioned or contemplated in Art.30, par. 2 (deprivation of the

right to vote), hence, the offender may vote in that exercise, subject to the provisions
of pertinent election laws at the time.

Perpetual absolute disqualification is effective during the lifetime of the convict and
even after the service of the sentence.

Temporary absolute disqualification lasts during the term of the sentence, and is
removed after the service of the same, EXCEPT:

1) Deprivation of the public office or employment, and

2) Loss of all rights to retirement pay or other pension for any office formerly held.

Bond to keep the peace is different from bail bond which is posted for the provisional
release of a person arrested for or accused of a crime.

CIVIL INTERDICTION IN ART. 34 IS IMPOSED WHEN THE PENALTY IS:

1. Death which is not carried out,

2. Reclusin perpetua,or

3. Reclusin temporal

ART. 36 PARDON; ITS EFFECTS

55
 --A pardon shall not work the restoration of the right to hold public office, or
the right suffrage, unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of the
pardon.

A pardon shall in no case exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil
indemnity imposed upon him by the sentence.

EFFECTS OF PARDON BY THE PRESIDENT

1. A pardon shall not restore the right to hold public office or the right of suffrage.

EXCEPTION: When any or both such rights is/are expressly restored by the terms of
the pardon.

2. It shall not exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil liability.

LIMITATIONS UPON THE EXERCISE OF THE PARDONING POWER:

1. That the power can be exercised only after conviction by final judgment;

2. That such power does not extend to cases of impeachment.

GENERAL RULE: When the principal penalty is remitted by pardon, only the effect of
that principal penalty is extinguished, but not the accessory penalties attached to it.

EXCEPTION: When an absolute pardon is granted after the term of imprisonment has
expired, it removes what is left of the consequences of conviction.

PARDON BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE PARDON BY OFFENDED PARTY (ART. 23)

(ART. 36)
As to the crime covered
Can extend to any crime, unless otherwise Applies only to crimes against chastity under
provided by or subject to conditions in the the RPC.
Constitution or the laws.

As to extinguishment of criminal liability

Extinguishes criminal liability. Does not extinguish criminal liability although it
may constitute a bar to the prosecution of the
offender.

At to the effect on civil liability

Cannot affect the civil liability ex delicto of The offended party can waive the civil liability.
the offender.

When granted
Can be extended only after conviction by Can be validly granted only before the
final judgment of the accused. institution of the criminal action.

To whom granted
To any or all of the accused In adultery and concubinage, must include both
offenders.
As to whether it can be conditional
May be absolute or conditional Cannot validly be made subject to a condition.

ART. 37 COSTS
----What are included. Costs shall include fees and indemnities in the course of
the judicial proceedings, whether they be fixed or unalterable amounts
previously determined by law or regulations in force, or amounts not subject to
schedule.

Costs or costs of suit are the expenses of litigation allowed and regulated by the
Rules of Court to be assessed against or to be recovered by a party in litigation.

THE FOLLOWING ARE INCLUDED IN COSTS:

1. Fees, and
2. Indemnities, in the course of judicial proceedings.

Are chargeable to the accused only in cases of conviction. In case of acquittal, the
costs are de officio, meaning each party bearing his own expenses.

The payment of costs is a matter that rests entirely upon the discretion of courts.

ART. 38 - PECUNIARY LIABILITIES

---Order of payment--- in case the property of the offender should not be

sufficient for the payment of all his pecuniary liabilities, the same shall be met
in the following order:

1. The reparation of the damage caused

2. Indemnification of the consequential damages
3. Fine
4. Costs of proceedings.

When is Art.38 applicable?

In case the property of the offender should not be sufficient for the payment of all his
pecuniary liabilities.

ART. 39 SUBSIDIARY PENALTY

---If the convict has no property with which to meet the fine mentioned in
paragraph 3 of the next preceding article, he shall be subject to a subsidiary
personal liability at the rate of one day for each eight pesos, subject to the
following:

Subsidiary penalty it is a subsidiary personal liability to be suffered by the convict

who has no property with which to meet the fine, at the rate of one day for each eight
pesos (P8.00), subject to the rules provided for in Art. 39.

Subsidiary penalty shall be proper only if the accused has no property with which to
pay the fine, and not as a matter of choice on his part by opting to go to jail instead
of paying.

Subsidiary penalty is not an accessory penalty, hence it must be specifically imposed

by the court in its judgment, otherwise, the accused cannot be made to serve the
corresponding subsidiary imprisonment.

New law prescribes current minimum wage in Metro Manila on time of conviction
instead of 8 pesos.

57
RULES AS TO SUBSIDIARY PENALTY

1. If the penalty imposed is prisin correccional or arresto and fine subsidiary

imprisonment is not to exceed 1/3 of the term of the sentence, and in no case to
continue for more than one year. Fraction or part of a day, not counted.

2. When the penalty imposed is fine only subsidiary imprisonment

a) not to exceed 6 months if the culprit is prosecuted for grave or less grave felony,
and

b) not to exceed 15 days if prosecuted for light felony.

3. When the penalty imposed is higher than prisin correccional no subsidiary

imprisonment.

4. If the penalty imposed is not to be executed by confinement, but of fixed duration

subsidiary penalty shall consist in the same deprivations as those of the principal
penalty, under the same rules as nos. 1, 2 and 3 above.

5. In case the financial circumstances of the convict should improve, he shall pay the
fine, notwithstanding the fact that the convict suffered subsidiary personal liability
therefor.

When the penalty prescribed for the offense is imprisonment, it is the penalty actually
imposed by the Court, not the penalty provided for by the Code, which should be
considered in determining whether or not subsidiary penalty should be imposed.

NO SUBSIDIARY PENALTY SHALL BE IMPOSED WHERE:

1. The penalty imposed is higher than prisin correccional or 6 years,

Additional penalty for habitual delinquency should be included in determining

whether or not subsidiary penalty should be imposed.

2. For non-payment of reparation or indemnification,

3. For non-payment of costs, and

4. Where the penalty imposed is a fine and another penalty without fixed duration, like
censure.

The rules on subsidiary penalty in Art. 39 are applicable to crimes punishable by

special laws by force of Art. 10 of the Code.

Penalties in which other accessory penalties are inherent

OUTLINE OF ACCESSORY PENALTIES INHERENT IN PRINCIPAL PENALTIES

1. Death, when not executed by reason of commutation or pardon

i. Perpetual absolute disqualification, and

ii. Civil interdiction during 30 years, if not expressly remitted in the pardon.
2. Reclusin Perpetua and Reclusin Temporal

i. Civil interdiction for life or during the sentence, and

ii. Perpetual absolute disqualification, unless expressly remitted in the pardon of the
principal penalty.

3. Prisin Mayor

i. Temporary absolute disqualification, and

ii. Perpetual special disqualification from suffrage, unless expressly remitted in the
pardon of the principal penalty.

4. Prisin correccional

i. Suspension from public office, profession or calling, and

ii. Perpetual special disqualification from suffrage, if the duration of imprisonment

exceeds 18 months, unless expressly remitted in the pardon of the principal
penalty.

There is perpetual special disqualification from suffrage, only when the duration
of the imprisonment exceeds 18 months.

5. Arresto suspension of the right to hold office and the right of suffrage during the
term of the sentence.

The Code does not provide for any accessory penalty for destierro.

RECLUSION PERPETUA LIFE IMPRISONMENT

Has a specific duration of 20 years and 1 day

to 40 years and accessory penalties. Has no definite term or accessory penalties.

Imposable on felonies punished by the RPC. Imposable on crimes punishable by special laws.

ART. 45 CONFISCATION AND FORFEITURE OF THE PROCEEDS OF THE CRIME

---- Every penalty imposed for the commission of a felony shall carry with it the
forfeiture of the proceeds of the crime and the instruments tools with which it
was committed.

