Title 8.
Crimes against persons  The use of poison is not inherent in the crime of
Chapter 1. Destruction of life
Art. 246. Parricide
 Essential element: relationship
 Law should read “any other ascendants or
descendants”
o Who should be legitimate
 Father, mother, and child may be illegitimate
 Child should not be less than 3 days old = infanticide
 This article only contemplates relationship by blood
 Spouse must be legit.
o Best proof: marriage certificate
o If none: oral evidence not objected to (PP v.
Cruz)
 Marriages among Muslims and other members of
ethnic cultural communities performed in accordance
with their customs are valid
 Parricide should be alleged in the information, if not,
however, it may still be considered as an aggravating
circumstance.
 Parricide may be committed through reckless
imprudence. It is punishable by arresto mayor in its
maximum period to prision correccional in its
medium period. If, however, it is committed only
through simple imprudence or negligence, the
penalty is arresto mayor in its medium and maximum
periods. (Art. 365 in relation to Art. 246)
 Art. 49 applies in parricide
 Knowledge of relationship is not required
 Indemnity is also applicable
 A person who cooperates in the commission of
parricide is liable for murder or homicide as the case
maybe
Art. 247. Death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional
circumstances
 Article does not define a felony, but instead, if done
under the circumstance in the same article, the
person is exempted from 246, 249, and 263, and only
liable for 247.
 The requisites of Art. 247 must be established by the
evidence of defense
 The accused must be a legally married person
 The daughter may be legitimate or illegitimate
 Surprise – to come upon suddenly and unexpectedly
 Destierro is intended as a protection of the accused
from the family members of the victim
Art. 248 – Murder
 Not falling within the provisions of Article 246.
 In murder, the victim must be killed to consummate
the crime. If the victim is not killed, it is either
attempted or frustrated murder.
 Killing a person by means of fire is murder, only
when there is actual design to kill on the part of the
offender. (U.S. vs. Burns, 41 Phil. 418)
 But killing a person with treachery is murder even if
there is no intent to kill.
 Rules for the application of the circumstances which
qualify the killing to murder.
o That murder will exist with only one of the
circumstances described in Art. 248.
o That when the other circumstances are
absorbed or included in one qualifying
circumstance, they cannot be considered as
generic aggravating.
o That any of the qualifying circumstances
enumerated in Art. 248 must be alleged in
the information.
 The qualifying circumstances of murder, except
"outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse," are
among those defined in Art. 14.
 Killing of a child of tender years is murder.
murder
 Killing a person on the occasion of inundation,
shipwreck, eruption of a volcano, epidemic, etc., or
any other public calamity, when taken advantage of
by the offender, qualifies the crime to murder.
Art. 249. Homicide
 Homicide is the unlawful killing of any person, which
is neither parricide, murder, nor infanticide.
 The penalty for homicide shall be reclusion perpetua
when the victim is under 12 years of age.
 Intent to kill is conclusively presumed when death
resulted.
o the penal law looks particularly to the
material results following the unlawful act
and holds the aggressor responsible for all
the consequences thereof.
Art. 250
Art. 251. Death caused in a tumultuous affray
 Tumultuous affray exists when at least four persons
took part.
o The word "tumultuous" as used in Art. 153
means that the disturbance is caused by
more than three persons who are armed or
are provided with means of violence
 When there was confusion in the fight and the person
who inflicted the wounds could not be identified, the
crime is death caused in a tumultuous affray.
 If the one who inflicted the fatal wound is known, the
crime is not homicide in tumultuous affray. It is a
case of homicide under Art. 249 against the one who
inflicted the fatal wound.
Art. 252. Physical injuries inflicted in a tumultuous affray.
 Note that only those who used violence are punished,
because if the one who caused the physical injuries is
known, he will be liable for the physical injuries
actually committed (Arts. 263, 265 and 266), and not
under this article.
Art. 253. Giving assistance to suicide
 Art. 253 does not distinguish and does not make any
reference to the relation of the offender with the
person committing suicide.
 A person who attempts to commit suicide is not
criminally liable, because society has always
considered a person who attempts to kill himself as
an unfortunate being, a wretched person more
