PERSONS CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR FELONIES

For Grave and Less Grave Felonies:1

1. Principals2
2. Accomplices3
3. Accessories4

For Light Felonies:

1. Principals
2. Accomplices

Accessories are not liable for light felonies.

The following are considered principals:

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

2. Those who directly force or induce others to commit it
3. Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without
which it would not have been accomplished

Three Kinds of Principals:

1. Principal by Direct Participation – those who take a direct part in the execution
of the act.

The principal by direct participation personally and directly takes part in

the execution of the act constituting the crime. He commits the crime, so to speak.

“Personally took part in the execution” – that the principal by direct

participation must be at the scene of the commission of the crime personally
taking part in its execution.

2. Principal by Induction – those who directly force or induce others to commit a

crime.

The inducement may come in the form of giving price, reward or promise.
It may also be through words constitutive of command.

For inducement to spell criminal liability, it must be made directly for the
purpose of procuring the commission of the crime or be the determinative cause
of the commission of the crime by the one induced.

He becomes liable only as such when the principal by direct participation

committed the act induced.

One cannot be held guilty as principal by induction 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
1
Article 16, RPC
2
Article 17, RPC
3
Article 18, RPC
4
Article 19, RPC
 principal by direct participation without a principal inducement or indispensable
cooperation.

A and his gang of robbers threatened to kill all the bank

employees if the bank manager refuses to open the vault of
the bank. The manager was constrained to open the vault
and the robbers emptied the vault. The bank manager is not
criminally liable because he acted under the compulsion of
an uncontrollable fear.

X induced Y to kill A. X promised to give Y P220,000.00.

Y killed A because of the promise. X is liable as principal
by inducement. Y is liable as principal by direct
participation.

Marivic confided to her friend Gigi that her marital life had
been miserable because she married an irresponsible and
philandering husband. Gigi remarked: “A husband like that
deserves to be killed.” Marivic killed her husband. Is Gigi a
principal by inducement? No. A thoughtless expression is
not an inducement to kill.

The inducement must precede the act induced and must be so influential in
producing the criminal act that without it the act would have been performed.

3. Principal by Indispensable Cooperation – those who cooperate in the

commission of the offense by another act without which the crime would not have
been committed.

Cooperates with the principal by direct participation and without whose

participation the crime would have been committed. He cooperates after coming
to know the criminal intent of the principal by direct participation.

Determine the cooperation rendered by the offender whether dispensable

or indispensable. If indispensable, he is liable as principal by indispensable
cooperation, but if the cooperation is dispensable, he is liable as an accomplice.

X wanted to kill Y who resides in an island. The only

means to reach the island is to ride on the motorboat owned
by A. X told A to bring him to the island because he is
going to kill Y. A brought X to the island where X killed Y.
A is a principal by indispensable cooperation. His
motorboat is the only means to reach the island where Y
resides. Without his cooperation X would not have killed
Y.

Who are considered as Accomplices?5

Accomplices are those who, not being principals or accessories cooperate in the
execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.

They have no part in the conspiracy but concur or conform to the act of the
principal by direct participation.

5
Article 18, RPC
 An accomplice is also known as accessory before the fact.

Requisites:

1. There must be a community of design, that is knowing the criminal design of

the principal by direct participation, he concurs with the latter in his purpose
2. 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
3. There must be a relation between the acts done by the principal and those
attributed to the person charged as accomplice.

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

participation.

A stabbed B. C who was a few feet away saw what A did.

C boxed and kicked B. B died because of the stab wound.
A is liable as principal by direct participation because he
was the one who killed the victim. For his part, C is liable
as an accomplice. By boxing and kicking B after he saw
that A stabbed B, he concurred with the act of A and
cooperated by performing a lesser act.

On July 5, 2006, A and B conspired to rob X. On the

following day, July 6, 2006, A and B told C about their
plan to rob X and asked C to drive for them in going to the
house of X. C drove A and B to the house of X where A
and B committed Robbery. A and B are liable as principals
by direct participation because they committed the crime of
Robbery. C is an accomplice. He was not part of the
conspiracy but after he came to know about it, he concurred
to the plan and cooperated by driving A and B to the house
of the victim.

An accomplice is not a part of the plan or conspiracy.

An accomplice is neither a principal nor an accessory but who cooperates with the
principal by direct participation after coming to know about the conspiracy or after
witnessing the commission of the crime by previous or simultaneous acts,

An accomplice concurs or approves the act of the principal by direct participation

and performs other acts showing his conformity to the act of the principal by direct
participation.

The cooperation of the accomplice is only necessary, not indispensable.

To hold a person liable as an accomplice, two elements must concur: (a) the
community of criminal design, that is, knowing the criminal design of the principal by
direct participation, he concurs with the latter in his purpose; (b) the performance of
previous or simultaneous acts that are not indispensable to the commission of the crime.6

How does an accomplice acquire knowledge of the criminal design of the

principal?

6
People vs Pilola, 405 SCRA 134
 1. When the principal informs or tells the accomplice of his criminal purpose.
2. When the accomplice saw the criminal acts of the principal and concurs with
it.

Who are considered Accessories?

Accessories are those who having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and
without having participated therein, either as principals or accomplices, take part
subsequent to its commission in any of the following manners:

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

Jimmy stole the money of Carlos, Jimmy later gave Mando

P5,000 out of the stolen money. Is Mando an accessory?
No, because he did not know that the money given to him
by Jimmy was stolen.

Suppose Jimmy told him that the P5,000.00 is part of the

money he stole from Carlos, is Mando an accessory? Yes,
because he knew that the money was stolen, and he profited
from it.