Such proceeds and instruments or tools shall be confiscated and forfeited in

favor of the Government unless they be property of a third person not liable
for the offense, but those articles which are not subject of lawful commerce
shall be destroyed.

OUTLINE OF THE PROVISION OF THIS ARTICLE

59
1. Every penalty imposed carries with it the forfeiture of the proceeds of the crime and
the instruments or tools used in the commission of the crime.
2. The proceeds and instruments or tools of the crime are confiscated and forfeited in
favor of the Government.
3. Property of a third person not liable for the offense, is not subject to confiscation and
forfeiture.
4. Property not subject of lawful commerce (whether it belongs to the accused or to
third person) shall be destroyed.

The confiscation and forfeiture of the proceeds and instruments of a crime is an

accessory penalty.

The provisions of Art. 45 cannot apply when

1. The instruments belong to innocent third parties,
2. Such properties have not been placed under the jurisdiction of the court, and
3. When it is legally or physically impossible.

This accessory penalty presupposes a judgment of conviction. However, even if the

accused is acquitted on reasonable doubt, but the instruments or proceeds are
contraband, the judgment of acquittal shall order their forfeiture for appropriate
disposition.

ART. 46. PENALTY TO BE IMPOSED UPON PRINCIPALS IN GENERAL

Article 46. Penalty to be imposed upon principals in general. - The penalty

prescribed by law for the commission of a felony shall be imposed upon the
principals in the commission of such felony.(Read also Arts. 50 -51)
Whenever the law prescribes a penalty for a felony in general terms, it shall be
understood as applicable to the consummated felony.

GENERAL RULE: The penalty prescribed by law in general terms shall be imposed upon
the principals for a consummated felony.

EXCEPT: When the penalty to be imposed upon the principal in frustrated or attempted
felony is fixed by law.

GRADUATION OF PENALTIES
1. BY DEGREES refers to
a) the stages of execution (consummated, frustrated, or attempted);
and
b) the degree of the criminal participation of the offender (whether as
principal, accomplice or accessory).
2. BY PERIODS refers to the proper period of the penalty which should be imposed
when aggravating or mitigating circumstances attend the commission of the crime.
------------------
ART. 47 CASES WHEREIN THE DEATH PENALTY SHALL NOT BE IMPOSED

Article 47. In what cases the death penalty shall not be imposed; Automatic
review of death penalty cases. - The death penalty shall be imposed in all
cases in which it must be imposed under existing laws, except when the guilty
person is below eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the commission of
the crime or is more than seventy years of age or when upon appeal or
automatic review of the case by the Supreme Court, the required majority vote
is not obtained for the imposition of the death penalty, in which cases the
penalty shall be reclusion perpetua.
In all cases where the death penalty is imposed by the trial court, the records
shall be forwarded to the Supreme Court for automatic review and judgment
by the court en banc, within twenty (20) days but not earlier than fifteen (15)
days after the promulgation of the judgment or notice of denial of any motion
for new trial or reconsideration. The transcript shall also be forwarded within
ten (10) days after the filing thereof by the stenographic reporter. (As
amended by Section 22, Republic Act No. 7659.)
1. UNDER AGE. When the offender is below 18 years of age at the time of the
commission of the crime.
2. OVER AGE. When the guilty person is more than seventy (70) years of age.
3. NO COURT MAJORITY. When upon appeal or automatic review of the case by the
Supreme Court, the vote of eight members is not obtained for the imposition of the
death penalty.

Automatic review is available only in cases where death penalty is imposed (R.A.
7659).

CRIMES PUNISHABLE BY DEATH UNDER THE DEATH PENALTY LAW (RA 7659)

1. Treason
2. Qualified Piracy
3. Qualified Bribery
4. Parricide
5. Murder
6. Infanticide
7. Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention
8. Robbery with Homicide, Rape, Intentional Mutilation, or Arson
9. Rape with the use of a deadly weapon, or by two or more persons
- where the victim became insane
- with Homicide
10. Qualified Rape
11. Destructive Arson
12. Plunder
13. Violation of certain provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act
14. Carnapping

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 ART. 48 COMPLEX CRIMES
Article 48. Penalty for complex crimes. - When a single act constitutes two or
more grave or less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for
committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed,
the same to be applied in its maximum period.(As amended by Act No. 4000.)
CONCEPT:
1. In complex crime, although 2 or more crimes are actually committed, they constitute
only one crime in the eyes of the law as well as in the conscience of the offender.
2. The offender has only one criminal intent, hence there is only one penalty imposed
for the commission of a complex crime.

TWO KINDS OF COMPLEX CRIMES:

1. COMPOUND CRIME (delito compuesto) a single act constitutes 2 or more grave
or less grave felonies.
REQUISITES:
1. That only a single act is performed by the offender;
2. That the single act produces: (1) two or more grave felonies, or (2) one or
more grave and one or more less grave felonies.
2. COMPLEX CRIME PROPER (delito complejo) an offense is a necessary means
for committing the other.
REQUISITES:
1. That at least two offenses are committed;
2. That one or some of the offenses must be necessary to commit the other;
3. That both or all of the offenses must be punished under the same statute.
NO COMPLEX CRIME IN THE FOLLOWING CASES
1. In case of continuing crimes
2. When one offense is committed to conceal the other.
3. When the other crime is an indispensable part or an element of the other offenses.
4. Where one of the offenses is penalized by a special law.
Art. 48 does not apply when the law provides one single penalty for special
complex crime. These include
Robbery with Homicide
Robbery with Rape
Rape with Homicide
Kidnapping with Serious Physical Injuries
Kidnapping with Homicide or Murder

The penalty for complex crime is the penalty for the most serious crime, the same to
be applied in its maximum period.

If different crimes resulting from one single act are punished with the same penalty,
the penalty for any one of them shall be imposed, the same to be applied in the
maximum period.

Art. 48 applies to crimes through negligence. E.g.: offender found guilty of a complex
crime of homicide with less serious physical injuries through reckless imprudence.

When 2 felonies constituting a complex crime are punishable by imprisonment and

fine, respectively, only the penalty of imprisonment should be imposed. REASON: fine
is not included in the list of penalties in the order of severity, and it is the last in the
graduated scales in Art. 71 of the RPC.

Plurality of Crimes- consists in the successive execution, by the same individual, of

different criminal acts, upon any of which no conviction has yet been declared.

KINDS:
1. FORMAL OR IDEAL PLURALITY- only ONE CRIMINAL LIABILITY.
 THREE GROUPS UNDER THE FORMAL TYPE:
a) When the offender commits any of the complex crimes in ART 48.
b) When the law specifically fixes a single penalty for two or more offenses
committed.
c) When the offender commits continuing crimes.
2. REAL OR MATERIAL PLURALITY - DIFFERENT CRIMES in law, as well as in the
conscience of the offender; the offender shall be PUNISHED FOR EACH and every
offense that he committed.
CONTINUING CRIME is a single crime, consisting of a series of acts, but all arising
from ONE CRIMINAL RESOLUTION; length of time in the commission is immaterial.

REAL OR MATERIAL PLURALITY CONTINUED CRIME

1. There is a series of acts performed by the
offender
2. Each act performed by the offender
constitutes a separate crime, each act is
generated by a criminal impulse
1. There is a series of acts performed by the
offender
2. The different acts constitute only one crime,
all of the acts performed arise from one
criminal resolution

ART. 49 PENALTY TO BE IMPOSED UPON THE PRINCIPALS WHEN THE CRIME

COMMITTED IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT INTENDED

RULES:
1. If the penalty for the felony committed be higher than the penalty for the offense
which the accused intended to commit, the lower penalty shall be imposed in its
maximum period.
2. If the penalty for the felony committed be lower than the penalty for the offense
which the accused intended to commit, the lower penalty shall be imposed in its
maximum period.
3. If the act committed also constitutes an attempt or frustration of another crime, and
the law prescribes a higher penalty for either of the latter, the penalty for the
attempted or frustrated crime shall be imposed in its maximum period.

