FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW

Characteristics of penal laws:

1. Generality – penal laws are binding on all persons who live or sojourn in the Philippines
2. Prospective – penal laws are prospective in application, except when favorable to the
accused who is not a habitual delinquent
3. Territoriality – penal laws are applicable to all crimes committed within Philippine
territory

XPN to the territoriality rule (extraterritorial application of Philippine penal laws):

Although the following offenses may be committed outside of the Philippine territory,
Philippine penal laws may nevertheless be enforced against an offender who:
a. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;
b. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippines or obligations
and securities issued by the Government of the Philippines;
c. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into the Philippines of the
said obligations and securities;
d. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise
of their functions; or
e. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations

On the 1st exception. The country of registry, not the ownership, determines its nationality. Thus,
if a Filipino-owned vessel is registered in Japan, the vessel is considered as a Japanese ship. A
crime committed onboard a Philippine merchant vessel sailing on the high seas is triable within
the Philippines, but when the crime is committed while the vessel is within the territorial sea of a
foreign country, jurisdiction pertains to that foreign country. On the other hand, warships and
official vessels are extensions of the country’s territory, wherever they may be located.

On the 5th exception. Crimes against national security (treason, espionage) and crimes against the
law of nations (inciting to war and giving motives for reprisals, violation of neutrality,
correspondence with hostile country, flight to enemy country, piracy and mutiny in the high seas)
are triable in Philippine courts, wherever they may be committed. Rebellion, if committed
abroad, is not triable in the Philippines because rebellion is a crime against public order.

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

Acts and omissions punishable by the RPC are felonies. Those penalized by special laws are
called offenses. Acts committed in violation of an ordinance are called infractions.

According to commission:
Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of fault (culpa).
1. Dolo/deceit – those committed with deliberate intent, e.g. murder

2. Culpa/fault – those committed by means of fault, e.g. reckless imprudence. There is fault
when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or lack of
skill.

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Requisites of felonies committed by dolo
a. Freedom
b. Intelligence
c. Intent – refers to the use of a particular means to bring about the desired result, e.g. the
use of a lethal weapon shows intent to kill

If any of the foregoing elements is not present, then the accused cannot be held liable for a
felonious act committed by dolo. The act cannot be criminal unless the mind is criminal. Stated
simply, lack of criminal intent negates criminal liability.

Criminal intent is always presumed from the commission of a felonious act (general criminal
intent). Thus, when a victim dies, intent to kill is presumed. But where the victim survives, intent
to kill becomes a specific criminal intent which cannot be presumed but must be alleged and
proved. In other words, when the act is equivocal, it could result to variant crimes such as
physical injuries, attempted or frustrated homicide or murder. In such a case, the specific
criminal intent (to kill) must be proved in order to hold him liable for homicide or murder.

Not all crimes are committed with criminal intent. In felonies committed by culpa, and those
which are considered as mala prohibita, the criminal intent of the offender is immaterial and
conviction may be had regardless of the absence of criminal intent.

Motive is the moving power which impels a person to a desired result. It is different from intent
which is the means used to accomplish the desired result, e.g. gun to kill. Motive is generally
immaterial in determining criminal liability because it is not an essential element of a crime.

However, motive is relevant under the following instances:

a. When the act committed gives rise to variant crimes. Motive then becomes relevant in
determining the crime committed
b. When there is doubt as to whether the accused committed the crime, or there is doubt as
to the identity of the accused
c. When the evidence on the commission of the crime is purely circumstantial

Requisites of felonies committed by culpa

a. Freedom
b. Intelligence
c. Negligence/imprudence

Felonies committed by culpa refer to those mentioned in Art. 3; hence, killing, for instance, is
denominated homicide through reckless imprudence. In Art. 365, culpa itself is the crime
punished, thus the killing is denominated as reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

According to stage of execution

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 1. Consummated - A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its
execution and accomplishment are present

2. Frustrated - A felony 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.
3. Attempted - 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.

*** Formal Felonies v. Material Felonies

Formal felonies are those which are always consummated because the offender cannot
perform all the acts of execution without consummating the offense, such as physical
injuries.
Material felonies are those which have various stages of execution.

Attempted stage Frustrated stage

As to acts of execution
As to cause of non-
accomplishment
Phase
Offender does not perform
all acts of execution
By reason of some cause or
accident other than his own
spontaneous desistance
Offender is still in the
subject phase as he still has
control over his acts
Offender performed all the
acts of execution
By reason of some cause
independent of the will of
the perpetrator
Offender is already in the
objective phase

According to gravity
1. Grave felonies – those to which the law attaches the capital punishment (death) or
penalties which in any of their periods are afflictive (reclusion perpetua, reclusion
temporal, prision mayor).
2. Less grave felonies - those which the law punishes with penalties which in their
maximum period are correctional (prision correccional, arresto mayor, destierro)
3. Light felonies - those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding P40,000 pesos or both, is provided.

Grave and less grave felonies

- punishable in all stages, whether attempted, frustrated or consummated.
- Principals, accomplices and accessories are liable

Light felonies
- punishable only when they have been consummated, with the exception of those
committed against person or property. Thus, light felonies committed against persons or
property are punishable in all stages.
- Only principals and accomplices are liable

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According to nature
An act or omission may either be inherently evil (mala in se) or evil because there is a law
prohibiting it (mala prohibita)

Crimes mala in se Crimes mala prohibita

Generally punished by the RPC
Basis of the liability is the intent of the
offender
Since the basis of the liability is the intent of
the offender, the lack of criminal intent or
good faith is available as a defense
Generally involve moral turpitude
Generally punished by special penal laws
Basis of liability is voluntariness in doing the
prohibited act; the criminal intent of the
offender is immaterial
Lack of criminal intent or good faith is not
available as a defense
Moral turpitude is not involved

Whether a crime should be classified as malum in se or malum prohibitum is determined by the

nature of the act or omission. For instance, the Plunder Law is a special law but the crime of
plunder is malum in se, that is inherently evil.

Rules on absorption
1. The general rule is that a mala in se crime cannot absorb mala prohibita crimes. This is
because mala in se crimes are based on criminal intent while mala prohibita crimes are
based on mere violation of a law
2. Sometimes, special penal laws expressly disallow absorption. e.g. BP 22 does not absorb
estafa by postdating a check; illegal recruitment under the Migrant Workers’ Act does not
absorb estafa; violation of the Anti-Torture Law does not absorb murder, homicide,
physical injuries. In these instances, the offender may be prosecuted for violation of the
special penal law and the RPC
3. There are instances when special penal laws expressly allow absorption; e.g. statutory
rape under the RPC absorbs sexual abuse under the Child Abuse Law; prosecution for
terrorism under the Human Security Act will bar prosecution for the predicate crimes of
murder, arson, etc.
4. A felony cannot be complexed with an offense for Article 48 does not allow complexing
of a felony with offenses
5. But special complex crimes are possible for offenses and felonies, like carnapping with
homicide
6. Thus, when an act offends against a provision of the RPC and a special penal law, the
offender can be prosecuted for
a. Two crimes, when the offense and the felony do not absorb each other

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 b. One crime, when the special penal law bars the prosecution of other offenses
c. One crime, when it absorbs the other crimes as an element or as an aggravating
circumstance

WHO ARE CRIMINALLY LIABLE.

Criminal liability is incurred [Art. 4]

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 (impossible crime).

There are two kinds of offenders: (i) those who commit a felony, whether by dolo or by culpa,
and (ii) those who commit an impossible crime.

Par. 1 provides that a person is liable for committing a felony although the wrongful act done be
different from that which he intended. Related to this are:

a. Error in personae - Mistake in identity of the intended victim

There are 2 persons involved: the offender and the victim.

The applicable penalty depends on whether the intended crime and the actual crime
committed are punished with similar or different penalties. There is no effect if both
crimes are punished with similar penalties. But if the intended crime and the actual
crime are punished with different penalties, the lesser penalty is imposed in its
maximum period.

Offender intended to kill his neighbor but killed his father instead. The intended
crime is homicide and the actual crime committed is parricide. The applicable
penalty, pursuant to Art. 49, is the penalty for homicide (because it is lesser than the
penalty for parricide), the same to be imposed in its maximum period.

b. Aberratio ictus - Mistake in the blow

The offender intends the injury on someone else but the harm fell on another. There
are 3 persons involved in aberratio ictus: the offender, the intended victim and the
unintended victim.

The act may result in a complex crime under Art. 48, or in two felonies, although
there is a single criminal intent. When a single act constitutes two or more crimes, or

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 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.

Treachery and evident premeditation are appreciated in aberratio ictus. Thus, if the
offender planned of shooting A from a distance but the bullet hit and killed B instead,
the complex crime of murder (of B) with attempted murder (of A) is committed. If B
survives, the complex crime of attempted murder (of A) with physical injuries (of B)
is committed because of the absence of intent to kill the unintended victim. The
penalty to be imposed on the offender is that of the most serious crime, to be applied
in its maximum period.

c. Praeter intentionem - Injurious consequence is greater than that intended

This is considered as a mitigating circumstance (no intention to cause so grave a
wrong as that committed). But it is essential that there be a notable disparity between
the means employed and the resulting injury/felony.

d. Mistake of fact
Mistake of fact is the misapprehension of facts on the part of the person who caused
the injury. This is an absolutory cause because the accused acted without criminal
intent. Requisites:
1. The act done would have been lawful had the facts been as the accused believe
them to be;
2. The intention of the accused in performing the act is lawful; and
3. The accused acted without fault or carelessness
Mistake of fact is relevant only in dolo, not in crimes committed by culpa.

e. Doctrine of proximate cause

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

Impossible crime
1. The acts performed would have been a crime against persons or property
2. There is criminal intent
3. It is not accomplished because of inherent impossibility or because the means employed
is inadequate or ineffectual

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 CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT FELONY
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.

Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only in the cases in which the law
specially provides a penalty therefor.
e.g. a. Conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion or insurrection,
b. Conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’etat
c. Conspiracy to commit sedition

There are 2 concepts of conspiracy: conspiracy as a crime by itself, and conspiracy as basis of
incurring criminal liability.

As a basis of incurring criminal liability, it is necessary to determine whether there is conspiracy

by prior agreement or implied conspiracy.

A. Conspiracy by prior agreement – a conspirator is liable as long as he appeared in the situs

of the crime, but the mastermind/principal by inducement is liable even if he does not so
appear. In this kind of conspiracy, the liability of the conspirators is only for the crime
agreed upon, except
i. When another crime is committed in their presence and they did not prevent
its commission, in which case, there is acquiescence in the commission of the
other crimes;
ii. When the other crime is the natural consequence of the crime planned; or
iii. When the resulting crime is a composite crime or special complex crime
considered as a single indivisible penalty, unless the conspirator is not aware
of the commission of the unplanned crime
B. Implied conspiracy – Means that the conspirators acted in concert pursuant to a common
criminal design, at the moment of the commission of the crime. In order to hold a person
liable, he must have participated in the commission of the crime. His mere presence,
without more, will not make him liable.

Two structures of multiple conspiracy.

1. Wheel/circle conspiracy – there is a single person or a group of persons (hub) dealing
individually with two or more persons or groups (spokes)
2. Chain conspiracy – this usually involves the distribution of narcotics or other contraband.
In this type of conspiracy, there is successive communication and cooperation between
manufacturer and wholesaler, then wholesaler and retailer, and then retailer and
consumer.

Conspiracy need not be established by direct evidence. It may be inferred from the conduct of
the accused before, during and after the commission of the crime, showing a community of
criminal design.

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The elements of conspiracy must be proved. It must be shown that each co-accused cooperated in
the commission of the offense – either morally through advice or agreement, or materially
through external acts. A positive finding of such conspiracy will make all the accused equally
answerable as co-principals, regardless of the degree of their participation in the commission of
the crime.

However, a conspirator may be held liable differently if there is present a circumstance personal
to him. Thus, one may be held liable for murder but his co-conspirator may be convicted for
homicide because the former killed the victim with treachery and the employment of such
treachery is unknown to the latter.

Special Penal Laws

- The general rule is that special penal laws are not subject to the provisions of the RPC.
- XPN: The RPC shall have supplementary application to the SPLs whenever the latter
uses the nomenclature of penalties in the RPC, in which case:
a. The system of penalties under the RPC shall apply; hence, the modifying
circumstances shall be considered in the determination of penalty
b. In the imposition of penalties under the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the rules under
the RPC shall be followed, not the rules for special laws

The circumstances which affect or modify criminal liability are:

a. Justifying circumstances under Art. 11
b. Exempting circumstances under Art. 12
c. Mitigating circumstances under Arts. 13 and 15
d. Aggravating circumstances under Arts. 14 and 15
e. Absolutory causes – exempting circumstances outside Art. 12
f. Extenuating – mitigating circumstances not found in Art. 13, such as concealment of
dishonor in abortion

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 ABSOLUTORY CAUSES
1. Instigation
In instigation, the criminal intent originates from the mind of the instigator and the
accused is lured into the commission of the offense charged in order to prosecute him.
Instigation is an absolutory cause.

Entrapment, on the other hand, is the employment of ways and means for the purpose of
trapping or capturing a lawbreaker. The idea to commit the crime originates from the
accused. Entrapment is not an absolutory cause.