Ranie stole the cellphone of Erica. Ranie went to Jason and

told him that he stole the cellphone because he is in dire
need of money. Ranie asked Jason to pawn the cellphone
for him which Jason did and gave the proceeds to Ranie. Is
Jason an accessory? Yes, Jason is an accessory. Despite his
knowledge that the cellphone was stolen he assisted Ranie
to profit from it.

If the act of an accessory however is punished as a principal by another law, then

he may be charged as a principal.

A robbed the cellphone of B in Manila. A went to Baguio

City and gave the cellphone to his friend C who kept and
used it. A told C that he stole the cellphone. C is not an
accessory. He is a Fence under PD 1612 (Anti-Fencing
Law) because he knowingly possessed an item which was a
proceed of the crime of Robbery.

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

thereof, in order to prevent its discovery.

A killed B. After killing B, A went to C and told him about

the crime that he had just committed. A asked C to conceal
the cadaver of B. C dumped the cadaver of B in an empty
well and covered it with stones. C is an accessory because
he concealed the body of the crime.

A killed B with a .45 caliber gun. A was pursued by the

authorities. A went to his friend C and after telling him
about the crime that he committed asked C to hide the gun
that he used in the commission thereof. C hid the gun. C is
liable as an accessory. He concealed the instrument of the
crime.
 A stole the laptop computer of B. Thereafter, A went to his
friend C and after informing him that he stole the item,
asked C to hide the laptop computer for him which C did. C
is liable as an accessory because he concealed the effects of
the crime.

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

crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever
the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take
the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other
crime.

Two kinds of accessories under par. 3 of Article 19

1. Public officer who harbors, conceals, or assists in the escape of the principal of
any crime except for light felony with abuse of his public functions.

A mayor who refuses to prosecute an offender, thus,

allowing him to escape, acts with abuse of public functions
and is an accessory.

X with intent to kill stabbed Y. The latter was medically

attended for 5 days. X was pursued by policemen. X went
to SPO 2 Joseph and after apprising him of the crime that
he has just committed, asked his policeman friend to assist
in his escape. SPO 2 Joseph assisted in the escape of Y. Is
SPO 2 Joseph an accessory? Yes, SPO 2 Joseph is an
accessory. The crime committed by X is Attempted
Homicide because there was intent to kill and no mortal
wound was inflicted. Medical attendance for 5 days
indicates that the wound inflicted is slight. Attempted
Homicide is not a light felony because it is punishable with
Prision Correctional (6 months and 1 day to 6 years). What
if the crime committed by X is Slight Physical Injuries, will
your answer be the same? No. If that were the case, SPO2
Joseph is not an accessory. Slight Physical Injuries is a
light felony. He can be an accessory only if the crime
committed by the principal is not a light felony.

2. Private persons who harbor, conceal or assist in the escape of the author of the
crime or the principal who is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt
against the life of the Chief Executive; and who is known to be habitually guilty
of some other crimes.

A and B had an altercation which resulted in a flight

between them. In the course of the fight, A killed B. A was
chased by the responding policeman. A went to his friend C
and sought his help to prevent his arrest. Despite knowing
that A killed B, C harbored, concealed and assisted in the
escape of A. Is C an accessory? No, C is not an accessory.
The crime committed by the principal A is Homicide. The
killing of B was not attended by any qualifying aggravating
circumstance that would elevate the crime to Murder.
Homicide is not included in the enumeration.
 A killed B with treachery. A was chased by policemen. A
went to his friend X and sought refuge in the latter’s house.
X kept him from the authorities. Is X an accessory? It
depends. If X knew that A committed a crime, then he is an
accessory. The crime committed by A is murder, the killing
being attended by the qualifying aggravating circumstance
of treachery. However, if X did not know that A committed
a crime then he is not liable.

What if X knew that A committed the crime of murder and

yet he assisted in his escape, is X an accessory? Yes, X is
an accessory. The law uses the word “guilty” which implies
conviction first of the principal before the accessory could
be adjudged guilty as such.

Accessories who are exempt from criminal liability

This exemption applies only when the acts performed by the accessory are those
pertaining to paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 19.

Under Article 19, a private person who harbors, conceals, or assists in the escape
of the principal who is guilty of Treason, Parricide, Murder, attempt to take the life of the
Chief Executive or is known to be a habitual delinquent is liable as an accessory.

On October 5, 1995 Masangkay, Caranto and Andres were

having a drinking spree in the compound of Ortega. While
drinking, Ortega and his brother-in-law Garcia, arrived and
joined them. Later, Masangkay went to the back portion of
the house to answer the call of nature. Ortega followed him.
While Masangkay was urinating, Ortega stabbed him at the
back twice. Masangkay fell to the ground and died as a
result. Thereafter, Ortega summoned Garcia and informed
the latter that he killed Masangkay. Ortega asked Garcia to
dump the body of the victim in the nearby deep well to
prevent its discovery which Garcia did. What are the
criminal liabilities of Ortega and Garcia?

a. Ortega is liable for Murder. The killing was attended by

the qualifying aggravating circumstance of treachery. The
facts of the case clearly show that Ortega deliberately
attacked Masangkay while the latter was urinating.
Masangkay was not in a position to defend himself.

b. On the other hand, Garcia is an accessory. He assisted

Ortega in concealing the body of the crime. However, he
cannot be convicted as an accessory after the fact because
the principal Ortega, is his brother-in-law. Such
relationship exempts Garcia from criminal liability as
provided for under Article 20 of the Revised Penal Code.