Article 49. Penalty to be imposed upon the principals when the crime
committed is different from that intended. - In cases in which the felony
committed is different from that which the offender intended to commit, the
following rules shall be observed:
1. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be higher than that
corresponding to the offense which the accused intended to commit, the
penalty corresponding to the latter shall be imposed in its maximum
period.
2. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be lower than that
corresponding to the one which the accused intended to commit, the
penalty for the former shall be imposed in its maximum period.
3. The rule established by the next preceding paragraph shall not be
applicable if the acts committed by the guilty person shall also
constitute an attempt or frustration of another crime, if the law
prescribes a higher penalty for either of the latter offenses, in which
case the penalty provided for the attempted or the frustrated crime
shall be imposed in its maximum period.(Read also Arts. 61, 62, and 65)
-------------------------------
Article 50. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of a frustrated crime. - The
penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the consummated
felony shall be imposed upon the principal in a frustrated felony.
Article 51. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of attempted crimes. - The
penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the
consummated felony shall be imposed upon the principals in an attempt to
commit a felony.

63
Article 52. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in a consummated crime. -
The penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the
consummated felony shall be imposed upon the accomplices in the commission
of a consummated felony.
Article 53. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories to the commission of a
consummated felony. - The penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed
by law for the consummated felony shall be imposed upon the accessories to
the commission of a consummated felony.
Article 54. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in a frustrated crime. - The
penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the frustrated
felony shall be imposed upon the accessories in the commission of a frustrated
felony.
Article 55. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories of a frustrated crime. - The
penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the frustrated
felony shall be imposed upon the accessories to the commission of a frustrated
felony.
Article 56. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in an attempted crime. -
The penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for an attempt to
commit a felony shall be imposed upon the accomplices in an attempt to
commit the felony.
Article 57. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories of an attempted crime. -
The penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the attempt
shall be imposed upon the accessories to the attempt to commit a felony.

According to Arts. 50-57, the penalty prescribed by law for the felony shall be lowered by
one or two degrees, as follows:
1. For the principal in frustrated felony one degree lower;
2. For the principal in attempted felony two degrees lower;
3. For the accomplice in consummated felony one degree lower;
4. For the accessory in consummated felony two degrees lower;

DIAGRAM OF THE APPLICATION OF ARTS. 50- 57:

CONSUMMATED FRUSTRATED ATTEMPTED

Principal 0 1 2
Accomplice 1 2 3
Accessory/ies 2 3 4
In this diagram, 0 represents the penalty prescribed by law in defining a crime, which
is to be imposed on the principal in a consummated offense, in accordance with the
provisions of Art. 64. The other figures represent the degrees to which the penalty must
be lowered, to meet the different situations anticipated by law.

BASIS FOR THE IMPOSITION OF PROPER PENALTY

1. Social danger; and
2. Degree of criminality shown by the offender

Article 58. Additional penalty to be imposed upon certain accessories. - Those

accessories falling within the terms of paragraph 3 of article 19 of this Code
who should act with abuse of their public functions, shall suffer the additional
penalty of absolute perpetual disqualification if the principal offender shall be
guilty of a grave felony, and that of absolute temporary disqualification if he
shall be guilty of a less grave felony.

------------------------

ART. 59. PENALTY TO BE IMPOSED IN CASE OF FAILURE TO COMMIT THE CRIME

BECAUSE THE MEANS EMPLOYED OR THE AIMS SOUGHT ARE IMPOSSIBLE
The penalty for Impossible Crime is Arresto Mayor (imprisonment of 1 month and 1
day to 6 months) or fine ranging from 200-500pesos.

ART. 61. RULES OF GRADUATING PENALTIES

------------------------------

ART. 62. EFFECTS OF THE ATTENDANCE OF MITIGATING OR AGGRAVATING

CIRCUMSTANCES AND OF HABITUAL DELIQUENCY

EFFECTS:
1. Aggravating circumstances (generic and specific) have the effect of increasing the
penalty, without however exceeding the maximum period provided by law.
2. Mitigating circumstances have the effect of diminishing the penalty.
3. Habitual delinquency has the effect, not only of increasing the penalty because of
recidivism which is generally implied in habitual delinquency, but also of imposing an
additional penalty.

REQUISITES OF HABITUAL DELIQUENCY:

1. That the offender had been convicted of any of the crimes of serious or less serious
physical injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification.
2. That after conviction or after serving his sentence, he again committed, and, within
10 years from his last release of first conviction, he was again convicted of any of the
said crimes for the second time.
3. That after his conviction of, or after serving sentence for the second offense, he again
committed, and, within 10 years from his last release or last conviction, he was again
convicted of any of said offenses, the third time or oftener.

Habituality distinguished from recidivism

HABITUAL RECIDIVISM
DELIQUENCY
As to the CRIMES committed
The crimes are specified It is sufficient that the accused on the date of
his trial, shall have been previously convicted
by final judgment of another crime embraced
in the same title.

As to the PERIOD of time the crimes are committed

The offender is found guilty within ten years No period of time between the former
from his last release or last conviction. conviction and the last conviction.

As to the NUMBER of crimes committed

The accused must be found guilty the third The second offense is for an offense found in
time or oftener of the crimes specified. the same title.

As to their EFFECTS
An additional penalty is also imposed If not offset by a mitigating circumstance,
serves to increase the penalty only to the
maximum

ART. 63 RULES FOR THE APPLICATION OF INDIVISIBLE PENALTIES

OUTLINE OF THE RULES:
1. When the penalty is single indivisible, it shall be applied regardless of any mitigating
(except if privilege mitigating) or aggravating circumstances.

65
2. When the penalty is composed of two indivisible penalties, the following rules shall be
observed:
a) When there is only one aggravating circumstance, the greater penalty shall be
imposed.
b) When there is neither mitigating nor aggravating circumstances, the lesser
penalty shall be imposed.
c) When there is a mitigating circumstance and no aggravating circumstance, the
lesser penalty shall be imposed.
d) When both mitigating and aggravating circumstances are present, the court shall
allow them to offset one another.
ART. 64 RULES FOR THE APPLICATION OF PENALTIES, WHICH CONTAIN THREE
PERIODS

CASES IN WHICH MITIGATING AND AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NOT

CONSIDERED IN THE IMPOSITION OF PENALTY:
1. When the penalty is single and indivisible (except if privileged mitigating)
2. In felonies through negligence
3. When the penalty is only a fine imposed by an ordinance
4. When the penalties are prescribed by special laws
Article 65. Rule in cases in which the penalty is not composed of three periods.
- In cases in which the penalty prescribed by law is not composed of three
periods, the courts shall apply the rules contained in the foregoing articles,
dividing into three equal portions of time included in the penalty prescribed,
and forming one period of each of the three portions.

ART. 66. IMPOSITION OF FINES

OUTLINE OF THE PROVISION:
1. The court can fix any amount of the fine within the limits established by law.
2. The court must consider: (1) the mitigating and aggravating circumstances; and (2)
more particularly, the wealth or means of the culprit.
3. The court may also consider: (1) the gravity of the crime committed; (2) the
heinousness of it s perpetration; and (3) the magnitude of its effects on the offenders
victims.

Article 67. Penalty to be imposed when not all the requisites of exemption of
the fourth circumstance of article 12 are present.- When all the conditions
required in circumstance number 4 of article 12 of this Code to exempt from
criminal liability are not present, the penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum
period to prision correccional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon the
culprit if he shall have been guilty of a grave felony, and arresto mayor in its
minimum and medium periods, if of a less grave felony.

ART. 68. PENALTY TO BE IMPOSED UPON A PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF

AGE

This article is not immediately applicable to a minor under 18 years of age, because
such minor, if found guilty of the offense charged, is not sentenced to any penalty.
The sentence is suspended and he is ordered committed to the reformatory
institution, IF, his application therefore is approved by the court.

