Chapter Four

CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH AGGRAVATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Art. 14. Aggravating circumstances. — The following are aggravating circumstances:

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

- Based on the greater perversity of the offender as shown by the personal circumstance of the
offender and also by the means used to secure the commission of the crime.
- Applies only when the person committing the crime is a public officer who takes advantage of his
position
- The public officer must use the influence, prestige, or ascendancy which his office gives him as the
means by which he realizes his purpose.
- Failure in official duties is tantamount to abusing of office.

Ex:

 A policeman on guard duty maltreated a prisoner.

- His position allowed him access to the cell where the victim was confined and the latter was under
his custody.
 Accused used their authority as police officers to disarm the victim before shooting him.
 A councilor who led the parties to believed that he has the right impose or collect fines, eventhough he
is not an official designated by law to do so.
 Special agent of the military police who committed robbery with homicide with the gun which he had
been authorized to carry as a peace officer.
 Vice-President of a town voluntarily joined a band of brigands.

Not Applicable

- When a public officer commits a common crime independent of his official function and does acts
that are not connected with the duties of his office, he should be punished as a private individual
without the aggravating circumstance.
- Wearing of uniform is immaterial in certain cases
- If the accused could have perpetrated the crime even without occupying his position.
- Taking advantage of public position is an integral element of or inherent in the offense. (e.g.
malversation, falsification of document committed by public officers, and crimes committed by
public officers under Art. 204-245)

Ex:

 The accused, a councillor was given P39.00 and was requested to purchase 39 cedulas. He only took 16
cedulas and spent the rest of the money.
 Accused used his government issued pistol to shoot the victim.
2. That the crime be committed in contempt or with insult to the public authorities.
- Based on the greater perversity of the offender, as shown by his lack of respect for the public
authorities
- Aggravating when presence of a public authority was made known to the offender and still has not
prevented the latter from committing the criminal act.

Requisites:

 That the public authority is engaged in the exercised of his functions.

 That who is thus engaged in the exercise of the said functions is not the person against whom the
crime is committed
 That the offender knows him to be a public authority
 His presence has no prevented the offender from committing the criminal act

Public Authority (Person in Authority)

- A public officer who is directly vested with jurisdiction, that is, a public officer who has the power to
govern and execute the laws. (e.g. mayors, governors, barangay captain an chairman)

Agent of a Person in Authority

- Any person who, by direct provision of law or by election or by appointment by competent

authority, is charged with the maintenance of public order and the protection and security of life
and property.
- Any person who comes in the aid of persons in authority (e.g. chief of police, barrio policeman and
barangay leader)

Ex:

A and B are quarrelling on a street and the mayor passing by, attempts to stop them. Notwithstanding
the intervention and the presence of the mayor, they continued to quarrel until A succeeds in killing B.

Not applicable

- Crime committed in the presence of an agent of a person in authority.

- Crime has been committed against the public authority
- Lack of knowledge on the part of the offender that a public authority is present indicates lack of
intention to insult the public authority.

3. That the act be committed with insult or in disregard of the respect due the offended party on
account of his rank, age, or sex, or that is be committed in the dwelling of the offended party, if the
latter has not given provocation.
- If all the four circumstances are present, they have the weight of one aggravating circumstance
only.
- Greater perversity of the offender , as shown by the personal circumstances of the offended party
and the place of the commission of the crime
- In disregard of the respect due the offended party on account of his rank, age, or sex may be taken
into account only in crimes against persons and honor and cannot be consider in crimes against
property (e.g. robbery with homicide)
- It is necessary to prove specific fact or circumstance, other than that the victim is woman, an old
man or one of high rank. There must be evidence that the accused deliberately intended to offend
or insult the rank, age, or sex of the offended party.

A. Rank
- refers to a high social position or standing as a grade in the armed forces; or to a graded official
standing or social position or station ; or to the order or place in which said officers are placed in
the army and navy in relation to others; or to the designation or title of distinction conferred upon
an officer in order to fix his relative position in reference to other officers in matters of privileges,
precedence, and sometimes of command or by which to determine his pay and emoluments as in
the case of army staff officers ; or to a grade or official standing, relative position in civil or social
life, or in any scale of comparison, status, grade, including its grade, status or scale of comparison
within a position
- There must be a difference in the social condition of the offender and the offended party.
- Proof of fact of disregard and deliberate intent to insult required
 Disregard of the rank of the victim who was a barangay captain cannot be appreciated as an
aggravating circumstance. There is no proof of the specific fact or circumstance that the
defendants disregarded the respect due to the offended party. It does not appear that the
defendants deliberately intended to insult the rank of Leocadio de Castro as barrio captain.
(People v. Talay)
Ex:
 A private citizen who attacked and injured a person in authority.
 Killing a judge because he was strict or because of resentment which the accused harbored
against him as a judge.
 Killing of an army general
 Murder by a pupil of his teacher

B. Age
- The circumstance applies to tender age as well as to old age.
- Not applicable in robbery with homicide. Robbery with homicide is primarily a crime against
property and not against persons. Homicide is a mere incident of the robbery, the latter being the
main purpose and object of the criminal.