There is no instigation when the police operatives repeatedly asks the accused to sell
them shabu. The “decoy solicitation” is not prohibited by law and does not invalidate a
buy-bust operation.

2. Attempted/frustrated stage in light felonies, unless the crime is committed against persons
and property
3. Accessories in light felonies
4. Relatives who are accessories, except when they profit from the crime
5. Slight physical injuries inflicted under Art. 247
6. Certain relatives in the crimes of estafa, theft and malicious mischief

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 JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES

Justifying circumstances are those where the acts of a person are in accordance with law, thus he
incurs no criminal liability. Since there is no crime, there is no civil liability.

XPN: A person who acted in a state of necessity does not incur criminal and civil liability. The
civil liability shall be borne by those who benefitted from the harm avoided.

1. Self-defense. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the following
circumstances concur:
a. Unlawful aggression
b. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it;
c. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.

Unlawful aggression must be real or at least imminent. It must be of such character as to put in
real peril the life, property or safety of the person defending himself, or of others being defended,
and not an imagined threat.

Reasonable necessity of the means employed depends upon the circumstances surrounding the
aggression, the state of mind of the aggressor and the available weapon at the defender’s
disposal. It does not imply commensurability between the means of the attack and defense – the
law requires a rational equivalence.

2. Defense of relatives. Anyone 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 4th civil degree, provided
that there is:
a. Unlawful aggression
b. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it;
c. In case the provocation was given by the person attacked, that the one making
defense had no part therein.

3. Defense of strangers. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a stranger,
provided that there is
a. Unlawful aggression
b. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it;
c. The person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment, or other evil
motive.

4. State of necessity. 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:

a. The evil sought to be avoided actually exists;

b. The injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;
c. There is no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.

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The state of necessity must not be caused by the negligence or violation of the law of the actor;
otherwise, this justifying circumstance cannot be invoked.
5. Fulfillment of duty/ Exercise of a right. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or
in the lawful exercise of a right or office.
a. The offender acted in the performance of a duty or the lawful exercise of a right
or office;
b. The injury caused or the offense committed is the necessary consequence of the
due performance of such right or office.

The duty of a police officer to arrest suspects does not include any right to shoot them to death.
Shooting people to death is not a necessary consequence of the due performance of his duty as a
police officer.

6. Obedience to superior order. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a
superior for some lawful purpose.

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 EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES

An exempting circumstance presupposes that the act done by the offender is criminal, but there is
no criminal liability because there is want of intelligence, freedom or intent on the part of the
offender. Since there is a crime, it follows that there is also a civil liability. In a justifying
circumstance, the person acted in accordance with law and therefore, there is no crime and there
is also no civil liability.

1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid interval.

2. A person under 15 years of age.

3. A person over 15 years of age and under 18, unless he has acted with discernment
A child in conflict with the law shall enjoy the presumption of minority. In case of doubt as to
his age, it shall be resolved in his favor so that he can enjoy all the rights of a CICL, until he is
proven to be 18 or older. Any person contesting the age of the CICL has the burden of proving
otherwise.

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.
a. The accused was performing a lawful act with due care;
b. The injury is caused by mere accident; and
c. There was no fault or intent of causing the injury.

If there is fault, there is a culpable felony (culpa). If there is intent, there is an intentional felony
(dolo). The exempting circumstance of accident presupposes that the injury arise from a lawful
act. The act of firing a shotgun in the air is not a lawful; hence, the exempting circumstance of
accident cannot be invoked.

5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of an irresistible force.

The irresistible force must be a physical force of such character that the actor is compelled to do
something against his will so that he is reduced to a mere instrument, completely wanting in
freedom.

6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or greater
injury.
a. A threat which caused the fear of an evil greater than or at least equal to that
which the accused was required to commit;
b. It promised an evil of such gravity and imminence that the ordinary man would
have succumbed to it.
Impulse of uncontrollable fear and irresistible force are similar. They are both grounded on
duress or complete absence of freedom of the actor who has been reduced to a mere instrument
of the principal by inducement.

7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented by some lawful or
insuperable cause.

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13
 MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

An ordinary mitigating circumstance lowers the penalty to the minimum period. This applies
when the penalty is divisible. But if there are 2 ordinary mitigating circumstances and no
aggravating circumstance, the penalty is lowered by one degree. It can be offset by a generic
aggravating circumstance.

Privileged mitigating circumstances lower the penalty by one or two degrees, whether it be a
divisible or indivisible penalty. It cannot be offset by any kind of aggravating circumstance.

Privileged mitigating circumstances

1. Minority (over 15 but under 18, and has acted with discernment)
2. Incomplete justifying/exempting, when majority of the requisites are present. (When
there are only two requisites, the presence of 1 is considered a majority)

Ordinary mitigating circumstances

1. Incomplete justifying/exempting circumstance, when only 1 requisite is present.

2. That the offender is over 70 years.

3. Praeter intentionem. 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.
a. The provocation must be sufficient
b. It must be immediate to the commission of the crime
c. It must originate from the offended party
The provocation or threat must be immediate to the commission of the offense by the accused.
No interval of time is allowed.

5. That the act was committed in 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.

In the vindication of a grave offense, an interval of time is allowed between the commission of
the offense and its vindication as long as the offender is still suffering from the mental agony
brought about by the offense committed against him or his relatives.

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.

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Voluntary surrender and voluntary confession of guilt are independent of each other and can be
simultaneously and separately considered in favor of the offender being based on different
grounds.

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.
The physical defect must be related to the offense committed. It can be invoked by one who is
deaf and dumb who mauled his neighbors because he believed that the latter were making sick
jokes about him.

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. Any other analogous circumstances

e.g. restitution of the missing funds is analogous to voluntary plea of guilt

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 AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES

The aggravating circumstances in Article 14 are generic. If some of them are qualifying in
particular crimes, such as treachery and evident premeditation in murder, it is because the
specific provision makes them so. That is why when there are two circumstances alleged to
qualify the killing as murder, the second circumstance becomes generic for the purpose of
imposing the penalty in the proper period, as long as the second circumstance is found in Art. 14.

Aggravating circumstance, even if there are several of them, can only increase the penalty to the
maximum period within the penalty prescribed by law. The increase can never be by degree.

The list of aggravating circumstances is exclusive to curtail discretion of the judge to determine
what other circumstances may increase the penalty. For instance, where the accused killed 3
persons by reason or on the occasion of the robbery, the accused may only be charged with the
special complex crime of robbery with homicide. The excess deaths cannot be considered as
aggravating circumstance because there is no law providing that additional deaths should be
considered as an aggravating circumstance.

A generic aggravating circumstance can be offset by an ordinary mitigating circumstance. A

qualifying circumstance cannot be offset by any mitigating circumstance. A generic or a
qualifying circumstance must be alleged in the information and proved by the prosecution. Thus,
if a qualifying circumstance is not alleged and proved, it cannot be considered as such or as a
generic aggravating circumstance.

A qualifying circumstance changes the nature of the crime and the designation of the offense and
resultantly increases the penalty to a higher degree. (Under RA 9165, any crime committed under
the influence of drugs is a qualifying circumstance. Thus, a homicide committed under the
influence of drugs will be qualified to murder).

Where one of the aggravating circumstances has been used as a qualifying circumstance, the
others will be considered as generic provided they are alleged in the information and included in
the list of aggravating circumstances under Art. 14. Hence, when treachery has qualified the
crime to murder, evident premeditation should be considered as generic.

An inherent aggravating circumstance is an element of the felony. Thus, it is no longer

considered against the offender.

1. When the offender takes advantage of his public position.

The public official must use the influence, prestige, and ascendancy which his office gives him
in realizing his purpose.

2. That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to the public authorities.
a. the public authority is engaged in the discharge of his duties;
b. offender knows the identity of the public authority; and
c. the crime was committed in his presence.

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The crime must not be against the person in authority for then the crime would be direct assault
and this circumstance will be absorbed therein.
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.
There are 4 circumstances but only one credit should be given if all are present for they all refer
to the circumstance of lack of respect due to the offended party. There must be proof that there is
deliberate intent to offend or insult the age or sex of the victim; thus, it cannot co-exist with
passion or obfuscation where the offender lost his control or reason.

Age refers to both the elderly and the youth. When the victim was barely 6 years old when he
was ruthlessly stabbed 14 times before his body was submerged, it was error not to consider his
age as an aggravating circumstance.

Dwelling refers to a structure exclusively used for rest and comfort.

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.
Performance of public function is necessary only in the offices where public authorities are
engaged in the discharge of their duties. It is not necessary that there be a discharge of public
functions when the felony is committed in the palace of the Chief Executive, or in his presence,
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
3 armed malefactors shall have acted together in the commission of an offense it shall be deemed
to have been committed by a band.

Nighttime, uninhabited place or band must have been specially sought in order to facilitate the
commission of the crime. Band as a generic aggravating circumstance applies to any crime. As a
qualifying circumstance, it applies only to robbery.

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 the RPC.

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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
(reiteracion).

4 types of habituality:
A. Recidivism
B. Reiteracion
C. Habitual delinquency
D. Quasi-recidivism

Recidivism (Art. 14) Reiteracion (Art. 14) Habitual delinquency Quasi-delinquency

Art. 62) (Art. 160)
A recidivist is one The offender has A person is a habitual The offender has
who, at the time of been previously delinquent if within a been previously
his trial for one punished and has period of 10 years convicted by final
crime, shall have served sentence for a from the date of his judgment and before
been previously crime to which the release or last beginning to serve
convicted by final law attaches an equal conviction of the such sentence, or
judgment of another or greater penalty, or crimes of while serving such
crime embraced in for two or more falsification, robbery, sentence, he
the same title of the crimes to which it estafa, theft and committed another
RPC attaches a lighter serious or less serious crime
penalty. physical injuries, he
is found guilty of said
crimes a third time or
oftener.
Requires previous Requires that the There must be 3 The second crime
conviction by final accused has served convictions. The 10- was committed
judgment his sentence for the year period is before the accused
previous offense counted from the date begins to serve, or
of release or while serving his
conviction for the sentence for the first
second crime. crime
Both crimes must be Both crimes need not The crimes involved The first crime may
embraced in the same be embraced in the are FRETSeL be punished by the
Title same Title RPC or by special
law, but the second
crime must be
punished by the RPC
Both crimes must be The crimes may be Both crimes are First crime punished
punished by the RPC punished by the RPC punished by the RPC under RPC/SPL;
or by special laws second crime
punished under RPC
Generic aggravating; Generic aggravating; Special aggravating; Special aggravating;
Can be offset by Can be offset by Cannot be offset by Cannot be offset by

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 ordinary mitigating ordinary mitigating ordinary mitigating ordinary mitigating
circumstance circumstance circumstance. It has circumstance.
its own penalty which
escalates with the
increase in the
number of
convictions

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

The price, promise or reward is the primary consideration in the commission of the crime. A
principal by inducement induces the principal by direct participation for a consideration. This
circumstance is aggravating on the direct participator who was moved to commit the crime for
profit.

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.

a. The time when the offender determined to commit the crime;
b. An act manifestly indicating that he has clung to his determination; and
c. Sufficient lapse of time between such determination and execution to allow him to
reflect upon the consequences of his act.
It must be shown that the execution of the plan was preceded by cool thought and reflection of
the resolution to carry out the criminal intent during the space of time sufficient to arrive at a
calm judgment.

14. That craft, fraud, or disguise be employed.

Craft refers to the cunning and intellectual trickery used by the accused to carry out his evil
design, e.g. feigning friendship in order to lure the victim. Fraud means deceit manifested by
insidious words or machinations. Disguise is resorted to conceal identity.

The employment of craft, fraud or disguise, in order to be appreciated as aggravating

circumstances, must have facilitated the commission of the crime.

15. That advantage be taken of superior strength, or means be employed to weaken the
defense.
Abuse of superior strength is appreciated when there is notorious inequality of forces between
the victim and the aggressor.

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.

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The essence of evident premeditation is cool thought and reflection, the essence of treachery is
the swiftness and the unexpectedness of the attack upon an unsuspecting and unarmed victim.
Treachery is a specific aggravating circumstance because it is present in certain crimes only. It is
qualifying in murder. It is a special aggravating circumstance in serious physical injuries.

Treachery absorbs abuse of superior strength, nighttime.

17. That means be employed or circumstances brought about which add ignominy to the natural
effects of the act.

18. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately augmented by causing
other wrong not necessary for its commission (Cruelty).
Ignominy pertains to the moral order which adds disgrace to the material injury caused by the
crime. There is cruelty when the culprit delights in making his victim suffer slowly and
gradually, causing unnecessary pain in the consummation of the offense. Ignominy relates to
moral suffering; cruelty to physical suffering.

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 15 years of age or by means of
motor vehicles, airships, or other similar means.
Use of motor vehicle is aggravating when purposely chosen to facilitate the commission of the
offense. What is aggravating is the use of motor vehicle to commit the crime and not to escape.

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 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.

The alternative circumstances are:

a. relationship
b. intoxication
c. degree of instruction and education of the offender

The alternative circumstance of relationship is 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.