This article is applicable when the minors application for suspension of sentence is
DISAPPROVED or if while in the reformatory institution he becomes INCORRIGIBLE, in
which case he shall be returned to the court for the imposition of the proper penalty.

Article 69. Penalty to be imposed when the crime committed is not wholly
excusable. - A penalty lower by one or two degrees than that prescribed by law
shall be imposed if the deed is not wholly excusable by reason of the lack of
some of the conditions required to justify the same or to exempt from criminal
liability in the several cases mentioned in article 11 and 12, provided that the
majority of such conditions be present. The courts shall impose the penalty in
the period which may be deemed proper, in view of the number and nature of
the conditions of exemption present or lacking.

ART. 70. SUCCESSIVE SERVICE OF SENTENCE

THE THREE-FOLD RULE

1. THE MAXIMUM DURATION OF THE CONVICTS SENTENCE shall not be more than three
times the length of time corresponding to the most severe of the penalties imposed
upon him.
2. But in no case to exceed 40 years.
3. This rule shall apply only when the convict is to serve 4 or more sentences
successively.
4. Subsidiary penalty forms part of the penalty.

DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF PENALTY, RELATIVE TO THE EXECUTION OF TWO OR

MORE PENALTIES IMPOSED ON ONE AND THE SAME ACCUSED
1. Material accumulation system
No limitation whatever, and accordingly, all the penalties for all the violations
were imposed even if they reached beyond the natural span of human life.
2. Juridical accumulation system
Limited to not more than three-fold the length of time corresponding to the most
severe and in no case to exceed 40 years. This is followed in our jurisdiction.
3. Absorption system
The lesser penalties are absorbed by the graver penalties.
---------------------------------
Article 71. Graduated scales. - In the cases in which the law prescribes a
penalty lower or higher by one or more degrees than another given penalty,
the rules prescribed in article 61 shall be observed in graduating such penalty.

The lower or higher penalty shall be taken from the graduated scale in which is
comprised the given penalty.

The courts, in applying such lower or higher penalty, shall observe the
following graduated scales:

SCALE NO. 1 SCALE NO. 2

1. Death, 1. Perpetual absolute disqualification,
2. Reclusion perpetua, 2. Temporary absolute disqualification
3. Reclusion temporal, 3. Suspension from public office, the right to
4. Prision mayor, vote and be voted for, the right to follow a
5. Prision correccional, profession or calling,
6. Arresto mayor, 4. Public censure,
7. Destierro, 5. Fine.
8. Arresto menor,
9. Public censure,
10. Fine.
Article 72. Preference in the payment of the civil liabilities. - The civil liabilities
of a person found guilty of two or more offenses shall be satisfied by following
the chronological order of the dates of the final judgments rendered against
him, beginning with the first in order of time.
Civil liability is satisfied by following the chronological order of the dates of
the final judgment.
Article 73. Presumption in regard to the imposition of accessory penalties. - Whenever
the courts shall impose a penalty which, by provision of law, carries with it other
penalties, according to the provisions of Articles 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 of this Code, it
must be understood that the accessory penalties are also imposed upon the convict.

67
Article 74. Penalty higher than reclusion perpetua in certain cases. - In cases in which
the law prescribes a penalty higher than another given penalty, without specifically
designating the name of the former, if such higher penalty should be that of death, the
same penalty and the accessory penalties of article 40, shall be considered as the next
higher penalty.
Article 75. Increasing or reducing the penalty of fine by one or more degrees. -
Whenever it may be necessary to increase or reduce the penalty of fine by one or more
degrees, it shall be increased or reduced, respectively, for each degree, by one-fourth of
the maximum amount prescribed by law, without, however, changing the minimum.
The same rules shall be observed with regard to fines that do not consist of a fixed
amount, but are made proportional.
Article 76. Legal period of duration of divisible penalties. - The legal period of duration
of divisible penalties shall be considered as divided into three parts, forming three
periods, the minimum, the medium, and the maximum in the manner shown in the
following table:
TABLE SHOWING THE DURATION OF DIVISIBLE PENALTIES AND THE TIME INCLUDED IN
EACH OF THEIR PERIODS
Penalties Time included Time included Time included Time included in
in the penalty in its minimum in its medium its maximum
in its entirety period period
Reclusion temporal From 12 years From 12 years From 14 years, From 17 years, 4
and 1 day to 20 and 1 day to 14 8 months and 1 months and 1 day
years. years and 8 day to 17 years to 20 years.
months. and 4 months.
Prision mayor, From 6 years From 6 years From 8 years From 10 years
absolute and 1 day to 12 and 1 day to 8 and 1 day to 10 and 1 day to 12
disqualification and years. years. years. years.
special temporary
disqualification
Prision From 6 months From 6 months From 2 years, 4 From 4 years, 2
correccional, and 1 day to 6 and 1 day to 2 months and 1 months and 1 day
suspension and years. years and 4 day to 4 years to 6 years.
destierro months. and 2 months.
Arresto mayor From 1 month From 1 to 2 From 2 months From 4 months
and 1 day to months. and 1 day to 4 and 1 day to 6
months. months. months.
Arresto menor From 1 to 30 From 1 to 10 From 11 to 20 From 21 to 30
days. days. days. days.

ART. 77. WHEN THE PENALTY IS A COMPLEX ONE COMPOSED OF THREE

DISTINCT PENALTIES
Article 77. When the penalty is a complex one composed of three distinct
penalties. - In cases in which the law prescribes a penalty composed of three
distinct penalties, each one shall form a period; the lightest of them shall be
the minimum, the next the medium, and the most severe the maximum period.
Whenever the penalty prescribed does not have one of the forms specially
provided for in this Code, the periods shall be distributed, applying for analogy
the prescribed rules.

COMPLEX PENALTY - is a penalty prescribed by law composed of three distinct

penalties, each forming a period: the lightest of them shall be the minimum, the next the
medium, and the most severe the maximum period.
 INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW (ISL)
Act No. 4103 as amended by Act No. 4225

CONCEPT OF INDETERMINATE SENTENCE is a sentence with a minimum term and a

maximum term which, the court is mandated to impose for the benefit of a guilty person
who is not disqualified therefore, when the maximum imprisonment exceeds one (1)
year. It applies to both violations of Revised Penal Code and special laws.

A. SENTENCE IN THE ISL

In imposing a prison sentence for an offense punished by the Revised Penal Code or
special penal laws, the court shall sentence the accused to an indeterminate sentence,
which has a maximum and a minimum term based on the penalty actually imposed.

ISL application is mandatory, where imprisonment would exceed one year.

I. IF THE PENALTY IS IMPOSED BY THE RPC:

1. The Maximum Term is that which could be properly imposed under the RPC,
considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
2. The MinimumTerm is within the range of the penalty one degree lower than that
prescribed by the RPC, without considering the circumstances.

BUT when there is a privileged mitigating circumstance, so that the penalty has to be
lowered by one degree, the STARTING POINT for determining the minimum term of
the indeterminate penalty is the penalty next lower than that prescribed by the Code
for the offense.

II. IF THE PENALTY IS IMPOSED BY SPECIAL PENAL LAW

a) The Maximum Term must not exceed the maximum term fixed by said law.

b) The Minimum Term must not be less than the minimum term prescribed by the
same.

For SPECIAL LAWS, it is anything within the inclusive range of the prescribed penalty.
Courts are given discretion in the imposition of the indeterminate penalty.

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 The aggravating and mitigating circumstances are not considered unless the special
law adopts the same terminology for penalties as those used in the RPC (such as
reclusin perpetua and the like).