Ex:

 Aggressor is a 45 year old, while the victim was an octogenarian.

 Accused was the grandson of the decease.
C. Sex
- Refers to the female sex, not the male sex.
- Not applicable in the absence of evidence that the accused deliberately intended to offend or insult
the sex of the victim or showed manifest disrespect to her womanhood (e.g. A killed B because she
broke up with him)
- Disregard of sex is absorbed in treachery

Ex:

 Accused killed a female relative of the killers to take revenge on them.

 Direct assault upon a lady teacher.

Rank, Age, Sex Not Applicable In Certain Cases:

 When the offended party acted with passion and obfuscation

 When there exists a relationship between the offended party and the offender
 When the condition of being a woman is indispensable in the commission of the crime.
Ex:
Parricide, Rape, Abduction, Seduction

D. Dwelling
- Can be temporary dwelling
- A building or structure, exclusively used for rest and comfort.
- Combination of house and store or a market stall where the victim slept is not a dwelling.
- Considered as an aggravating circumstance because of the sanctity of privacy the law accords to
human adobe. According to a commentator one’s dwelling place is a “sanctuary worthy of respect”
and that one who slanders another in another in the latter’s house is more guilty than he who
offends him elsewhere.
- The evidence must show clearly that the defendant entered the house of the deceased to attack
him.
- Prosecution must prove that no provocation was given by the offended party.
- It applies even if the offender did not enter the dwelling. (e.g. shot from under the house ,
triggerman was outside the house when he shot the victim)
- Applicable if the commission of the crime began in the dwelling and killing took outside.
(e.g. Abduction and illegal detention which began from the victim’s house)
- Dwelling include dependencies (e.g. foot of the staircase, enclosure under the house)
- Applicable if the victim has two or multiple houses
- Applicable in boarding houses, paternal home, sleeping in the guest of the house of another
- Adultery committed in the conjugal home since she violated the respect due the conjugal home
and committed a grave offense against the head of the house.
- Dwelling is not included in treachery
 Offended party must not give provocation

- It is a “sine qua non” condition

- When offended party who has provoked the incident, he losses his right to the respect and
consideration due him in his own house.

Provocation Must Be:

 Given by the owner of the dwelling

 Sufficient
 Immediate to the commission of the crime

Not Applicable:

- If all this condition are present, the crime committed in the dwelling of the offended party is not an
aggravating circumstance of dwelling.
- If provocation is not immediate, dwelling is aggravating.
- Not applicable when victim was called down from the house and was murdered in the vicinity of
the house
- Both offender and offended party are occupants of the house
- Robbery but aggravating if with violence against or intimidation and if with homicide
- Trespass to dwelling
- On the ground floor of a 2 storey structure where lower is being used for business.
- When the paramour lives in the house. It would be considered as abuse of confidence if the
offended party treated him as a son.
4. That the act be committed with abuse of confidence or obvious ungratefulness.

Abuse of Confidence
- Exist when the offended party trusted the offender who later abuses such trust by committing the
crime. The abuse of confidence must be a means of facilitating the commission of the crime, the
culprit taking advantage of the offended party’s belief that the former would not abuse said
confidence.

Requisites:

a. Offended party had trusted the offender.

b. Offender abused such trust by committing a crime against the offended party
c. Abuse of confidence facilitated the crime.

Ex:

- Killing of a child by a domestic servant of the family

 Not Applicable:

- When victim was with offender because they were business partners
- When victim lost confidence in the offender (e.g. maid who flee because the master made an
indecent proposal but the later followed a raped her)
- Betrayal of Confidence (e.g. parents entrusted their child to the offender, who raped the former
because the girl could resist but it is different if the victim of the rape was a 9 month old baby
because the confidence reposed by the parents in the offender facilitated the commission of the
crime)
- Abuse of confidence inherent in some felonies (e.g. malversation, qualified theft, qualified
seduction, estafa by conversion or misappropriation)

Ungratefulness

- must be obvious
- manifest and clear

Ex:
- Security guard killed a bank officer and robbed the bank
- Visitor who commits robbery or theft in the house of the host.
- Offender killed his father-in-law whose house he live and partially supported him.