Relationship is mitigating in crimes against property by analogy to Art. 332 which exempts the
offender for theft, estafa and malicious mischief. In serious physical injuries committed against
the child due to the parent’s excessive chastisement, relationship is not aggravating. In crimes
against chastity, relationship is aggravating. It is neither mitigating nor aggravating in parricide
and qualified rape.

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 high degree of learning should be taken in relation to the crime committed when his
education and training puts him in a better position to commit the crime.

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 PRINCIPALS, ACCOMPLICES AND ACCESSORIES

3 Kinds of Principals
1. Principal by direct participation - Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act.
2. Principal by inducement - Those who directly force or induce others to commit it.
Inducement may be in the form of command, for a consideration, or by any other similar act.
3. Principal by indispensable cooperation - Those who cooperate in the commission of the
offense by another act without which it would not have been accomplished.

Accomplices
Accomplices are those persons who are not principals but cooperate in the execution of the
offense by previous or simultaneous acts. Accomplices know of the criminal design of the
principal and cooperate knowingly or intentionally in a manner which is not indispensable to the
commission of the crime.

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:
a. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the
crime.
b. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments
thereof, in order to prevent its discovery.
c. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal of the
crime, provided the (i) accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or (ii)
whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or (iii) an
attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or (iv) is known to be habitually
guilty of some other crime.

An accomplice participates before or during the commission of the offense; an accessory’s

participation is subsequent to the commission of the offense. An accomplice knows of the
criminal design; an accessory knows of the commission of the offense.

But an accessory may be liable as principal in another crime if his act or omission is also
penalized in a special law. In crimes under special laws or mala prohibita, the offenders
generally are penalized as principals unless otherwise provided.

If the crime is robbery or theft and one bought, sold, possessed, or in any other manner dealt with
the articles which he knew or should know are proceeds of robbery or theft, he is a principal in
the crime of fencing. If he was not charged with fencing in a separate information, then he is
liable only as an accessory.

Those who assist the principal to escape may be prosecuted as principal for obstruction of
justice under PD 1829, provided that a separate information is filed. Obstruction of justice is
committed by any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the
apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases. Unlike Article

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19, PD 1829 does not exempt from criminal liability the relatives of the offender, and it does not
distinguish whether the offender, in whose favor the acts of obstruction were committed, is a
principal, accomplice or accessory.

Accessories Who are Exempt from Criminal Liability.

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
who profit from the crime.

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 PENALTIES
General principles on penalties.
1. Penalties are graduated
2. Penalties are divided into 3 periods (minimum, medium, maximum), except reclusion
perpetua which is indivisible
3. Penalties are classified into principal or accessory. Principal penalties are those
specified by the RPC for specific felonies; they must be imposed by the court expressly
in the dispositive portion of the decision. Accessory penalties are those which follow the
principal penalties and need not be expressly stated in the decision.
4. Penalties are imposed on the principal offender in the consummated stage
5. The court cannot increase the penalty prescribed by any degree no matter how many
aggravating circumstances are present
6. Penalties are understood to be a degree for purposes of lowering the penalty under Art.
69 in applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, or owing to privileged mitigating
circumstances
Thus, even if the provision provides for one or more period of a divisible penalty that is
considered one degree for purposes of lowering the penalty. For instance, if the penalty
prescribed is arresto mayor in its medium period, that is one degree and the penalty next
lower in degree is arresto mayor in its minimum period.

Computation of penalties [Art 28]

If the offender is 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
computed only from the day on which the defendant commences to serve his sentence.

Deduction of Preventive Imprisonment [Art. 29]

Preventive imprisonment (for detention prisoners) may be on account of failure of the accused to
post bail, or if the crime committed is non-bailable.

The detention prisoner is given 4/5 of the stay in detention when he does not agree to be treated
similarly as convicted prisoners. He is given full credit for his detention if he agrees in writing to
abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed on convicts, unless:
a. He is a recidivist or convicted previously twice or more of any crime, or
b. When being summoned for the execution of his sentence, he failed to surrender
voluntarily.

If the accused is a recidivist or if he was convicted previously of two or more crimes, or if he

failed to surrender voluntarily when summoned for the execution of sentence, he is not entitled to
a 4/5 deduction or a full deduction of his preventive imprisonment.

Credit for preventive imprisonment for the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be deducted from
30 years.

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If the accused has undergone preventive imprisonment for a period equal to the possible
maximum imprisonment of the offense charged and his case is not yet terminated, he shall be
released immediately without prejudice to the continuation of the trial. Computation of
preventive imprisonment for purposes of immediate release shall be the actual period of
detention with good conduct time allowance. Recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and
persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage of the GCTA. In case the
maximum penalty to which the accused may be sentenced is destierro, he shall be released after
30 days of preventive imprisonment.

Illustration: Accused was preventively imprisoned from December 1, 2018, and he was finally
convicted on December 1, 2019. In this case, the accused will be given full credit of 1 year if he
agrees in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed on convicts. If he does not
agree, he will be given a credit of 4/5 of the period of his preventive imprisonment. Note,
however, that the credit for his preventive imprisonment, whether full or 4/5, will not apply if he
is a recidivist, etc.

Allowance for good conduct [Art. 97, as amended by RA 10592]

The good conduct of any offender qualified for credit for preventive imprisonment pursuant to
Article 29, or of any convicted prisoner in any penal institution, rehabilitation or detention center
or any other local jail shall entitle him to deductions from the period of his sentence

Note that habitual delinquents, recidivists, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes,
who are detention prisoners cannot avail of the full credit or 4/5 credit of their preventive
imprisonment. In Art. 97, however, they can avail of good conduct allowance regardless if they
are recidivists, convicted of heinous crimes, etc.

COMPLEX CRIMES [Art. 48]

When a single act constitutes two or more crimes, 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.

Article 48 speaks of 2 kinds of plurality of crimes:

A. Compound crime – when a single act constitutes 2 or more grave or less grave felonies.
Thus, when a single act of hurling a grenade results in 3 murders and attempted murders,
only one information for the complex crime of multiple murders and multiple attempted
murders should be filed. If there is an accompanying light felony, the same shall be treated
as a separate offense which should be filed in a separate information.
B. Complex crime proper – when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other.
This means that the first offense is committed to insure and facilitate the commission of the
next crime. It does not include:
i. A crime which is an element of the other for in that case, the former will be absorbed
by the latter.
ii. A crime which has the same element as the other crime committed. Thus, estafa and
falsification of private documents cannot be complexed because they both have the
same element of damage

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 iii. A crime which is incidental to the other such as the taking of a woman from her
house, bringing her to another place to rape her. The taking is incidental to the main
purpose to commit rape; hence, the crime is rape.
iv. Violation of special penal laws
When a complex crime is charged, such as forcible abduction with rape, the prosecution
must allege and prove all the elements of forcible abduction as well as all the elements of
rape.
The penalty for special complex crimes under Art. 48 is the penalty for the most serious crime
in the maximum period.

In determining the proper penalty to be imposed for complex crime in relation to the
Indeterminate Sentence Law:
1. First, determine the penalty for the most serious crime
2. Second, for purposes of determining the next lower degree, the full range of the penalty
prescribed by law for the offense shall be considered, not merely the imposable penalty
because of its complex nature
3. This one-degree lower shall be imposed in its maximum period, following Art. 48
4. The presence of mitigating circumstance would result in imposing a period the court may
deem applicable. Considering, however, that the penalty has to be imposed in the
maximum period, the only effect of this additional mitigating circumstance is to impose
only the minimum portion of that maximum period.

Composite Crimes/Special Complex Crimes are those which are treated as a single indivisible
offense, although comprising two specific crimes, and with one specific penalty. The
characteristics of special complex crimes are: (i) it offends against only one provision of the RPC
or SPLs; (ii) it penalizes 2 specific crimes and imposes one specific penalty; (iii) it absorbs all
other crimes committed in the course of the commission of the crimes.

Examples of special complex crimes:

a. Kidnapping with homicide; with rape; or serious physical injuries
b. Robbery with homicide; with rape; with mutilation; with arson; with serious physical
injuries
c. Attempted robbery with homicide
d. Arson with homicide
e. Rape with homicide
f. Piracy/Mutiny with murder; with homicide; with physical injuries; with rape

Arson with homicide is not a complex crime. If death results by reason or on occasion of arson,
there is a special complex crime of arson with homicide. The deaths are not separate crimes but
are elements of the special complex crime of arson.

e.g. The accused killed 4 persons and the house was burned to conceal the killing. In the course
of the arson, an infant was burned to death. There is a special complex crime of arson with
homicide, and 4 counts of murder, each count aggravated by dwelling. For the SCC of arson with
homicide, the accused should be sentenced to a separate term of reclusion perpetua; and for the 4
counts of murder, 4 terms of reclusion perpetua to be served successively.

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 Complex Crime
Offenses comprising a complex crime are not
specified, i.e. one act results in two or more
grave or less grave felonies or one offense is
necessary to commit the other. There are 2
provisions that are violated
The penalty is that of the most serious crime
to be imposed in its maximum period
The light felony resulting from the same act is
treated separately in another information.
The excess crimes are not absorbed. Hence, in
forcible abduction with multiple rapes, the
first rape is complexed with the abduction, the
excess rapes are treated as separate crimes
Special Complex Crime
Offenses comprising SCC are fixed by law.
There is only one provision of law violated.
The penalty is specified by law
All other felonies of whatever severity and
count are absorbed.
There is only one indivisible felony even if
there are excess counts, e.g. kidnapping with
multiple rapes result in a single crime of
kidnapping with rape. The excess rapes and
homicides are absorbed and they cannot even
be considered as aggravating because these
are not included in Art. 14

When one of the crimes is not proved, the accused can be convicted of the other. In rape with
homicide, if the rape was not proved, the accused may be convicted for homicide. If there is an
allegation of qualifying circumstance, conviction for murder is also proper because the term
“homicide” as used in rape with homicide is to be understood in its generic sense. [The
qualifying circumstance, however, must be alleged in the information and proved]

In continued crime/continuous crime, the offender is impelled by a single criminal impulse but
committed a series of overt acts at about the same time in about the same place and all the overt
acts violate one and the same provision of law. Only one crime shall be charged.

A continuing crime in procedural law is one where any of the elements of the offense were
committed in different localities, e.g. kidnapping, rebellion, treason, violation of BP 22. In a
continuing crime, the accused may be indicted in any of those localities.

Rape; Forcible Abduction; Kidnapping

 If the original intent is to rape, the taking is merely a means to commit the intended
offense in which case, the crime is simple rape. The abduction is merely a necessary
means to bring about the desired result.
 If the intention is to take the woman against her will with lewd designs, there is a
complex crime of forcible abduction with rape. If there are several counts of rape, the
first rape will be complexed with the forcible abduction, and the subsequent rapes shall
be treated as separate crimes.
 If the original intention is to kidnap the woman for ransom and thereafter, rape is
committed as an afterthought, there is a special complex crime of kidnapping with rape.
Excess rapes are absorbed by the special complex crime.

Article 49

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The article treats of the penalty to be imposed in case of error in personae. The penalties for the
intended and the actual crime committed are compared and the lower penalty is imposed in the
maximum period.

If the intended crime is homicide but due to error in personae, the actual crime committed is
parricide, or the intended crime is parricide but the actual crime committed is homicide, either
case, the penalty shall be for homicide.

XPN: The foregoing rule shall not be applicable if the acts committed also constitute an attempt
or frustration of another crime to which the law prescribes a higher penalty, the penalty for the
latter shall be imposed in the maximum period.

Graduating penalties [Art. 61 in rel. to 71]

In cases in which the law prescribes a penalty lower or higher by one or more degrees than
another given penalty, or in determining the penalties to be imposed on principals of frustrated or
attempted felony, or to accomplices or accessories, the following rules shall be observed:

1. Each penalty prescribed by law for every felony is considered a degree. Thus, when the
penalty imposed comprises of 2 periods, the 2-period penalty is considered a degree and
the penalty lower should be composed of 2 periods also. For instance, the penalty for
direct assault is prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods. The penalty
next lower in degree is arresto mayor in its maximum to prision correccional in its
minimum.

2. When the penalty prescribed for the felony is single and indivisible, the penalty next
lower in degree shall be that immediately following that indivisible penalty. e.g. for
reclusion perpetua, the penalty next lower is reclusion temporal

3. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of 2 indivisible penalties, the
penalty next lower in degree shall be that immediately following the lesser penalty. e.g.
for reclusion perpetua to death, the penalty next lower is reclusion temporal.

4. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of 1 or more divisible penalties to
be imposed to their full extent, the penalty next lower in degree shall be that immediately
following the lesser penalty. e.g. for prision mayor to reclusion temporal, the penalty next
lower is prision correccional

5. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of 1 or 2 indivisible penalties and
the maximum period of another divisible penalty, the penalty next lower in degree shall
be composed of the medium and minimum periods of the divisible penalty and the
maximum period of that immediately following. e.g. for reclusion temporal in its
maximum to reclusion perpetua, the penalty next lower is prision mayor in its maximum
to reclusion temporal in its medium.

6. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of several periods, corresponding
to different divisible penalties, the penalty next lower in degree shall be composed of the

28
 three periods down the scale. e.g. for prision mayor in its medium period to reclusion
temporal in its minimum period, the penalty next lower is prision correccional in its
medium period to prision mayor in its minimum period.

Effects of the Attendance of Mitigating or Aggravating Circumstances and of Habitual

Delinquency [Art. 62]

a. Aggravating circumstances which in themselves constitute a crime (e.g. by means of fire

in arson) or which are included in defining a crime (laying hands upon a person in
authority in direct assault) shall not be taken into account for the purpose of increasing
the penalty.

b. Aggravating circumstances inherent in a crime (evident premeditation in robbery) shall

not be taken into account for purposes of increasing the penalty.

c. Aggravating or mitigating circumstances which arise from the moral attributes of the
offender, or from his private relations with the offended party, or from any other personal
cause, shall only serve to aggravate or mitigate the liability of the principals, accomplices
and accessories as to whom such circumstances are attendant.

d. The circumstances which consist in the material execution of the act, or in the means
employed to accomplish it, shall serve to aggravate or mitigate the liability of those
persons who had knowledge of them at the time of the execution of the act or their
cooperation therein.

e. Habitual delinquency has the effect of imposing an additional penalty aside from the
penalty provided by law for the last crime committed. The total of the 2 penalties to be
imposed upon the offender shall in no case exceed 30 years.

Rules for the Application of Indivisible Penalties. [Art. 63]

In all cases in which the law prescribes a single indivisible penalty, it shall be applied by the
courts regardless of any ordinary mitigating or aggravating circumstances that may have attended
the commission of the crime. This rule does not apply in privileged mitigating circumstances
because they are always considered whether the penalty is divisible or indivisible.

Since reclusion perpetua is an indivisible penalty, it has no minimum, medium or maximum

period. Thus, the Indeterminate Sentence Law does not apply.

When the penalty is reclusion perpetua, even if there are several ordinary mitigating
circumstances, the rule in Art. 64(5) of lowering by one degree cannot be applied.

Rules for the Application of Divisible Penalties [Art. 64]

1. No aggravating and no mitigating circumstances – the imposable penalty shall be that

prescribed by law in its medium period.

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 2. One mitigating circumstance only – imposable penalty shall be that prescribed by law in
its minimum period.
3. Aggravating circumstances only – the imposable penalty shall be that prescribed by law
in its maximum period.
4. Both mitigating and aggravating circumstances are present - offset and apply the
foregoing.*
5. 2 or more mitigating circumstances and no aggravating circumstances – one period
lower, in the proper period to be determined according to the number and nature of such
circumstances.

Whatever may be the number and nature of the aggravating circumstances, the courts shall not
impose a greater penalty than that prescribed by law. Also, the court cannot lower the penalty by
degree when there is an aggravating circumstance even if the net effect of the offsetting is two or
more mitigating circumstances left.*

Article 64 is important in the application of the Indeterminate Sentence Law because the
modifying circumstances are first considered in the determination of the maximum penalty. On
the basis of the maximum penalty imposed, the minimum penalty shall be computed without
anymore considering Article 64.

Within the limits of each period, the courts shall determine the extent of the penalty according to
the number and nature of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. In homicide which
carries reclusion temporal, where there are two mitigating circumstances with no aggravating
circumstance, the imposable penalty is one degree lower or prision mayor. If the ISL is applied,
the convict must be meted the penalty with the minimum within the range of prision correccional
and the maximum within the range of prision mayor.

Legal duration of divisible penalties [Art. 76]

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.

The duration of a period is computed as follows:

Prision mayor has a duration of 6 years and 1 day to 12 years.

Step 1: Deduct the beginning from the end of the period

12 years – 6 years = 6 years

Step 2: Divide the difference by 3 periods

6 years / 3 = 2 years

Step 3: Add the quotient in Step 2 to the beginning of each period

Minimum = 6 years, 1 day to 8 years
Medium = 8 years, 1 day to 10 years
Maximum = 10 years, 1 day to 12 years

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Article 65 applies when the penalty is divisible but is not composed of 3 periods. The courts are
mandated to comply with Art. 76 when this situation occurs, in which case, the penalty should be
divided into 3 periods. For instance, robbery in an uninhabited place is penalized by prision
correccional in its medium and maximum periods, a penalty consisting of 2 periods only (2
years, 4 months and 1 day to 6 years). Applying Art. 76 in this situation, the computation will be:

Step 1: 6 years – 2 years and 4 months = 3 years and 8 months (or 44 months)

Step 2: 44 months / 3 periods = 14 months and 10 days (or 1 year, 2 months, 10

days)

Step 3:
Minimum = 2 years, 4 months and 1 day to 3 years, 6 months and 10 days
Medium = 3 years, 6 months and 11 days to 4 years 8 months and 20 days
Maximum = 4 years 8 months and 21 days to 6 years

Penalty for incomplete justifying and exempting circumstances [Art. 69]

The penalty may be reduced by one or two degrees if majority of the conditions required to
justify or exempt from criminal liability are present. In such case, the incomplete justification or
exemption is a privileged mitigating circumstance. But if there is present less than a majority of
the conditions, it is only an ordinary mitigating circumstance which will lower the penalty to the
minimum period.

Successive service of sentences [Art. 70]

When multiple sentences are imposed, the culprit must serve them simultaneously if the nature
of the penalties permit it. This applies to the simultaneous service of principal and accessory
penalties. Otherwise, the penalties shall be served successively.

In the imposition of the penalties, the order of their respective severity shall be followed so that
they may be executed successively. Thus, if the accused is punished with multiple sentences, the
same shall be served according to the order of severity and the succeeding sentences shall not
commence to run until the expiration of the more severe sentences.

The maximum duration of the convict's sentence shall not be more than 3-fold the length of time
corresponding to the most severe of the penalties imposed upon him. No other penalty to which
he may be liable shall be inflicted after the sum total of those imposed equals the same maximum
period. Such maximum period shall in no case exceed 40 years. In applying the provisions of this
rule the duration of perpetual penalties (pena perpetua) shall be computed at 30 years. Thus, if
the most severe of the multiple sentences is reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment (pena
perpetua), the imputed duration shall be 30 years, thus 30 x 3 = 90. But the culprit shall serve 40
years because of the express limitation of Art. 70.

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Article 70 deals with service of sentence, not with imposition, hence, for the prison director to
follow, not for the courts. The courts should impose the correct penalties even if these will
amount to more than the lifetime of the prisoner. The reason is that should a pardon be granted as
to the penalty/ies first imposed, the remaining sentences shall be served in the order of severity.

Indeterminate Sentence Law

The Indeterminate Sentence Law modifies the imposition of penalties under the RPC and special
laws. The sentence must fix a minimum and a maximum period of penalty. The court, however,
cannot put the minimum penalty in the same degree as the maximum penalty.

It is indeterminate after the convict has served the minimum penalty when he becomes eligible
for parole1 and his continued stay in prison shall depend upon his conduct inside. The minimum
must be served. It is only after the convict has served the minimum period that he becomes
eligible for parole.

The requirement of imposing a minimum and maximum period is mandatory, except in the
following:
a. Indivisibile penalties of death, life imprisonment and reclusion perpetua. Reclusion
perpetua is single and indivisible and such penalty shall be imposed without regard to any
modifying circumstances.
b. Prison terms not more than 1 year
c. Crimes of treason, proposal and conspiracy to commit treason, misprision of treason,
rebellion, espionage, sedition, piracy
d. Offenders who are habitual delinquents, escapees from confinement, evaders of sentence,
violators of conditional pardon. (Recidivists are entitled to an indeterminate sentence)
e. Non-prison terms

In determining whether an indeterminate sentence and not a straight penalty is proper, what is
considered is the penalty actually imposed by the trial court after considering the attendant
circumstances, including plea bargaining. e.g. A minor is convicted of rape, punishable by
reclusion perpetua. He is still entitled to an indeterminate sentence because if the privileged
mitigating circumstance is considered, then the imposable penalty is a degree lower from
reclusion perpetua, which is reclusion temporal. Thereafter, the court can apply the ISL.

How the ISL operates:

a. The maximum period is determined by considering the presence of modifying
circumstances applying the rules in Art. 64. Privileged mitigating must first be considered
before applying the said rules
b. The minimum is fixed at one degree lower than the maximum penalty imposed.

The minimum period is taken from any period of the penalty next lower in degree from the
maximum. The determination of the minimum period is left by law to the sound discretion of the
court and it can be anywhere within the range of the penalty next lower. The modifying

1
Parole is a benefit granted by law, specifically the ISL. The benefit may only be availed of after the minimum
sentence is served.

32
circumstances are considered only in the imposition of the maximum term of the indeterminate
sentence.

For complex crimes, the penalty for the most serious offense shall be the basis for applying the
ISL. The one degree lower penalty should, conformably with Art. 48, be imposed in its
maximum period. The presence of a third mitigating circumstance would result in imposing a
period the court may deem applicable. Considering, however, that the penalty has to be imposed
in the maximum period, the only effect of an additional mitigating circumstance is to impose
only the minimum portion of that maximum period.

PROBATION

Probation is a special privilege granted by the State to qualified offenders. It essentially rejects
appeals and encourages an otherwise eligible convict to immediately admit his liability and save
him the time, effort and expenses to jettison an appeal.

An order placing defendant on “probation” is not a “sentence” but is rather a suspension of the
imposition of sentence. It is not a final judgment but is rather an “interlocutory judgment” in the
nature of a conditional order placing the convicted defendant under the supervision of the court
for his reformation, to be followed by a final judgment of discharge, if the conditions of the
probation are complied with, or by a final judgment of sentence if the conditions are violated.

The probationable penalty is 6 years and below. Also, probation can only be availed once.

The following are disqualified from availing of the benefits of probation:

a. Those sentence to a maximum term of more than 6 years.
b. Convicted of subversion or any crime against national security or the public order
c. Previously convicted by final judgment of offense punished by imprisonment of not less
than 1 month and 1 day and/or fine of not less than P200
d. Who have been once on probation
e. Who have perfected an appeal
f. Those convicted of drug trafficking or pushing, regardless of the penalty imposed and
regardless of the minority of the offender
g. Those convicted for crimes under the Omnibus Election Code

The law uses the word “maximum” (not total) term of more than 6 years. Thus, if the convict
was sentenced to multiple prison terms, those terms will not be added together to determine
whether the convict is qualified for probation. What will be considered is the maximum among
the sentences imposed. As long as none exceeds 6 years which is the probationable penalty, the
convict is qualified unless there are other causes of disqualification.

The application for probation shall be filed within the period for perfecting an appeal, with the
same court which rendered the judgment of conviction. Appeal and probation are mutually
exclusive remedies. No application for probation shall be entertained or granted if the defendant
has perfected an appeal from the judgment of conviction.

33
The legal effect of probation is only to suspend the execution of the sentence. The conviction
subsists and remains totally unaffected notwithstanding the grant of probation. In fact, a
judgment of conviction becomes ipso facto final when the accused applies for probation,
although it is not executory pending resolution of his application.

34
 EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Total Extinction of Criminal Liability [Art. 89]

1. 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. Service of sentence
3. Amnesty
4. Absolute pardon
5. Prescription of the crime
6. Prescription of the penalty
7. Marriage of the offended woman, pursuant to Art. 344
8. Express repeal

Partial Extinction of Criminal Liability [Art. 94]

1. Conditional pardon;
2. Commutation of the sentence
3. Good conduct allowances
4. Special time allowance for loyalty
5. Parole under ISL
6. Probation
7. Implied repeal

Pardon of the offended party compared with pardon by the Chief Executive.
- Executive pardon extinguishes criminal liability; pardon by the offended party does not
extinguish criminal liability, except in Articles 266-C (rape) and 344
- Executive pardon is granted after final conviction; pardon by the offended must be
granted before institution of the action because when the case is finally filed in court, the
State is regarded as the primary offended party and the complainant, a witness. Hence,
the prosecution of the case becomes the prerogative of the State. (Under the Anti-Rape
Law, the pardon may be at any time while the rape case is pending)
- Executive pardon cannot extinguish the civil liability of the offender; the offended may
expressly waive the civil liability

Prescription of crimes.
 Death, reclusion perpetua or reclusion temporal – 20 years.
 Other afflictive penalties – 15 years.
 Correctional penalties – 10 years; XPN arresto mayor prescribes in 5 years.
 Libel or other similar offenses – 1 year
 Oral defamation and slander by deed - 6 months
 Light offenses – 2 months.

If there is a compound crime or if there are several felonies committed, the basis is the higher
penalty.

35
The period of prescription of crimes shall commence to run from the day the crime is discovered
by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents (list is exclusive), 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 Philippines.

Prescription of penalties.
1. Death and reclusion perpetua - 20 years;
2. Other afflictive penalties - 15 years;
3. Correctional penalties – 10 years; XPN arresto mayor prescribes in 5 years;
4. Light penalties – 1 year.

Prescription of penalty commences when the convict escapes from detention or evades the
service of his sentence. Evasion or escape is a condition precedent to the running of the period. It
shall be interrupted if the defendant should give himself up, be captured, should go to some
foreign country with which the Philippines has no extradition treaty, or should commit another
crime before the expiration of the period of prescription.