B. WHEN BENEFIT OF THE ISL IS NOT APPLICABLE:

The Indeterminate Sentence Law shall not apply to the following persons:
1. sentenced to death penalty or life imprisonment
2. treason, or conspiracy or proposal to commit treason
3. misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage
4. piracy
5. habitual delinquents
6. escaped from confinement, or evaded sentence
7. granted with conditional pardon by the President, but violated the terms thereof
8. maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed 1 year
9. sentenced to the penalty of destierro or suspension only

C. RELEASE OF THE PRISONER ON PAROLE

The Board of Pardons and Parole may authorize the release of a prisoner on parole, after
he shall have served the minimum penalty imposed on him, provided that:

a) Such prisoner is fitted by his training for release,

b) There is reasonable probability that he will live and remain at liberty without violating
the law,
c) Such release will not be incompatible with the welfare of society.

D. ENTITLEMENT TO FINAL RELEASE AND DISCHARGE

If during the period of surveillance such paroled prisoner shall: (a) show himself to be a
law abiding citizen and, (b) shall not violate any law, the Board may issue a final
certification in his favor, for his final release and discharge.

E. SANCTION FOR VIOLATION OF CONDITIONS OF THE PAROLE

When the paroled prisoner shall violate any of the conditions of his parole: (a) the Board
may issue an order for his arrest, and thereafter, (b) the prisoner shall serve the
remaining unexpired portion of the maximum sentence for which he was originally
committed to prison.

F. REASONS FOR FIXING THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TERMS IN THE

INDETERMINATE SENTENCE
The minimum and maximum terms in the IS must be fixed, because they are the basis for
the following:
1. Whenever a prisoner has: (a) served the MINIMUM penalty imposed on him, and (b) is
fit for release of the prisoner on parole, upon terms and conditions prescribed by the
Board.
2. But when the paroled prisoner violates any of the conditions of his parole during the
period of surveillance, he may be rearrested to serve the remaining unexpired portion
of the MAXIMUM sentence.
3. Even if a prisoner has already served the MINIMUM, but he is not fitted for release on
the parole, he shall continue to serve until the end of the MAXIMUM term.
THE CHILD AND YOUTH WELFARE CODE (PD 603, as amended)

Who is a Youthful Offender?

A youthful offender is a child, minor, or youth, including one who is emancipated in
accordance with law, who is over nine years but under eighteen years of age at the time
of the commission of the offense.

A child nine years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall
be exempt from criminal liability and shall be committed to the care of his or her
 father or mother, or nearest relative or family friend in the discretion of the court and
subject to its supervision.
The same shall be done for a child over nine years and under fifteen years of age at
the time of the commission of the offense, unless he acted with discernment, in which
case he shall be proceeded against in accordance with Article 192.

1. The purpose of the Child and Youth Welfare Code is to avoid a situation where
JUVENILE OFFENDERS would commingle with ordinary criminals in prison.
2. If the court finds that the youthful offender committed the crime charged against him,
it shall DETERMINE the imposable penalty and the civil liability chargeable against
him.
3. The court may not pronounce judgment of conviction but instead SUSPEND all further
proceedings if, upon application of the youthful offender, it finds that the best
interest of the public and that of the offender will be served thereby.
4. The benefits of Article 192 of PD 603, as amended, providing for suspension of
sentence, shall NOT APPLY TO (1) a youthful offender who once enjoyed suspension of
sentence under its provisions, or (2) one who is convicted of an offense punishable by
death or life imprisonment.
5. The youthful offender shall be RETURNED to the committing court for pronouncement
of judgment, when the youthful offender, (1) has been found incorrigible, or (2) has
willfully failed to comply with the conditions of his rehabilitation programs; or (3)
when his continued stay in the training institution would be inadvisable.
6. When the youthful offender has reached the age of TWENTY-ONE while in
commitment, the court shall determine whether-
a) To DISMISS the case, if the youthful offender has behaved properly and has
shown his capability to be a useful member of the community; or
b) To PRONOUNCE the judgment of conviction, if the conditions mentioned are not
met.
7. In the latter case, the convicted offender may apply for PROBATION. In any case, the
youthful offender shall be credited in the service of his sentence with the full time
spent in actual commitment and detention.
8. The final release of a youthful offender, based on good conduct as provided in Art.
196 shall not obliterate his CIVIL LIABILITY for damages.
9. A minor who is ALREADY AN ADULT at the time of his conviction is not entitled to a
suspension of sentence.

PROBATION LAW OF 1976

(PD 968, AS AMENDED)
A. CONCEPT

PROBATION is a disposition under which a defendant after conviction and sentence is

released subject to conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a
probation officer.

B. APPLICATION

This shall apply to all offenders except those entitled to benefits under PD 603 and
similar laws.

C. RULES ON GRANT OF PROBATION

1. After having convicted and sentenced a defendant, the trial court MAY SUSPEND the
execution of the sentence, and place the defendant on probation, upon APPLICATION
by the defendant within the period for perfecting an appeal.
2. Probation may be granted whether the sentence imposed a term of imprisonment or
fine only.
3. NO application for probation shall be entertained or granted if the defendant has
PERFECTED AN APPEAL from the judgment of conviction.
4. Filing of application for probation operates as a WAIVER OF THE RIGHT TO APPEAL.

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5. The application shall be filed with the trial court, and the order granting or denying
probation shall NOT BE APPEALABLE.
6. Accessory penalties are deemed suspended once probation is granted.

D. POST-SENTENCE INVESTIGATION

The convict is not immediately placed on probation. There shall be a prior investigation
by the probation officer and a determination by the court.

E. CRITERIA FOR PLACING AN OFFENDER ON PROBATION

The court shall consider:

1. All information relative to the character, antecedents, environment, mental, and

physical condition of the offender.
2. Available institutional and community resources.

F. PROBATION SHALL BE DENIED IF THE COURT FINDS THAT:

1. The offender is in need of correctional treatment that can be provided effectively by
his commitment to an institution.
2. There is undue risk of committing another crime.
3. Probation will depreciate the seriousness of the offense committed.
G. DISQUALIFIED OFFENDERS
THE BENEFITS OF THE DECREE SHALL NOT BE EXTENDED TO THOSE:
1. Sentenced to serve a maximum term of imprisonment of more the 6 years.
2. Convicted of subversion or any crime against the national security or the public order.
3. Previously convicted by final judgment of an offense punished by imprisonment of not
less than 1 month and 1 day and/or a fine not less than P200.
4. Once placed on probation.

H. CONDITIONS OF PROBATION
2 KINDS OF CONDITIONS IMPOSED:
1. Mandatory or general once violated, the probation is cancelled. They are:
a) Probationer: Presents himself to the probation officer designated to undertake his
supervision, at such place as may be specified in the order, within 72 hours from
receipt of order;
b) He reports to the probation officer at least once a month.

2. Discretionary or special additional conditions listed, which the courts may

additionally impose on the probationer towards his correction and rehabilitation
outside prison.
HOWEVER, the enumeration is not inclusive. Probation statutes are liberal in
character and enable the courts to designate practically ANY term it chooses,
as long as the probationers Constitutional rights are not jeopardized. Also,
they must not be unduly restrictive of probationer, and not incompatible with the
freedom of conscience of probationer.

I. PERIOD OF PROBATION
FOR HOW LONG MAY A CONVICT BE PLACED ON PROBATION?
1. If the convict is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of NOT more than one year, the
period of probation shall not exceed 2 years.
2. In all other cases, if he is sentenced to more than one year, said period shall not
exceed 6 years.
3. When the sentence imposes a fine only and the offender is made to serve subsidiary
imprisonment. The period of probation shall be twice the total number of days of
subsidiary imprisonment.

J. ARREST OF PROBATIONER AND SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITIONS

1. At any time during probation, the court may issue a warrant for the ARREST of a
probationer for any serious violation of the conditions of probation.
2. If violation is established, the court may (a) REVOKE his probation, or (b) continue his
probation and MODIFY the conditions thereof. This order is not appealable.
3. If revoked, the probationer shall SERVE the sentence originally imposed.

K. TERMINATION OF PROBATION

The court may order the final discharge of the probationer upon finding that, he has
fulfilled the terms and conditions of his probation.