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.
- Official or religious functions, not necessary if it is Malacanang Palace or church.
- Chief Executive need not be in the Palace. Any crime in his presence alone is aggravating
- Other public authorities must be actually engaged in the performance of duty.
- Offender must have intention to commit a crime when he entered the place

Public authorities are engaged in the discharge of their duties (Par.5) VS. Contempt or insult to public
authorities (Par.2)

1. Both the public authorities are in the performance of their duties.

2. Under Par.5. the public authorities who are in the performance of their duties must be in their office,
while in Par. 2, the public authorities are performing their duties outside their office
3. Par.2 public authority should not be the offended party, in Par.5 he may be the offended party.

6. That the crime be committed in the night time, or in an uninhabited place, or by a band, whenever such
circumstances may facilitate the commission of the offense.chanrobles virtual law library

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.chanrobles virtual law library

- The elements can be considered separately when their elements are distinctly perceived and acan
subsist independently, revealing greater deal of perversity (People v. Santos
Nighttime, uninhabited place or band is aggravating when:

a. When it facilitated the commission of the crime

b. When especially sought for by the offender to insure the commission of the crime or for the
purpose of impunity.
c. When the offender took advantage thereof for the purpose of impunity

Note:

- Not applicable when the meeting of the victim and offender was casual.

1. Nighttime
- Period of darkness beginning at end of dusk and ending at dawn. From sunset to sunrise.
- Nocturnity should not be estimated as an aggravating circumstance, since the time of the
commission of the crime was not chosen by the accused, if it appears that accused took advantage
of the darkness for the more successful consummation of his plans to prevent his being recognized
and that the crime might be perpetrated unmolested.
- Nighttime by and of itself is not aggravating . It only becomes so when it is especially sought for or
taken advantage by the offender.
- Commission of the crime must begin and accomplished in the nighttime.
- Must be actually committed in the darkness of the night.
- Place of the crime is illuminated by light, not aggravating
- Using matchstick and flashlight does not negate the aggravating circumstance.
- Objective test- If it facilitates the commission of the offense
- Subjective Test- It was purposely sought by the offender.
2. Uninhabited Place
- One where there are no houses at all, a place at a considerable distance from town or where the
house are scattered at a great distance from each other.
- Determine d not by distance of the nearest house to the scene of the crime, but whether or not in
the place of its commission, there was reasonable possibility of the victim receiving some help. (e.g.
killing was done 100 meters from a house but the tall sugarcane prevents the victim from being
seen)
- Solitude must be sought for to better attain the criminal purpose. For an and an uninterputted
accomplishment of the criminal design or to insure concealment of the offense.
- Should not be considered when the place where the crime was committed could be seen and the
voice of the decease could be heard from a nearby house.
- Accidental discovery of a witness not an argument to discredit aggravating circumstance.
- When the victims are the occupants of the only house in the place.

3. By a band.
- Whenever more than 3 armed malefactors shall acted together in the commission of an offense, it
shall be deemed to have been committed by a band.
- Not applicable if there are multiple armed men and only one committed the crime.
- Stone is included in the term “arms”
 - Abuse of superior strength and use of firearms is absorbed in the aggravating circumstance of “by
the band”
- Inherent in Brigandage
- Applicable in Robbery with homicide.

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

earthquake, epidemic or other calamity or misfortune.
- Form of criminality met in on who, in the midst of a great calamity, instead of lending
aid to the afflicted , adds to their suffering by taking advantage of their misfortune to
despoil them.
- Not applicable when offended party provoked the offender.
- “ Other calamity or misfortune” refers to a “chaotic condition”
- Engine trouble of a ship or boat not enough to be considered as “other calamity or
misfortune”

8. That the crime be committed with the aid of armed men or persons who insure
or afford impunity.
- Casual presence of armed men near the place where the crime was committed does
not constitute an aggravating circumstance when it appears that the accused did not
avail himself of their aid or rely upon them to commit the crime.
- Absorbed by “employment of a band”
- Armed men must take part directly or indirectly.
- Present even if one of the offender merely relied on their aid, for actual aid is not
necessary.
- Includes armed women

Requisites:
a. That armed men or persons took part in the commission of the crime, directly or
indirectly
b. That the accused availed himself of their aid or relied upon them when the crime
was committed.

Ex:

- Robbery with rape when the offended had armed companions

Xpns:

- Both parties were armed equally

- When 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

Difference from “by a band”

- More than 3 armed malefactors shall have acted together

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.

Requisites:

a. The offender is on trial for an offense

b. He was previously convicted by final judgement of another crime
c. Both the first and the second offenses are embraced in the same title of this code
d. The offender is convicted of the new offense