36
 CRIMES AGAINST NATIONAL SECURITY

1. Treason
2. Conspiracy and Proposal to Commit Treason
3. Misprision of Treason
4. Espionage

TREASON [Art. 114]

1. The offender is a Filipino citizen, or an alien residing in the Philippines.
2. There is a war in which the Philippines is involved
3. The offender either:
a. Levies war against the Government, or
b. Adheres to the enemies, giving them aid or comfort

A Filipino citizen is liable for treasonous acts committed in the Philippines or abroad. An alien is
liable only for treasonous acts committed in the Philippines.

“adheres to the enemies, giving them aid or comfort” refers to overt acts which strengthen or
tend to strengthen the enemy

How to prove treason.

1. Testimony of at least 2 witnesses to the same overt act
2. Confession of the accused in open court

Treason is a continuing offense, that is, it can be committed by a single act or by a series of acts.
There is only one criminal intent. Thus, a person cannot be liable for as many crimes of treason
as there are overt acts. Common crimes are absorbed in treason.

CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT TREASON [Art. 115]

If the acts of treason are actually carried out, treason is already consummated. Conspiracy and
proposal to commit treason are then considered as mere preparatory acts. The 2-witness rule does
not apply.

MISPRISION OF TREASON [Art. 116]

1. Offender owes allegiance to the Government (must not be a foreigner)
2. He has knowledge of any conspiracy to commit treason against the Government
3. He conceals or fails to disclose the same as soon as possible to the
a. Governor or provincial fiscal
b. Mayor or fiscal of the city in which he resides

If the knowledge is with respect to treason that was already committed, there is no misprision of
treason.

The penalty imposed is equivalent to an accessory to the crime of treason. The penalty is
therefore 2 degrees lower than the principal in the crime of treason. Note that he is still a
principal in misprision of treason but his penalty is that of an accessory to the crime of treason.

37
ESPIONAGE [Art. 117]
Two ways of committing espionage:
1. Any person, without authority therefor, enters a warship, fort, or naval or military
establishment, or reservation to obtain any information, plans, photographs, or other data
of a confidential nature, relative to national defense
- Penalizes entry to obtain information relative to national defense

2. By a public officer, who has in his possession, by reason of his office, information of a
confidential nature, relative to national defense, and discloses such information to a
representative of a foreign nation.
- Penalizes disclosure of a public official of information relative to national defense to
a representative of a foreign nation

38
 CRIMES AGAINST THE LAW OF NATIONS
1. Inciting to War and Giving Motives for Reprisals
2. Violation of Neutrality
3. Correspondence with Hostile Country
4. Flight to Enemy Country
5. Piracy and Mutiny

INCITING TO WAR AND GIVING MOTIVES FOR REPRISALS [Art. 118]

1. Offender (public official or private individual) performs unlawful or unauthorized acts
2. a. Such acts provoke or give occasion for war involving or liable to involve the
Philippines, or
b. Exposes Filipino citizens to reprisals on their persons or property

VIOLATION OF NEUTRALITY [Art. 119]

1. There is a war in which the Government is not involved
2. The offender violates any regulation issued by competent authority to enforce such
neutrality

There is no violation of neutrality if there is no regulation enforcing such neutrality.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH HOSTILE COUNTRY [Art. 120]

1. There is a war in which the Philippines is involved
2. The offender makes (i) correspondence with an enemy country, or (ii) territory occupied
by enemy troops
3. The correspondence is either:
a. Prohibited by the Government,
b. Carried on in ciphers or conventional signs, or
c. Containing notice/information which may be useful to the enemy

A correspondence with a hostile country, though containing innocent matters, may be punished if
the same is prohibited by the Government.

Offender may be held liable when the correspondence is carried on in ciphers or conventional
signs, or containing notice/information which may be useful to the enemy, even if there is no
prohibition from the Government.

PIRACY AND MUTINY [Art. 122, RPC; PD 532]

Piracy under Art. 122 of the RPC

1. That a vessel is on the high seas or in Philippine waters
2. The offenders are not passengers or members of the complement of the vessel
3. The offenders either:
a. Attack or seize the vessel, or
b. Seize the whole or part of its cargo, equipment or personal belongings of its
complement or passengers

39
 Piracy under Art. 122
Committed by outsiders to the vessel
Committed in Philippine waters or on the
high seas
Piracy under PD 532
May be committed by outsiders, passengers or
members of the complement
Committed in Philippine waters

If the members of the complement of the vessel or the passengers seize the vessel on the high
seas, there is no piracy. The crime committed is robbery.

Mutiny
In Mutiny, the members of the complement of the vessel raise commotion to protest against the
lawful command of the captain.

Qualified Piracy or Mutiny

1. Whenever the offenders have seized the vessel by boarding or firing upon the same;
2. Whenever they abandon their victims without means of saving themselves
3. Whenever the crime is accompanied by:
a. Murder
b. Homicide Special Complex Crime
c. Physical injuries
d. Rape

Murder, homicide, physical injuries, and rape are qualifying circumstances and thus cannot be
treated as separate crimes. Qualified piracy is considered a special complex crime. There is thus
no complex crime of piracy with murder under Art. 48, because the RPC specifically treated the
two crimes as a special complex crime with a single indivisible penalty.

When other crimes are committed, e.g. acts of lasciviousness, these will be considered as
separate crimes.

40
 CRIMES AGAINST THE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF THE STATE
1. Arbitrary detention
2. Delay in the delivery of detained persons to the proper judicial authorities
3. Delaying release
4. Expulsion
5. Violation of domicile
6. Search warrants maliciously obtained and abuse in the service of those legally obtained
7. Searching domicile without witnesses
8. Interruption of religious worship
9. Offending the religious feelings

ARBITRARY DETENTION [Art. 124]

1. Offender is a public officer with the authority to arrest and detain persons, e.g. police
officer, tanod, punong barangay
2. He detains a person without legal ground
If the public officer has no authority to arrest and detain, as in the case of a municipal treasurer,
the crime is illegal detention

DELAY IN THE DELIVERY OF DETAINED PERSON TO THE PROPER JUDICIAL

AUTHORITIES [Art. 125]
1. Offender is a public officer/employee
2. He detains a person for some legal ground
3. He fails to deliver the person to the proper judicial authorities within:
a. 12 hours for light felonies
b. 18 hours for offenses punishable by correctional penalties
c. 36 hours for offenses punishable by afflictive penalties

Arbitrary Detention Delay in the Delivery Unlawful Arrest [Art. 269]

No warrant of arrest, and
No ground for detention
Offender is a public officer
No warrant of arrest, but
with legal ground for arrest
Offender is a public officer
No warrant of arrest.
No ground for arrest.
But with intention to deliver
the victim to public authority
Offender is a public officer or
a private individual

If there is a warrant of arrest, Articles 124, 125 and 269 cannot be violated. When there is a
warrant, there is no period required to effect delivery of the person arrested, except that it must
be made within a reasonable time.
When a person opts to avail his right to a preliminary investigation, he must sign a waiver of his
rights under Article 125. If he refuses, the arresting officer must comply with Art. 125.

DELAYING RELEASE [Art. 126]

1. Offender is a public officer/employee
2. a. he delays performance of any judicial or executive order for the release of a prisoner,
b. delays service of the notice of such order to the prisoner, or

41
 c. delays the proceedings upon any petition for the liberation of such person, e.g. habeas
corpus
EXPULSION [Art. 127]
1. Offender is a public officer or employee
2. a. He expels any person from the Philippines, or
b. He compels a person to change his residence
3. He has no authority to do so

Only the court can order a person to change his residence, or the Commissioner of Immigration
in case of deportation.

If the acts of expulsion from the Philippines or compulsion to change residence is committed by
a private person, the felony committed is grave coercion.

VIOLATION OF DOMICILE [Art. 128]

This is committed by a public officer authorized to implement a search warrant or warrant of
arrest but at the time of the incident, he is not authorized by judicial order through a warrant

1. Offender is a public officer who is not armed with a judicial order

2. a. He enters a dwelling against the will of the owner;
b. He searches papers or other effects without the previous consent of the owner; or
c. Having surreptitiously entered the dwelling, he refuses to leave after being required to
do so.

If the person who entered the dwelling against the will of the owner or without the consent of the
owner is a private individual, the crime is trespass to dwelling.

SEARCH WARRANTS MALICIOUSLY OBTAINED AND ABUSE IN THE SERVICE

OF THOSE LEGALLY OBTAINED [Art. 129]; SEARCHING DOMICILE WITHOUT
WITNESSES [Art. 130]

A. Search warrant maliciously obtained [Art. 129]

1. Offender is a public officer/employee
2. He procures a warrant without just cause

A search warrant is procured “without just cause” if there is no probable cause therefor.
In addition to the criminal liability of the public officer/employee for the search warrant
maliciously obtained, he may be held liable for perjury.

But if the search warrant is legally obtained, the public officer may still be liable of
A. Abuse in the service of those legally obtained [Art. 129]
1. If he exceeded his authority under the search warrant, or
2. He employed unnecessary severity in implementing the warrant

B. Searching domicile without witnesses [Art. 130]

1. When the search was made

42
 a. without the occupant of the house, or any member of his family, or
b. in their default, without the presence of at least 2 witnesses in the same locality

INTERRUPTION OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP [Art. 132]

1. Offender is a public officer or employee
2. He prevents or disturbs religious ceremonies or manifestations of any religion

OFFENDING THE RELIGIOUS FEELINGS [Art. 133]

1. Offender (any person) performed acts in a place devoted to religious worship, or during
the celebration of any religious ceremony
2. The acts are notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful

The acts which are notoriously offensive must be specifically directed against religious practice,
belief or dogma.

43
 CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER

1. Rebellion or Insurrection
2. Coup d’etat
3. Sedition
4. Conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion or insurrection, coup d’etat
5. Inciting to rebellion or insurrection
6. Conspiracy to commit sedition
7. Inciting to sedition
8. Disloyalty
9. Direct Assault
10. Indirect Assault
11. Tumults and other disturbances of public order
12. Alarms and scandals
13. Evasion of service of sentence

REBELLION OR INSURRECTION [Art. 134]

1. There is a public uprising and taking of arms against the Government
2. The purpose is
a. to remove from allegiance to the Government or its laws territory of the Republic or
any part thereof, or any body of land, naval or other armed forces, or
b. to deprive the Chief Executive or Congress, wholly or partially, any of their powers
or prerogatives

The essence of rebellion or insurrection is public uprising and taking of arms against the
Government. If there is no public uprising, the crime is direct assault under the first paragraph.

Murder, homicide, arson and other felonies or common crimes, if committed in furtherance of, or
in connection with the crime of rebellion, are absorbed. A common crime cannot be complexed
with a political crime such as rebellion. But if these crimes are not politically motivated or are
not related to the crime of rebellion, then these should be punished separately.

COUP D’ETAT [Art. 134-A]

1. There is a swift attack accompanied by violence, intimidation, threat, strategy or stealth
2. Directed against duly constituted authorities, or any military camp or installation,
communication networks, public utilities or other facilities needed for the exercise and
continued possession of power
3. Singly or simultaneously carried out anywhere in the Philippines
4. By any person/s, belonging to the military or police or holding any public
office/employment, with or without civilian support or participation
5. To seize or diminish state power

44
 Rebellion
Essence is public uprising and taking up of
arms against the Government
A multitude of people is needed for a public
uprising
Principal offender/s need not be from the
military, police or public officer
Objective is to overthrow the Government
and establish their own
Coup d’etat
Essence is a swift attack against the
Government, its military camps/installations,
communication network, public utilities, or
facilities needed for the continued exercise of
power
May be carried out singly or collectively
Principal offender/s must be from the
military, police, or a public officer
Objective is to seize or diminish state power,
i.e. destabilize or paralyze the operations of
Government

DISLOYALTY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS/EMPLOYEES [Art. 137]

1. Offender is a public officer/employee
2. a. he failed to resist a rebellion by all means in his power;
b. he continues to discharge the duties of his office under the control of the rebels; or
c. accepts appointment to office under them.

Disloyalty of public officers or employees presupposes the existence of rebellion. Thus, this
crime cannot be committed in the absence of a rebellion.

Offender must not be in conspiracy with the rebels; otherwise, he will be punished as principal in
the crime of rebellion.

SEDITION [Art. 139]

1. Offenders rise publicly and tumultuously
2. They employ force, intimidation, or other means outside of legal methods
3. a. to prevent the promulgation/execution of any law
b. to prevent the holding of an election
c. to prevent the National Government, or any of its political subdivision, or any public
officer from exercising its/his function
d. to prevent the execution of an administrative order
e. to inflict any act of hate or revenge upon the person/property of a public officer
f. to commit, for any political or social end, any act of hate or revenge against private
persons or any social class
g. to despoil, for any political or social end, any person, municipality or province, or the
National Government of its property

The essence of sedition is to disturb public peace; its purpose may be political (disobedience to a
governmental action) or social, but it is never for the purpose of overthrowing the Government.