L. EFFECTS OF TERMINATION OF PROBATION

1. Case is deemed terminated.

2. Restoration of all civil rights lost or suspended.
3. Fully discharges liability for any fine imposed.

Note that the probation is NOT coterminous with its period. There must be an order
issued by the court discharging the probationer.

Article 78. When and how a penalty is to be executed. - No penalty shall be

executed except by virtue of a final judgment.
A penalty shall not be executed in any other form than that prescribed by law,
nor with any other circumstances or incidents than those expressly authorized
thereby.

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In addition to the provisions of the law, the special regulations prescribed for
the government of the institutions in which the penalties are to be suffered
shall be observed with regard to the character of the work to be performed,
the time of its performance, and other incidents connected therewith, the
relations of the convicts among themselves and other persons, the relief which
they may receive, and their diet.
The regulations shall make provision for the separation of the sexes in
different institutions, or at least into different departments, and also for the
correction and reform of the convicts.
Article 79. Suspension of the execution and service of the penalties in case of
insanity. - When a convict shall become insane or an imbecile after final
sentence has been pronounced, the execution of said sentence shall be
suspended only with regard to the personal penalty, the provisions of the
second paragraph of circumstance number 1 of article 12 being observed in the
corresponding cases.
If at any time the convict shall recover his reason, his sentence shall be
executed, unless the penalty shall have prescribed in accordance with the
provisions of this Code.
The respective provisions of this section shall also be observed if the insanity
or imbecility occurs while the convict is serving his sentence.
Article 80. Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents. - Whenever a minor of
either sex, under sixteen years of age at the date of the commission of a grave
or less grave felony, is accused thereof, the court, after hearing the evidence
in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing judgment of conviction,
shall suspend all further proceedings and shall commit such minor to the
custody or care of a public or private, benevolent or charitable institution,
established under the law for the care, correction or education of orphaned,
homeless, defective, and delinquent children, or to the custody or care of any
other responsible person in any other place subject to visitation and
supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or any of his agents or
representatives, if there be any, or otherwise by the superintendent of public
schools or his representatives, subject to such conditions as are prescribed
hereinbelow until such minor shall have reached his majority or for such less
period as the court may deem proper.(As amended by Republic Act No. 47.)
The court, in committing said minor as provided above, shall take into
consideration the religion of such minor, his parents or next of kin, in order to
avoid his commitment to any private institution not under the control and
supervision of the religious sect or denomination to which they belong.
The Director of Public Welfare or his duly authorized representatives or agents,
the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, or the person to
whose custody or care the minor has been committed, shall submit to the court
every four months and as often as required in special cases, a written report
on the good or bad conduct of said minor and the moral and intellectual
progress made by him.
The suspension of the proceedings against a minor may be extended or
shortened by the court on the recommendation of the Director of Public
Welfare or his authorized representatives or agents, or the superintendent of
public schools or his representatives, according as to whether the conduct of
such minor has been good or not and whether he has complied with the
conditions imposed upon him, or not. The provisions of the first paragraph of
this article shall not, however, be affected by those contained herein.
If the minor has been committed to the custody or care of any of the
institutions mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, with the approval
of the Director of Public Welfare and subject to such conditions as this official
in accordance with law may deem proper to impose, such minor may be
allowed to stay elsewhere under the care of a responsible person.
If the minor has behaved properly and has complied with the conditions
imposed upon him during his confinement, in accordance with the provisions of
this article, he shall be returned to the court in order that the same may order
his final release.
In case the minor fails to behave properly or to comply with the regulations of
the institution to which he has been committed or with the conditions imposed
upon him when he was committed to the care of a responsible person, or in
case he should be found incorrigible or his continued stay in such institution
should be inadvisable, he shall be returned to the court in order that the same
may render the judgment corresponding to the crime committed by him.
The expenses for the maintenance of a minor delinquent confined in the
institution to which he has been committed, shall be borne totally or partially
by his parents or relatives or those persons liable to support him, if they are
able to do so, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That in case his parents
or relatives or those persons liable to support him have not been ordered to
pay said expenses or are found indigent and cannot pay said expenses, the
municipality in which the offense was committed shall pay one-third of said
expenses; the province to which the municipality belongs shall pay one-third;
and the remaining one-third shall be borne by the National Government:
Provided, however, That whenever the Secretary of Finance certifies that a
municipality is not able to pay its share in the expenses above mentioned, such
share which is not paid by said municipality shall be borne by the National
Government. Chartered cities shall pay two-thirds of said expenses; and in
case a chartered city cannot pay said expenses, the internal revenue
allotments which may be due to said city shall be withheld and applied in
settlement of said indebtedness in accordance with section five hundred and
eighty-eight of the Administrative Code.(As amended by Com. Act No. 99)
Article 81. When and how the death penalty is to be executed. - The death
sentence shall be executed with preference to any other and shall consist in
putting the person under sentence to death by electrocution. The death
sentence shall be executed under the authority of the Director of Prisons,
endeavoring so far as possible to mitigate the sufferings of the persons under
sentence during electrocution as well as during the proceedings prior to the
execution.
If the person under sentence so desires, he shall be anaesthetized at the
moment of the execution.
As soon as facilities are provided by the Bureau of Prisons, the method of
carrying out the sentence shall be changed to gas poisoning.
The death sentence shall be carried out not later than one (1) year after the
judgment has become final. (As amended by Sec. 24, Republic Act No. 7659.)
Article 82. Notification and execution of the sentence and assistance to the
culprit. - The court shall designate a working day for the execution, but not the
hour thereof; and such designation shall not be communicated to the offender
before sunrise of said day, and the execution shall not take place until after
the expiration of at least eight hours following the notification, but before
sunset. During the interval between the notification and the execution, the
culprit shall, in so far as possible, be furnished such assistance as he may
request in order to be attended in his last moments by priests or ministers of
the religion he professes and to consult lawyers, as well as in order to make a
will and confer with members of his family or persons in charge of the
management of his business, of the administration of his property, or of the
care of his descendants.

ART. 83. SUSPENSION OF THE EXECUTION OF THE DEATH SENTENCE

Death sentence shall be suspended when accused is a:

1. Woman, while pregnant,

2. Woman, within one year after delivery,
3. Person over 70 years of age;

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4. Convict who becomes insane, after final sentence of death has been pronounced.

Article 84. Place of execution and persons who may witness the same. - The
execution shall take place in the penitentiary of Bilibid in a space closed to the
public view and shall be witnessed only by the priests assisting the offender
and by his lawyers, and by his relatives, not exceeding six, if he so request, by
the physician and the necessary personnel of the penal establishment, and by
such persons as the Director of Prisons may authorize.
Article 85. Provision relative to the corpse of the person executed and its
burial. - Unless claimed by his family, the corpse of the culprit shall, upon the
completion of the legal proceedings subsequent to the execution, be turned
over to the institute of learning or scientific research first applying for it, for
the purpose of study and investigation, provided that such institute shall take
charge of the decent burial of the remains. Otherwise, the Director of Prisons
shall order the burial of the body of the culprit at government expense,
granting permission to be present thereat to the members of the family of the
culprit and the friends of the latter. In no case shall the burial of the body of a
person sentenced to death be held with pomp.

Article 86. Reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prision mayor, prision

correccional and arresto mayor. - The penalties of reclusion perpetua, reclusion
temporal, prision mayor, prision correccional and arresto mayor, shall be
executed and served in the places and penal establishments provided by the
Administrative Code in force or which may be provided by law in the future.

ART. 87. DESTIERRO

Article 87. Destierro. - Any person sentenced to destierro shall not be
permitted to enter the place or places designated in the sentence, nor within
the radius therein specified, which shall be not more than 250 and not less
than 25 kilometers from the place designated.
ONLY IN THE FOLLOWING CASES IS DESTIERRO IMPOSED:

1. Death or serious physical injuries is caused or are inflicted under exceptional

circumstances (Art. 247);

2. Failure to give bond for good behavior in grave and light threats (Art. 284);
3. Penalty for the concubine in concubinage (Art. 334);
4. When, after reducing the penalty by one or more degrees, destierro is the proper
penalty.