deserving of pity rather than of penalty.
 What Art. 253 considers a felony or unlawful is
assisting another to commit suicide. Since
attempting to commit suicide is not an unlawful act
within the meaning of Art. 253, the pregnant woman
who suffers an abortion due to the poison she took to
commit suicide should not be held liable for the
abortion that resulted.
 Euthanasia — commonly known as mercy killing — is
the practice of painlessly putting to death a person
suffering from some incurable disease. A doctor who
resorts to mercy-killing of his patient may be liable
for murder.
Art. 254. Discharge of firearms
 The act constituting the offense is shooting at
another with any firearm, without intent to kill him.
 Discharge towards the house of victim is not illegal
discharge of firearm. not sufficient proof that the shot
was aimed or fired at him.
 Firing a gun against the house of the offended party
at random, not knowing in what part of the house the
people inside were, is only alarm under Art. 155
  If the discharge of the firearm at the offended party  author of the abuse which caused the miscarriage,
is coupled with intent to kill him, the felony should be he is liable not only for such maltreatment but also
classified as frustrated or attempted parricide, for the consequences thereof, to wit, for the abortion
murder or homicide, and not merely illegal discharge  husband, who, with violence kills his pregnant wife,
of firearm. thus occasioning the death of the fetus, is guilty of
 In discharge of firearm under Art. 254, the purpose of parricide with unintentional abortion.
the offender is only to intimidate or to frighten the 
offended party.
 Distance may determine intent to kill, as well as Art. 258. Abortion by the woman herself
number of shots fired  The woman is liable if she "shall consent that any
 If in the illegal discharge of firearm the offended other person should do so."
party is hit and wounded, there is a complex crime of
discharge of firearm with physical injuries when the Art. 259
physical injuries are serious or less serious.
 The crime is discharge of firearm, even if the gun Art. 260
was not pointed at the offended party when it fired,
as long as it was initially aimed by the accused at or Art. 261
against the offended party
Art. 262
Art. 255. Infanticide
 Infanticide may be denned as the killing of any child Art. 263
less than three days of age, whether the killer is the
parent or grandparent, any other relative of the child, Art. 264
or a stranger.
 Other person who kills a child less than three days Art. 265
old, to suffer the penalty for murder.
 The purpose of concealing the dishonor is not an Art. 266
element of infanticide; it merely mitigates the liability
of the mother or maternal grandparents who Rape
committed the crime
 Reason for mitigation for mother: We understand that Art. 266A
the responsibility of the mother is mitigated when,
right after giving birth to a baby born out of an illicit
relationship, without time to reflect, excited and
obfuscated solely by the fear of her dishonor being
made public, she desires to erase the traces of her
mistake. Within that same day, we understand that
obfuscation, but on the day following, or on the third
day, when that disgraced child has been taken by the
mother on her lap, when the warmth of maternal love
from the mother's breast has been communicated to
it, when it has been given a kiss on its innocent
cheek, honor cannot overcome filial love, a love
which has no equal on earth.
 The delinquent mother must be of good reputation
and good morals, in order that concealing dishonor
may mitigate her liability.
 Stranger cooperating with the mother in killing a
child less than three days old is guilty of infanticide
also but the penalty is that for murder.
 No crime of infanticide is committed where the child
was born dead, or although born alive, it could not
sustain an independent life when it was killed.

Art. 256. Intentional Abortion

 Carrara has denned abortion as the willful killing of
the fetus in the uterus, or the violent expulsion of the
fetus from the maternal womb which results in the
death of the fetus. (Guevara)
 If the fetus survives in spite of the attempt to kill it or
the use of violence, abortion is not consummated.
 If abortion is intended and the fetus does not die, it is
frustrated intentional abortion when all the acts of
execution have been performed by the offender.
 If abortion is not intended and the fetus does not die,
in spite of the violence intentionally exerted, the
crime may be only physical injuries. No frustrated
unintentional abortion

Art. 257. Unintentional Abortion

 Unintentional abortion is committed only by violence
 The violence must be intentionally exerted
 Unintentional abortion through imprudence is
possible