INCITING TO REBELLION OR INSURRECTION [Art. 138]

45
 -Offender incites others to commit acts of rebellion, by means of speeches, writings,
banners or other representations tending to the same end.
- Offender must not actually take arms or in open hostility against the Government.
INCITING TO SEDITION [Art. 142]
- The purpose of the inciters to sedition are:
a. To incite others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute
sedition;
b. To disturb or obstruct any lawful officer in executing the functions of his
office;
c. To instigate others to cabal and meet together for unlawful purposes;
d. To suggest or incite rebellious conspiracies or riots;
e. To stir up the people against the lawful authorities; or
f. To disturb the peace of the community, the safety and order of the
Government.

- Inciting to sedition is committed

1. By means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners, or other
representations
2. Uttering seditious words or speeches
3. Writing, publishing or circulating scurrilous libels against the Government or any
of its duly constituted authorities
- Offender must not commit the crime of sedition or take part in it.
A statement is seditious when it tends to stir up people against lawful authorities, one that will
disturb public peace, and the safety or order of the Government, instigate cabal or meet together
for unlawful purposes, or suggests/incites others to rebellious conspiracies or riots.

DIRECT ASSAULT [Art. 148]

Two ways of committing direct assault
A. By employing violence or force for the purpose of attaining any of the purposes of rebellion,
except that the offenders are not numerous enough to constitute public uprising
- In this type of direct assault, the offended party need not be a public officer. It may be
a social class.

B. Assault against a person in authority (PA) or his agent (APA)

1. Offender attacks, employs force, or seriously intimidate or resist a PA or APA
2. Assault was made while the PA or APA was engaged in the performance of his
duties, or on occasion of the performance of official duties
3. Offender knows that his victim is a PA or APA

The assault may be made while the PA or APA is engaged in the performance of his
duties or “on occasion of the performance of official duties.” The latter means that the assault
was made by reason of the past performance of official duties. However, there is no direct assault
if the victim was no longer a public officer at the time of the incident, even if the assault was due
to a past performance of official functions.

46
 Direct assault is usually complexed with another grave or less grave felony. Thus, when
the assault results in the killing of a PA or an APA, there is a complex crime of direct assault
with murder or homicide.

Aggravating circumstances in direct assault.

a. The assault is committed with a weapon;
b. When the offender is also a public officer or employee; or
c. When the offender lays hands upon a PA
Note that there is no aggravating circumstance when the offender lays his hands upon a APA.
INDIRECT ASSAULT [Art. 149]
1. The victim is a civilian coming to the aid of a PA or APA
2. He is attacked on the occasion of the direct assault committed against the PA or APA

A Person in Authority refers to one directly vested with jurisdiction, whether individually or as a
member of a board or corporate body, e.g. Barangay Captain, teachers, lawyers

Agent of a person in authority refers to one charged with the maintenance of peace and order, by
direct provision of law, election or competent authority

RESISTANCE OR SERIOUS DISOBEDIENCE [Art. 151]

1. Offender resists or seriously disobeys a PA or APA
2. While the PA or APA is engaged in the performance of official duties
The offender must not employ force or serious resistance; otherwise, the felony committed will
be direct assault.

SIMPLE DISOBEDIENCE [Art. 151]

- Committed when the disobedience to the PA or APA is not serious in nature.

Illustration: The sheriff, by virtue of a writ, demanded defendant to surrender the land. The
defendant refused. In this case, there is no resistance or serious disobedience because the writ or
order is directed against the sheriff.

TUMULTS AND OTHER DISTURBANCES OF PUBLIC ORDER [Art. 153]

- The essence is to create public disorder
Punishable acts:
1. Causing serious disturbance in a public place, office or establishment
2. Interrupting or disturbing public performances, functions or gatherings, or peaceful
meetings
3. Making an outcry tending to incite rebellion or sedition
4. Displaying placards or emblems which provoke a disturbance of the public order

The crime is qualified if the “interruption or disturbance of public performances, functions or

gatherings, or peaceful meetings” is tumultuous in character. The interruption or disturbance is
deemed tumultuous in character if caused by more than 3 persons who are armed or provided
with means of violence.

47
ALARMS AND SCANDALS [Art. 155]
- The essence is to disturb public peace or tranquility
Punishable acts:
1. Discharging firearms, rockets, firecrackers, or other explosives in any town or public
place, calculated to cause alarm or danger
2. Instigating or taking an active part in any charivari or other disorderly meeting offensive
to another or prejudicial to public tranquility
3. Disturbing of public peace while wandering about at night or while engaged in nocturnal
amusement
4. Causing any disturbance or scandal in public places while intoxicated or otherwise,
provided it does not constitute tumults or other disturbances of public order
Crimes that may arise if a firearm is discharged
A. Alarms and scandals
- Offender discharges a firearm in a public place but without pointing it to any
particular person and without causing injury to anyone
B. Illegal discharge of firearm
- If the firearm was directed to a particular person and discharged, but without intent to
kill and without causing injury to that person
C. Physical injuries
- If the victim was hit, but there is no intent to kill
D. Attempted homicide/parricide/murder
- If the firearm was pointed to a particular person and fired with intent to kill, even if
the person is not hit
E. Grave threat
- If the weapon is not discharged but merely pointed to another threatening the
commission of a wrong
F. Grave coercion
- If the treat was direct, immediate and serious and the person is compelled to do, or
prevented from doing something, against his will.

DELIVERING PRISONERS FROM JAIL [Art. 156]

- Committed when the offender (i) removes a prisoner or detention prisoner from any
jail or penal establishment; or (ii) helps a prisoner or detention prisoner to escape.

Offender must not be a custodian of the prisoner. If he is a custodian and he connived

with the escape or was negligent, he is liable for Infidelity in the Custody of Prisoners under
Articles 223 to 225.

The prisoner need not be one confined in a jail or penal establishment. The crime of
delivering prisoners from jail is committed when the offender helps a prisoner to escape from a
hospital or where the latter is being transported.

The prisoner serving final judgment, on the other hand, shall be liable for evasion of
service of sentence. As for the detention prisoner, there is no crime if he did not connive with his
escape. A detention prisoner cannot be held liable for evasion of service of sentence because he
is not serving final judgment. But if the detention prisoner connives with his deliverer, he is

48
liable as principal by inducement or by indispensable cooperation of the crime of delivering
persons from jail.

EVASION OF SERVICE OF SENTENCE [Arts. 157]

1. Offender is convicted by final judgment
2. He is serving sentence which consists in a deprivation of liberty
3. He escapes during the term of his sentence

Destierro consists in a deprivation of liberty. Thus, when the person punished with destierro
enters the prohibited area, he is liable for evasion of service of sentence.

The third element states that the offender must have escaped during the term of his sentence. A
person who was never arrested and brought to prison cannot be liable for evasion of service of
sentence because he never served his sentence.
Aggravating circumstances:
1. Evasion/escape is by means of unlawful entry
2. By breaking doors, windows, gates, walls, etc.
3. Using picklocks, false keys, disguise, etc.
4. With violence or intimidation
5. Through connivance with other convicts

EVASION OF SERVICE OF SENTENCE ON THE OCCASION OF DISORDERS [Art.

158]
1. Offender is convicted by final judgment and confined in a penal institution
2. Offender leaves the penal institution on the occasion of a conflagration, earthquake, or
other similar catastrophe, or a mutiny in which he did not participate
3. Offender fails to give himself up within 48 hours following the proclamation of the Chief
Executive announcing the passing of the calamity

The basis of liability is the failure of the prisoner to return within the 48-hour period, and not the
act of leaving the penal establishment

The penalty of the offender is an increase in his penalty by 1/5 of the time remaining to be
served, but shall not exceed 6 months. The prisoner who stayed despite the calamity, or those
who returned within the 48-hour period are entitled to a deduction of their sentences.

EVASION OF CONDITIONAL PARDON [Art. 159]

1. Offender was a convict who was granted a conditional pardon
2. He violated the conditions of his pardon

49
 CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC INTERESTS
1. Counterfeiting coins
2. Forging treasury or bank notes, obligations and securities,
3. Falsification by a public officer, employee, notary or ecclesiastical minister
4. Falsification by private individuals and use of falsified documents
5. Usurpation of public authority
6. Usurpation of public functions
7. False testimony
8. Perjury

Counterfeiting – the act of imitating, manufacturing money or currency without authority.

Forgery – committed by giving to a treasury or bank note the appearance of a genuine document
Falsification – if the subject of the forgery is a document

A document is any writing capable of creating or extinguishing rights and obligations. The
writing must be complete. An incomplete writing, e.g. unfilled form, is not a document.

Four kinds of document under the RPC

A. Private document
- A deed between private individuals by which something is proved, evidenced, or set
forth and for which a notary public or one authorized to administer oaths does not
intervene
B. Public document
- An instrument that has been notarized or made part of a public record
C. Official document
- An instrument issued by the government, its agents or officers
D. Commercial document
- An instrument which complies with mercantile laws

COUNTERFEITING COINS
1. Making, importing and uttering false coins [Art. 163]
2. Mutilation of coins, importation and utterance of mutilated coins [Art. 164]
3. Selling of false or mutilated coins [Art. 165]

FORGING TREASURY OR BANK NOTES, OBLIGATIONS AND SECURITIES,

1. Forging treasury or bank notes and other documents payable to bearer, importing and
uttering such forged notes and documents
2. Forging, importing and uttering instruments not payable to bearer
3. Illegal possession and use of false treasury or (other) bank notes and other instruments of
credit
The subject matter of the forgery may be those notes, coupons, bills, checks, certificates of
deposit, obligations and securities, whether payable to order or to bearer, or whether issued by
the BSP or banking associations.
How forgery is committed:
a. By giving to a treasury or bank note or any instrument payable to bearer or to order, the
appearance of a true and genuine document

50
 b. By erasing, substituting, counterfeiting, or altering by any means the figures, letters,
words, or signs contained therein.
FALSIFICATION BY A PUBLIC OFFICER, EMPLOYEE, NOTARY OR
ECCLESIASTICAL MINISTER [Art. 171]
1. Offender is a public officer/employee, or notary public who takes advantage of his
official position
2. He falsifies a document by committing any of the following:
a. Counterfeiting/imitating any handwriting, signature or rubric
b. Causing it to appear that persons participated in any act/proceeding when they did not
in fact so participate
c. Attributing to persons who have participated in an act/proceeding statements other
than those in fact made by them
*** In the foregoing acts, the falsification is committed even if the statements made
are true.
d. Making untruthful statements in a narration of facts
*** In falsification by making untruthful statements, there is no oath required. This is
what distinguishes it from perjury because in the latter, an oath is required.
*** In order to be liable for falsification by making untruthful statements, there
should be a legal obligation to disclose the truth. Thus, if in the application for leave
the public officer/employee stated that his reason was to go on vacation when in fact
he was jailed for a brief period, there is no falsification because he is under no legal
obligation to state the true reason behind his application for leave
e. Altering true dates
f. Making an alteration or intercalation (insertion) in a genuine document which
changes its meaning
g. Issuing in authenticated form a document purporting to be a copy of an original
document when no such original exists, or including in such copy a statement
contrary to, or different from, that of a genuine document
h. Intercalating any instrument/note relative to the issuance thereof in a protocol,
registry or official book

The offender in falsification by a public officer is one who took advantage of his official
position. If he did not, he is liable for Falsification by Private Individuals under Art. 172.

Ecclesiastical ministers may be held liable with respect to documents that may be falsified which
tend to affect the civil status of persons.

In falsification by public officers, damage is not an essential element. It is the wanton disregard
for the integrity of the official document that is being punished, not the damage or prejudice.
Still, good faith is available as a defense.

If a public, official or commercial document was falsified to commit estafa, a complex crime of
estafa through falsification of a public, official or commercial document is committed. This is
because in the falsification of such document, damage or prejudice to the offended party is not
material for it is not an element of the crime of falsification. As such, it may be complexed with
estafa.

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FALSIFICATION BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND USE OF FALSIFIED
DOCUMENTS [Art. 172]

Punishable acts:
1. Offender is a private individual (includes a public official who did not take advantage of
his official position) who falsified a
a. Public document
b. Official document
c. Commercial document
- In the falsification of a public, official or commercial document by a private
individual, damage is not an essential requisite.

2. Offender is a private individual who falsifies a private document to the damage of a third
person, or with intent to cause damage
- In the falsification of private document by a private individual, damage is an essential
element

3. Offender introduces a falsified document in a judicial proceeding, or use it in any other

transaction to the damage of another or with intent to cause damage
- If the falsified document is introduced in a judicial proceeding, it is not required that
there be damage to the other party.
- If the falsified document is used in any other transaction, it is essential that there is
damage, or at least an intent to cause damage, to another person

There may be a complex crime of estafa with falsification of

 Public document
 Official document
 Commercial document
There is a complex crime of estafa with falsification of public, official or commercial document
because the falsification of such documents does not require that there be damage to the offended
party.

There is no complex crime of estafa through falsification of private document because the
element of damage is present in both crimes. There can be no complex crime if the crimes share
the same element.

If a private document is falsified to commit estafa, the crime is estafa – Boada. (Boado submits
that one cannot falsify a private document for the sake of falsifying it). When a person uses a
falsified document, he is presumed to be the falsifier.