Article 88. Arresto menor. - The penalty of arresto menor shall be served in the
municipal jail, or in the house of the defendant himself under the surveillance
of an officer of the law, when the court so provides in its decision, taking into
consideration the health of the offender and other reasons which may seem
satisfactory to it.
 ART. 89. CRIMINAL LIABILITY IS TOTALLY EXTINGUISHED

Article 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. - Criminal liability is

totally extinguished:
1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to
pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the
death of the offender occurs before final judgment.
2. By service of the sentence.
3. By amnesty, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its
effects.
4. By absolute pardon.
5. By prescription of the crime.
6. By prescription of the penalty.
7. By the marriage of the offended woman, as provided in Article 344 of
this Code.

HOW CRIMINAL LIABLITY TOTALLY EXTINGUISHED:

1. By the DEATH of the convict as to personal penalties; BUT as to pecuniary penalties,

liability is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before or after
final judgment
2. By SERVICE OF SENTENCE;
3. By AMNESTY, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects.
4. By ABSOLUTE PARDON
5. By PRESCRIPTION OF THE CRIME
6. By PRESCRIPTION OF PENALTY
7. By MARRIAGE OF THE OFFENDED WOMAN with the offender in the crimes of rape,
seduction, abduction, and acts of lasciviousness. In the crimes of rape, seduction,
abduction, and acts of lasciviousness, the marriage, as provided under Art 344, must
be contracted in good faith.

AMNESTY is an act of the sovereign power granting oblivion or general pardon for a
past offense, and is rarely if ever exercised in favor of a single individual, and is usually
extended in behalf of certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet
been convicted.

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PARDON is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of
the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the
law inflicts for the crime he has committed.
Pardon distinguished from Amnesty

PARDON AMNESTY

1. Includes any crime and is exercised 1. A blanket pardon to classes of persons or

individually by the President communities who may be guilty of political
offenses.

2. Exercised when the person is already 2. May be exercised even before trial or
convicted investigation is had

3. Merely looks FORWARD and relieves the
offender from the consequences of an offense
of which he has been convicted; it does not
work for the restoration of the rights to hold
public office, or the right of suffrage, unless
such rights are expressly restored by means of
pardon.
4. Does not alter the fact that the accused is a
recidivist as it produces only the extinction of
the personal effects of the penalty.
3. Looks BACKWARD and abolishes and puts
into oblivion the offense itself; it so overlooks
and obliterates the offense with which he is
charged that the person released by amnesty
stands before the law precisely as though he
had committed no offense.
4. Makes an ex-convict no longer a recidivist,
because it obliterates the last vestige of the
crime.

5. Does not extinguish the civil liability of the 5. Does not extinguish the civil liability of the
offender offender

6. Being PRIVATE ACT by the President, must 6. Being a Proclamation of the Chief Executive
be pleaded and proved by the person pardoned with the concurrence of Congress; is a PUBLIC
ACT of which the courts should take judicial
notice

Prescription of the crime is the forfeiture or loss of the right of the State to
prosecute the offender, after the lapse of a certain time.

PRESCRIPTIVE PERIODS OF CRIMES:

1. Crimes punishable by
a) Death, reclusin perpetua or reclusin temporal 20 years
b) afflictive penalties 15 years
c) correctional penalties 10 years except those punishable by arresto mayor which
shall prescribe in 5 years.
When the penalty fixed by law is a compound one, the highest penalty shall be
made the basis of the application of the rules contained above.
2. Crime of libel 1 year
3. Offenses of oral defamation and slander by deed 6 months
4. Light offenses 2 months

Prescription of the penalty is the loss or forfeiture of the right of the government to
execute the final sentence, after the lapse of a certain time.

PRESCRIPTIVE PERIODS OF PENALTIES:

1. Death and reclusin perpetua 20 years
2. Other afflictive penalties 15 years
3. Correctional penalties 10 years except for the penalty of arresto mayor which
prescribes in 5 years.
4. Light penalties 1 year
Article 90. Prescription of crime. - Crimes punishable by death, reclusion
perpetua or reclusion temporal shall prescribe in twenty years.
Crimes punishable by other afflictive penalties shall prescribe in fifteen years.
Those punishable by a correctional penalty shall prescribe in ten years; with
the exception of those punishable by arresto mayor, which shall prescribe in
five years.
The crime of libel or other similar offenses shall prescribe in one year.
The crime of oral defamation and slander by deed shall prescribe in six
months.
Light offenses prescribe in two months.
When the penalty fixed by law is a compound one, the highest penalty shall be
made the basis of the application of the rules contained in the first, second
and third paragraphs of this article. (As amended by Republic Act No. 4661,
approved June 19, 1966.)
Article 91. Computation of prescription of offenses. - The period of prescription
shall commence to run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the
offended party, the authorities, or their agents, and shall be interrupted by the
filing of the complaint or information, and shall commence to run again when
such proceedings terminate without the accused being convicted or acquitted,
or are unjustifiably stopped for any reason not imputable to him.
The term of prescription shall not run when the offender is absent from the
Philippine Archipelago.
Article 92. When and how penalties prescribe. - The penalties imposed by final
sentence prescribe as follows:
1. Death and reclusion perpetua, in twenty years;
2. Other afflictive penalties, in fifteen years;
3. Correctional penalties, in ten years; with the exception of the penalty
of arresto mayor, which prescribes in five years;
4. Light penalties, in one year.
Article 93. Computation of the prescription of penalties. - The period of
prescription of penalties shall commence to run from the date when the culprit
should evade the service of his sentence, and it shall be interrupted if the
defendant should give himself up, be captured, should go to some foreign
country with which this Government has no extradition treaty, or should
commit another crime before the expiration of the period of prescription.

ART. 93. COMPUTATION OF THE PRESCRIPTION OF PENALTIES

OUTLINE

1. Period of prescription commences to run from the date when the culprit evaded the
service of his sentence.
2. It is interrupted when the convict
a) gives himself up,
b) is captured,
c) goes to a foreign country with which we have no extradition treaty, or
d) commits any crime before the expiration of the period of prescription.

ELEMENTS

1. That the penalty is imposed by final judgment

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2. That the convict evaded the service of his sentence by escaping during the term of
his sentence
3. The convict who escape from prison has not given himself up, or been captured, or
gone to a foreign country
4. That the penalty has prescribed because of the lapse of time from the date of the
evasion of service of the sentence by the convict.

ART. 94. PARTIAL EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY - Criminal liability is

extinguished partially:
1. By conditional pardon;
2. By commutation of the sentence; and
3. For good conduct allowances which the culprit may earn while he is
serving his sentence.
Article 95. Obligation incurred by person granted conditional pardon. - Any
person who has been granted conditional pardon shall incur the obligation of
complying strictly with the conditions imposed therein; otherwise, his non-
compliance with any of the conditions specified shall result in the revocation of
the pardon and the provisions of article 159 shall be applied to him.
Article 96. Effect of commutation of sentence. - The commutation of the
original sentence for another of a different length and nature shall have the
legal effect of substituting the latter in the place of the former.
Article 97. Allowance for good conduct. - The good conduct of any prisoner in
any penal institution shall entitle him to the following deductions from the
period of his sentence:
1. During the first two years of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a
deduction of five days for each month of good behavior;
2. During the third to the fifth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he
shall be allowed a deduction of eight days for each month of good
behavior;
3. During the following years until the tenth year, inclusive, of his
imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction of ten days for each
month of good behavior; and
4. During the eleventh and successive years of his imprisonment, he
shall be allowed a deduction of fifteen days for each month of good
behavior.
Article 98. Special time allowance for loyalty. - A deduction of one-fifth of the
period of his sentence shall be granted to any prisoner who, having evaded the
service of his sentence under the circumstances mentioned in article 158 of
this Code, gives himself up to the authorities within 48 hours following the
issuance of a proclamation announcing the passing away of the calamity or
catastrophe to in said article.
Article 99. Who grants time allowances. - Whenever lawfully justified, the
Director of Prisons shall grant allowances for good conduct. Such allowances
once granted shall not be revoked.
CRIMINAL LIABILITY IS PARTIALLY EXTINGUISHED:
1. By CONDITIONAL PARDON;
2. By COMMUTATION OF SERVICE
3. For GOOD CONDUCT ALLOWANCES which the culprit may earn while he is serving
sentence;
4. By PAROLE
a. Parole is the suspension of the sentence of a convict, after serving the
minimum term of the indeterminate penalty, without being granted a pardon,
prescribing the terms upon which the sentence shall be suspended

b. If the convict fails to observe the condition of the parole, the Board of Pardons and
Parole is authorized to :
(1) direct his ARREST AND RETURN TO CUSTODY and thereafter;
 (2) to CARRY OUT HIS SENTENCE WITHOUT REDUCTION of the time that has
elapsed between the date of the parole and the subsequent arrest.
5. By PROBATION. See Probation Law

Conditional pardon distinguished from parole

CONDITIONAL PARDON PAROLE

1. May be given at any time after final 1. May be given after the prisoner has served
judgment; is granted by the Chief Executive the minimum penalty; is granted by the Board
under the provisions of the Administrative of Pardons and Parole under the provision of the
Code Indeterminate Sentence Law

2. For violation of the conditional pardon, the
convict may be ordered re-arrested or re-
incarcerated by the Chief Executive, or may be
PROSECUTED under Art. 159 of the Code
2. For violation of the terms of the parole, the
convict CANNOT BE PROSECUTED UNDER ART.
159 OF THE RPC, he can be re-arrested and re-
incarcerated to serve the unserved portion of
his original penalty.

CIVIL LIABILITY

Article 100. Civil liability of a person guilty of felony. - Every person criminally
liable for a felony is also civilly liable.
Article 101. Rules regarding civil liability in certain cases. - The exemption from
criminal liability established in subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of article 12 and in
subdivision 4 of article 11 of this Code does not include exemption from civil
liability, which shall be enforced subject to the following rules:
First. In cases of subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 of article 12, the civil liability for acts
committed by an imbecile or insane person, and by a person under nine years
of age, or by one over nine but under fifteen years of age, who has acted
without discernment, shall devolve upon those having such person under their
legal authority or control, unless it appears that there was no fault or
negligence on their part.
Should there be no person having such insane, imbecile or minor under his
authority, legal guardianship, or control or if such person be insolvent, said
insane, imbecile, or minor shall respond with their own property, excepting
property exempt from execution, in accordance with the civil law.
Second. In cases falling within subdivision 4 of article 11, the persons for
whose benefit the harm has been prevented shall be civilly liable in proportion
to the benefit which they may have received.
The courts shall determine, in sound discretion, the proportionate amount for
which each one shall be liable.
When the respective shares cannot be equitably determined, even
approximately, or when the liability also attaches to the Government, or to the
majority of the inhabitants of the town, and, in all events, whenever the
damage has been caused with the consent of the authorities or their agents,
indemnification shall be made in the manner prescribed by special laws or
regulations.
Third. In cases falling within subdivisions 5 and 6 of article 12, the persons
using violence or causing the fears shall be primarily liable and secondarily, or,
if there be no such persons, those doing the act shall be liable, saving always
to the latter that part of their property exempt from execution.
Article 102. Subsidiary civil liability of innkeepers, tavernkeepers and
proprietors of establishments. - In default of the persons criminally liable,
innkeepers, tavernkeepers, and any other persons or corporations shall be
civilly liable for crimes committed in their establishments, in all cases where a

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violation of municipal ordinances or some general or special police regulation
shall have been committed by them or their employees.
Innkeepers are also subsidiarily liable for the restitution of goods taken by
robbery or theft within their houses from guests lodging therein, or for the
payment of the value thereof, provided that such guests shall have notified in
advance the innkeeper himself, or the person representing him, of the deposit
of such goods within the inn; and shall furthermore have followed the
directions which such innkeeper or his representative may have given them
with respect to the care of and vigilance over such goods. No liability shall
attach in case of robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons
unless committed by the innkeeper's employees.
Article 103. Subsidiary civil liability of other persons. - The subsidiary liability
established in the next preceding article shall also apply to employers,
teachers, persons, and corporations engaged in any kind of industry for
felonies committed by their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or
employees in the discharge of their duties.

ART. 100. CIVIL LIABILITY OF A PERSON GUILTY OF FELONY

A CRIME HAS A DUAL CHARACTER:

1. As an offense against the state, because of the disturbance of the social order; and

2. As an offense against the private person injured by the crime, UNLESS it involves the
crime of treason, rebellion, espionage, contempt, and others wherein no civil liability
arises on the part of the offender, either because there are no damages to be
compensated or there is no private person injured by the crime.

EFFECT OF ACQUITTAL

Extinction of the penal action does NOT carry with it extinction of the civil; UNLESS the
extinction proceeds from a declaration in a final judgment that the fact from which the
civil liability might arise did not exist. (See Section 1, Rule 111 of the 2000 Rules on
Criminal Procedure. Civil liability arising from other sources of obligations is not impliedly
instituted with the criminal action).

EFFECT OF DISMISSAL OF CASE

The dismissal of the information or the criminal action does NOT affect the right of the
offended party to institute or continue the civil action already instituted arising from the
offense, because such dismissal or extinction of the penal action does not carry with it
the extinction of the civil action.

EFFECT OF DEATH OF THE OFFENDER

If the offender dies prior to the institution of the action or prior to the finality of
judgment, civil liability ex-delicto is extinguished. (DE GUZMAN vs. PEOPLE OF THE
PHILIPPINES, G.R. No. 154579. October 8, 2003)

In all these cases, civil liability from sources other than delict are not extinguished.
ART. 101. RULES REGARDING CIVIL LIABILITY IN CERTAIN CASES

- Civil liability is still imposed in cases falling under exempting circumstances

EXCEPT:

1. No civil liability in paragraph 4 of Art. 12 which provides for injury caused by mere
accident.
 2. No civil liability in paragraph 7 of Art. 12 which provides for failure to perform an
act required by law when prevented by some lawful or insuperable cause.

- No civil liability is imposed in cases falling under justifying circumstances

EXCEPT: under paragraph 4, where a person does an act, causing damage to another, in
order to avoid evil or injury, the person benefited by the prevention of the evil or injury
shall be civilly liable in proportion to the benefit he received.

ART. 102. SUBSIDIARY LIABILITY OF INNKEEPERS, TAVERNKEEPERS, AND

PROPRIETORS OF ESTABLISHMENTS

ELEMENTS UNDER PARAGRAPH 1

1. That the innkeeper, tavernkeeper or proprietor of establishment or his employee

committed a violation of municipal ordinance or some general or special police
regulation.

2. That the crime is committed in such inn, tavern or establishment.

3. That the person criminally liable is insolvent.

Concurrence of all elements makes the innkeeper, tavernkeeper, or proprietor civilly
liable for the crime committed in his establishment.

ELEMENTS UNDER PARAGRAPH 2

1. That the guests notified in advance the innkeeper or the person representing of the
deposit of their goods within the inn or house.

2. The guests followed the directions of the innkeeper or his representative with respect
to the care of and vigilance over such goods.

3. Such goods of the guests lodging therein were taken by robbery with force upon
things or theft committed within the inn or house.

ART. 103. SUBSIDIARY CIVIL LIABILITY OF OTHER PERSONS

ELEMENTS
1. The employer, teacher, person, or corporation is engaged in any kind of industry.
2. Any of their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or employees commits a felony
while in the discharge of his duties.
3. The said employee is insolvent and has not satisfied his civil liability.
4.

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