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USURPATION OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY [Art. 177]
- Committed by any person who by false pretense represents himself to be an officer or
representative of the Philippine Government or foreign government.

USURPATION OF OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS [Art. 177]

- Committed by a person who performs functions pertaining to a public officer under
false pretense of public authority without being lawfully entitled thereto.
- The performance by the offender of a public function must be with a claim of public
authority. If there is no claim of public authority, e.g. directing traffic after an
accident, there is no usurpation.
- There is no usurpation of official functions when the claim of public authority is
under a color of title

FALSE TESTIMONY [Arts. 180-182]

- Committed when the offender falsely testifies in court, and the testimony is given for
or against the accused in a criminal case, or in a civil case, or in other cases
- As distinguished from Perjury, a false testimony is one given during a trial in court

PERJURY [Art. 183]

- Committed when a person knowingly makes untruthful statements, under oath, or
makes an affidavit, upon any material matter before a competent person authorized to
administer an oath in cases in which the law so requires.
- Perjury is one made outside of court, such as those in administrative hearings or
congressional hearings
- The testimony must be required by law and must be required to be under oath
- If there is no oath but the offender made untruthful statements, the crime is
falsification.

SUBORDINATION OF PERJURY
- Refers to the act of a person in procuring a false witness to testify and thereby commit
perjury. Note that there is no specific provision punishing subordination of perjury;
however, the person who procured a false witness is a principal by inducement. He is
therefore equally liable as that person who offered a false testimony or a perjured
statement.

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 CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC MORALS
GRAVE SCANDAL [Art. 200]
Offender commits any highly scandalous act offensive to morals and good customs, and
he committed it publicly or within the knowledge and view of the public

If the act is committed in a public place, the performance of the act offensive to decency is
already a crime even if there is no third party looking at it. The public character of the place is
sufficient.

There should be consent in doing the scandalous act; otherwise, the crime committed is acts of
lasciviousness.

PROSTITUTION [Art. 202]

1. Offender is a woman who habitually indulges in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct,
and
2. She does it for profit

Engaging in prostitution is punishable if the woman is not considered as a trafficked victim, as

when she is a freelance prostitute. Under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, sex workers are
considered as victims and they are not criminally liable if they engage in prostitution.

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 CRIMES COMMITTED BY PUBLIC OFFICERS
1. Knowingly rendering unjust judgment
2. Judgment rendered through negligence
3. Unjust interlocutory order
4. Malicious delay in the administration of justice
5. Negligence and tolerance in the prosecution of offenses
6. Direct bribery
7. Indirect bribery
8. Qualified bribery
9. Frauds against the public treasury
10. Malversation
11. Technical malversation
12. Infidelity in the custody of prisoners

Public Officer
1. Refers to one taking part in the performance of functions in the Government, or
performing in said Government, as an employee, agent or subordinate official, and
2. His authority must be given by direct provision of law, appointment, or election

Javier is a private sector representative to the National Book Development Corporation, created
by RA 8047. Javier is considered a public officer notwithstanding that he came from the private
sector. The law invested him with some portion of the sovereign functions.

KNOWINGLY RENDERING UNJUST JUDGMENT [Art. 204]

- Committed by a judge who shall knowingly render an unjust judgment in any case
submitted to him for decision
- To hold a judge liable, it must be shown beyond doubt that the judgment is unjust as
it is contrary to law, or is not supported by the evidence, and the same was made
deliberately to cause an injustice
- This crime cannot be committed by members of collegiate courts because not one of
them can render a judgment, which is reached after a careful deliberation by the
members of the collegiate court.

JUDGMENT RENDERED THROUGH NEGLIGENCE [Art. 205]

- Committed by a judge who, by reason of inexcusable negligence or ignorance,
renders a manifestly unjust judgment in a case submitted to him for decision
- A “manifestly unjust judgment” is one that is patently contrary to legal precepts.

** Before a judge may be held liable for violations of Art. 204 and Art. 205, there must be a final
and authoritative judicial declaration by the Supreme Court in a certiorari or administrative
proceeding, that the decision in question is indeed unjust.

UNJUST INTERLOCUTORY ORDER [Art. 206]

1. Offender is a judge, and
2. a. He knowingly renders an unjust interlocutory order, or
b. He renders a manifestly unjust interlocutory order

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 3. Through inexcusable negligence or ignorance
MALICIOUS DELAY IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE [Art. 207]
1. Offender is a judge, and
2. He maliciously delays the administration of justice with deliberate intent to cause damage
on either party in the case

NEGLIGENCE AND TOLERANCE IN THE PROSECUTION OF OFFENSES [Art. 208]

1. Offender is a public officer or officer of the law who has the duty to cause the
prosecution of (refers to the chief of police station), or to prosecute offenses (prosecutor)
2. There is dereliction of duties in his office by maliciously refraining from instituting
prosecution of offenses, or tolerating the commission of offenses

DIRECT BRIBERY [Art. 210]

1. Offender is a public officer
2. He accepts an offer, or promise or gift
3. a. With a view of committing some crime
b. In consideration of the execution of an act which does not constitute a crime
c. To refrain from doing something which is his official duty to do
4. The act he agrees to perform must be in connection with the performance of his public
office

Bribery is the crime of the receiver. Corruption of public officers is the crime of the giver.

The offer, gift or promise must be accepted by the offender. Mere acceptance consummates the
crime of direct bribery. If not accepted, there is no direct bribery but there is attempted
corruption of public officers. XPN: If the offer, promise or gift is “in consideration of the
execution of an act which does not constitute a crime,” the consideration must be delivered to the
public officer. There is no frustrated stage in direct bribery.

Suppose a law enforcer extorts money from a person, employing force and intimidation, and
threatening to arrest the latter if he will not come across with the money, what crime is
committed?
- If the victim actually committed a crime and the police officer demanded money so
he will not be arrested, the crime is bribery
- If there is no crime committed but the officer threatens him with arrest if he cannot
produce the money, the crime is robbery.

INDIRECT BRIBERY [Art. 211]

1. Offender is a public officer
2. He accepts a gift
3. The gift is offered to him by reason of his public office

In indirect bribery, it is not necessary that the officer should do a particular act or even promise
to do an act, it is enough that he accepts a gift offered to him by reason of his public office.

QUALIFIED BRIBERY [Art. 211-A]

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 1. Offender is a public officer entrusted with law enforcement
2. He refrains from arresting/prosecuting an offender who has committed a crime
punishable by reclusion perpetua or death
If the crime is not punishable by reclusion perpetua or death, there is only direct bribery. If there
is no gift or offer, the crime is dereliction of duty under Art. 208.

CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS [Art. 212]

1. Offender makes offers, promises or gives gifts to a public officer
2. Offers, promises or gifts are made or given under circumstances that will make the public
officer liable for direct/indirect bribery

FRAUD AGAINST PUBLIC TREASURY [Art. 213]

1. Offender is a public officer
2. He took advantage of his office
3. By entering into an agreement with any interested party or made use of any other scheme
with regard to:
a. Furnishing supplies,
b. Making of contracts, or
c. Adjustment or settlement of accounts relating to public property/funds
4. With the intent to defraud the Government

ILLEGAL EXACTION [Art. 213]

1. The public officer has the official duty to collect taxes, impost or other fees due to the
Government
2. He commits any of the following acts:
a. Demands an amount different from that authorized by law
b. Failing voluntarily issue an official receipt
c. Collecting payment of a nature different from that prescribed by law

There is Illegal Exaction when the offender “demands an amount different from that authorized
by law.” If the excess is pocketed, malversation is also committed because the whole amount
demanded becomes public funds the moment it is received. “Collecting payment of a nature
different from that prescribed by law” applies when instead of money, property in kind is
collected.

MALVERSATION [Art. 217]

1. Offender is a public officer who has custody or control of funds or property by reason of
the duties of his office
2. He has appropriated, taken or misappropriated, or has consented to, or through
abandonment or negligence, permitted, the taking by another person of such funds or
property

If the offender has no control or custody, i.e. he is not an accountable officer, and he
appropriated the public funds or property, the crime is estafa or qualified theft.

57
Malversation may be committed intentionally, or through negligence. The mere failure of an
accountable officer to account for the public funds or property upon demand is prima facie
evidence that he has put such funds or property to personal use. To justify a conviction, the
prosecution only has to prove that the accused received public funds or property, and that he
could not account for them and could not give a reasonable excuse for its disappearance.

As a general rule, only public funds or property may be the subject of malversation. XPN:
Property in custodia legis

A private person may commit malversation

a. If he conspires with an accountable officer in committing malversation
b. If he is an accomplice or an accessory to the crime of malversation
c. When he is made a custodian of public funds/property

TECHNICAL MALVERSATION [Art. 220]

1. Offender is a public officer who has public fund/property under his administration
2. Such public fund/property has been appropriated by law or ordinance
3. He applies the same to a public use other than that for which the fund/property has been
appropriated.

Note that the gravamen of technical malversation is the appropriation of the public fund/property
to public use that is different from that for which the fund/property has been appropriated. If the
applied is applied for personal use, there is only simple malversation.

INFIDELITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS

1. Infidelity in the Custody of Prisoners [Arts. 223- 224]
a. Offender is a public officer who has in his custody or charge a prisoner, either a
detention prisoner or a prisoner by final judgment, and he connived with the prisoner
in the latter’s escape; or
b. The prisoner was able to escape through the negligence of the offender

2. Infidelity in the Custody of Documents [Art. 226-228]

a. Offender is a public officer and he removes, destroys, or conceals documents
officially entrusted to him, with damage to a third party or to the public interest;
b. Public officer, without authority, opens or permits to be opened any closed papers,
documents or objects entrusted to his custody

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 CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS
PARRICIDE
1. A person is killed by the offender, and
2. The deceased is the:
a. Legitimate spouse
b. Legitimate/illegitimate parent
c. Legitimate/illegitimate child
d. Other legitimate ascendants
e. Other legitimate descendants

The relationship must be legitimate, except in the case of parent and child. The relationship must
be in the direct line, and by blood, except in the case of a spouse. Thus, the crime of
murder/homicide, not parricide, is committed if the brother kills his sister.

The relationship must be alleged and proved. If not, the relationship will not be considered as a
qualifying circumstance.

The law does not require that the accused have knowledge of the relationship. Thus, if the
accused kills his neighbor, not knowing that the latter is his son, he is still liable for parricide.

A wanted to kill B, but by mistake, he killed his own father. A is liable for parricide, but the
imposable penalty is that of homicide in its maximum period.

DEATH OR PHYSICAL INJURIES INFLICTED UNDER EXCEPTIONAL

CIRCUMSTANCES [Art. 247]
1. Offender surprises his spouse or daughter, the latter under 18 and living with the
offender, in the act of sexual intercourse;
2. He kills any or both of them, or inflicts upon any or both of them serious physical
injuries, in the act or immediately thereafter; and
3. He has not promoted/facilitated the prostitution of his wife/daughter, or that he has not
consented to the infidelity of the other spouse.

There is no criminal liability if the injury inflicted is slight or less serious physical injuries
(absolutory cause). If the victim is killed or has suffered serious physical injuries, the offender
remains liable for the death or injury but the penalty is destierro.

NOTE: Art. 247 does not define a crime. Thus, the information should allege murder, homicide
or parricide. Article 247 may then be raised as a defense.

“immediately thereafter” means that the discovery, escape, pursuit and the killing must form part
of a continuous act and must be the direct result of the outrage of the offender.

If the offender killed or injured third persons while pursuing his intended victim, he is not
absolved from criminal liability for the death or injury inflicted to third persons. He may be
charged for negligence.

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MURDER
1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of armed men, or
employing means to weaken the defense, or of means or persons who insure or afford
impunity;
2. In consideration of a price, reward or promise
3. By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, shipwreck, stranding of a vessel,
derailment or assault upon a railroad, fall of an airship, by motor vehicles, or with the use
of any other means involving great waste and ruin
4. On occasion of any of the calamities enumerated in the preceding paragraph, or of an
earthquake, eruption of volcano, destructive cyclone, epidemic, or other public calamity
5. With evident premeditation
6. With cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim, or
outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse

In consideration of a price, reward or promise. The presence of this qualifying circumstance

affects both the giver (principal by induction) and the receiver (principal by direct participation).
Both are liable for murder.

Treachery. There is treachery when the offender commits any of the crimes against persons,
employing means and methods in its execution which tend directly and specially to insure its
execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make.

Evident premeditation. The essence of evident premeditation is that the execution of the
criminal act must be preceded by cool thought and reflection upon the resolution to carry out the
criminal intent, during the space of time sufficient to arrive at a calm judgment.

HOMICIDE
1. Offender kills a person without any justifying circumstance, and
2. The killing is not attended by any of the qualifying circumstances of murder, parricide or
infanticide.

Evidence to show intent to kill is important only in attempted or frustrated homicide. This is
because if death resulted, intent to kill is always presumed.

X, a pharmacist, prepared a medicine on prescription by a doctor. X erroneously used a highly

poisonous substance. The patient nearly died after taking the medicine. X was charged with
frustrated homicide through reckless imprudence. Is the charge correct? NO. He is guilty of
physical injuries through reckless imprudence. The element of intent to kill in frustrated
homicide is incompatible with negligence or imprudence. Intent in felonies by means of dolo is
replaced with lack of foresight or skill in felonies by culpa.

If an unlicensed firearm is used in the killing, the use of such unlicensed firearm shall be
considered an aggravating circumstance in the crime of murder or homicide, as the case may be.
There can be no separate prosecutions for homicide or murder, and illegal possession of firearms.

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DEATH CAUSED IN A TUMULTUOUS AFFRAY
1. That there be several or at least 4 persons
2. That they did not compose groups organized for the common purpose of assaulting and
attacking each other reciprocally
3. That these several persons quarreled and assaulted one another in a confused and
tumultuous manner
4. Someone was killed in the course of the affray
5. It cannot be ascertained who actually killed the deceased
6. The person/s who inflicted serious physical injuries or who used violence can be
identified

Tumultuous affray means a commotion in a tumultuous and confused manner, to such an extent
that it would not be possible to identify who the killer is if death results. The participants in the
affray must not compose groups organized for the common purpose of assaulting and
attacking each other reciprocally. Otherwise, they may be held liable as co-conspirators and all
will be held principally liable for the resulting death.

The victim who is killed in a tumultuous affray need not be a participant. He may be a stranger
or a mere passerby.

Who are the persons liable for death caused in a tumultuous affray?
A. The person/s who inflicted the serious physical injuries, or
B. If it is not known who inflicted the serious physical injuries on the deceased, all the
persons who used violence upon the person of the victim are liable.

In order for the offender/s to be liable for death caused in a tumultuous affray, it is important that
it cannot be ascertained who killed the deceased. If the killer is identified, the crime is
homicide and not death caused in a tumultuous affray.

PHYSICAL INJURIES INFLICTED IN TUMULTUOUS AFFRAY

1. There is a tumultuous affray
2. A participant/s thereof suffer serious or less serious physical injuries
3. The persons responsible therefor cannot be identified
4. All those who appear to have used violence upon the person of the offended party are
known.

Who are liable for the crime of physical injuries inflicted in a tumultuous affray? Only those who
used violence upon the person of the offended party shall be held liable for physical injuries
inflicted in tumultuous affray. If the person/s who inflicted the serious or less serious physical
injuries are known, then they will be liable for the crime of serious or less serious physical
injuries, not physical injuries inflicted in tumultuous affray.

GIVING ASSISTANCE TO SUICIDE

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The crime of giving assistance to suicide is committed when the offender assists another in
committing suicide, even to the extent that the offender does the killing himself. The offender is
liable even if the suicide is not consummated. However, the initiative to commit suicide should
come from the suicidal person, not from the offender.

INFANTICIDE
Infanticide is the killing of a child less than 3 days old, whether the killer is the parent or
grandparent, a relative of the child or a stranger.

The penalty imposed is equivalent to that of parricide/murder. However, if the crime is

committed to conceal dishonor, the penalty is lowered to prision mayor, if committed by the
mother; or reclusion temporal, if committed by the grandparents. Only the mother (who must be
of good reputation) and the maternal grandparents of the child are entitled to the mitigating
circumstance of concealing dishonor. Thus, if the father commits the crime of infanticide, he
cannot claim concealment of dishonor as a mitigating circumstance.

INTENTIONAL ABORTION
1. The offender
2. a. Uses violence against the person of the pregnant woman
b. Without using violence, the offender acts without the consent of the woman
c. Acts with the consent of the woman
3. As a result of the foregoing, the fetus dies
4. Abortion is intended

Abortion is a crime against the fetus, not against the woman herself. In intentional abortion, the
offender should know that the woman is pregnant, because the intention is to cause an abortion.

If the abortion is committed by the offender with the consent of the pregnant woman, then the
pregnant woman is also liable for intentional abortion.

Suppose the mother died or suffered physical injuries as a consequence of the intentional
abortion. What crime is committed? Complex crime of murder/homicide/physical injuries with
abortion.

UNINTENTIONAL ABORTION
1. Violence is used upon the person of a pregnant woman
2. There is no intention to cause an abortion, but violence is intentionally exerted
3. The fetus dies as a result of the violence

Unintentional abortion requires physical violence inflicted deliberately and voluntarily upon the
person of the pregnant woman. Hence, if A pointed a gun at a pregnant woman, who became so
frightened and thereby causing her abortion, he is not liable for unintentional abortion as there
was no violence exerted. However, if there was intention to cause abortion, then he is liable for
intentional abortion.

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ABORTION PRACTICED BY THE WOMAN HERSELF OR BY HER PARENTS
If the woman herself caused her intentional abortion, for purposes of concealing dishonor, her
criminal liability is mitigated. If the intentional abortion is for a purpose other than concealing
dishonor, there is no mitigating circumstance.

If the intentional abortion is committed by the maternal grandparents, with the consent of the
woman, they cannot invoke the mitigating circumstance of concealment of dishonor. Unlike in
infanticide, there is no mitigating circumstance of concealment of dishonor for an intentional
abortion caused by the maternal grandparents.
ABORTION PRACTICED BY PHYSICIAN OR MIDWIFE AND DISPENSING OF
ABORTIVES
1. Abortion practiced by physician or midwife
It is important that the physician or midwife uses his medical knowledge in committing
the abortion. If the abortion is caused to save the life of the mother (therapeutic abortion),
there is no criminal liability.
2. Dispensing of abortives
The offender is a pharmacist who dispenses an abortive without a prescription from a
physician.

RESPONSIBILITY OF PARTICIPANTS IN A DUEL.

A duel is a formal or regular combat previously consented between two parties in the presence of
two or more seconds who make the selection of arms and fix all the other conditions of the fight
to settle some antecedent quarrels.

Punishable acts:
1. Killing one’s adversary in a duel
2. Inflicting upon such adversary physical injuries
3. Engaging in a duel although no physical injuries have been inflicted

A mere fight as a result of an agreement is not necessarily a duel. A duel implies an agreement to
fight under determined conditions set by the seconds.

Thus, if the accused and the deceased, after a heated argument in the bar, left the place at the
same time and pursuant to their agreement, went to the plaza to fight each other to death with
knives which they bought on the way, there is no crime of duel because there were no seconds
who fixed the conditions of the fight. If one is killed, the crime is homicide.

Both combatants should fight under the conditions set by the seconds. Hence, if a combatant
attacked and killed the other before the agreed time and place of the fight, he is not liable as a
participant in a duel. The crime committed may be murder, homicide, or physical injuries.

Persons liable.
1. The person who killed or inflicted physical injuries upon his adversary is liable
2. If there be no physical injuries, both combatants are liable as principals
3. Seconds are liable as accomplices

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CHALLENGING TO A DUEL
The crime of challenging to a duel is committed by a person who shall:
a. challenge another to a duel,
b. incite another to give or accept a challenge to a duel, or
c. scoffing at or decrying another publicly for having refused to accept a challenge to fight a
duel.
The punishable act is to challenge a person to a duel, not to challenge him to a fight. In the latter,
the crime would be light threats.

MUTILATION
Mutilation is the chopping or the clipping off of some parts of the body which are not susceptible
to growth again.

Kinds of mutilation.
1. Intentionally mutilating another by depriving him/her, either totally or partially, of some
essential organ of reproduction
2. Any other intentional mutilation – lopping or clipping off any part of the body, other than
the essential organ of reproduction, to deprive him of that part of that body

The intention to deprive the victim of an essential organ for reproduction, or other parts of the
body must be purposely sought by the offender. If there is no such intention, the crime is
physical injuries.

SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURIES

The crime of serious physical injuries is committed by:
1. Wounding,
2. Beating,
3. Assaulting, or
4. Administering injurious substances

Instances considered as serious physical injuries:

A. If the victim becomes insane, imbecile, impotent or blind
B. i. If the victim lost the use of speech, the power to hear or smell
ii. If he lost an eye, a hand, a foot, an arm or a leg, or lost the use of any such member
iii. If he becomes incapacitated for the work in which he was habitually engaged
C. i. If the victim has become deformed, or has lost any part of his body, or lost the use
thereof
ii. If he has become ill or incapacitated for the performance of the work in which he was
habitually engaged for a period of more than 90 days
D. If the physical injuries inflicted shall cause the illness or incapacity for labor of the victim
for more than 30 days
E. By knowingly administering to a person injurious substances or beverages or by taking
advantage of his weakness of mind or credulity

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Once physical injuries result in a deformity, the crime is classified as serious physical injuries.
But in order to constitute a deformity, there must be physical ugliness which is permanent,
conspicuous and visible.

Aggravating circumstances of serious physical injuries.

1. If it is committed by any of the persons referred to in the crime of parricide (XPN: This
does not apply to parents who inflict serious physical injuries upon children by excessive
chastisement)
2. If any of the circumstances qualifying a killing to murder is present

LESS SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURIES

1. Offended party is incapacitated for labor for 10 days or more (but not more than 30
days), or shall require medical attendance for the same period
2. The physical injuries must be those described under the preceding article.
If a wound required medical attendance for 2 days, yet the injured party was prevented from
attending to his ordinary labor for a period of 25 days, the crime committed is less serious
physical injuries.

Aggravating circumstances
a. When there is manifest intent to insult or offend the injured person
b. When there are circumstances which add ignominy to the offense
c. When the victim is the offender’s parents, ascendants, guardians, curators, or teachers
d. When the victim is a person of rank or person in authority, provided the crime is not
direct assault

SLIGHT PHYSICAL INJURIES

Kinds of physical injuries:
1. Physical injuries which incapacitated the offended party for labor from 1 to 9 days, or
required medical attendance during the same period
2. Physical injuries which did not prevent the offended party from engaging in his habitual
work or which did not require medical attendance
3. Ill-treatment of another by deed without causing any injury

There is slander by deed if the slapping was done to cast dishonor to the person slapped. If the
slapping was done without the intention to cast dishonor, humiliate or embarrass the offended
party, the crime is slight physical injuries.

If there is no evidence to establish the gravity or duration of actual injury, the offense is slight
physical injuries.

RAPE
Rape by sexual intercourse (simple rape)
1. Offender is a man who has carnal knowledge of a woman
2. The act is accomplished:
a. Through force, threat or intimidation
b. When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious

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 c. By means of fraudulent machinations or grave abuse of authority
d. When the offended party is under 12 years of age, or is demented

Rape by sexual assault

1. The offender
a. inserted his penis into another’s mouth or anal orifice, or
b. inserted any instrument or object into the genital or anal orifice of another person
2. The act of sexual assault is accomplished:
a. Through force, threat or intimidation
b. When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious
c. By means of fraudulent machinations or grave abuse of authority
d. When the offended party is under 12 years of age, or is demented

Rape by sexual intercourse is punishable by reclusion perpetua. Rape by sexual assault is

punishable by prision mayor.

When the offender has moral ascendancy or influence over the offended party, it is not necessary
that the latter put up a determined resistance. Moral ascendancy or influence by the offender over
the offended party takes the place of the need to put up a resistance.

A valid marriage extinguishes the penal action only as to the principal (the person who married
the victim), and cannot be extended to co-principals in case of multiple rape. Note that it is the
valid marriage that extinguishes the criminal liability of the offender, not the pardon or affidavit
of desistance of the offended party. Criminal liability for marital rape committed by the husband
is extinguished by the subsequent forgiveness of the wife.

There is no crime of frustrated rape because the slightest penetration of the penis into the labia of
the female organ consummates the crime of rape. In fact, the absence of a laceration in the
hymen does not negate rape. However, mere touching alone of the genitals can only be
considered as attempted rape, if not acts of lasciviousness.

Qualified Rape
1. When the rape is committed with the use of a deadly weapon, or by two or more
persons
2. When the victim becomes insane on the occasion of or by reason of the rape
3. When the rape is attempted and a homicide is committed by reason or on the occasion
thereof (Special complex crime of attempted rape with homicide)
4. When by reason or on occasion of the rape, a homicide is committed (Special complex
crime of rape with homicide)
5. When the victim is under 18 years of age, and the offender is a parent, ascendant,
stepparent, guardian, relative by consanguinity or affinity within the third civil degree, or
the common law spouse of the parent of the victim
6. When the victim is under the custody of the police or military authorities or any law
enforcement or penal institution

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 7. When committed by any member of the AFP, para-military units, PNP, or any law
enforcement agency or penal institution, when the offender took advantage of his position
to facilitate the commission of the crime
8. When the rape is committed in full view of the spouse, parent, any of the children or
other relatives within the third civil degree of consanguinity
9. When the victim is a religious engaged in legitimate religious vocation or calling and is
personally known to be such by the offender before or at the time of the commission of
the crime
10. When the victim is a child below 7 years of age
11. When the offender knows that he is afflicted with HIV/AIDS or other STDs and the virus
or the disease is transmitted to the victim
12. When by reason or on the occasion of the rape, the victim has suffered permanent
physical mutilation or disability
13. When the offender knew of the pregnancy of the offended party at the time of the
commission of the crime
14. When the offender knew of the mental incapacity, emotional disorder and/or physical
handicap of the offended party at the time of the commission of the crime
Simple rape is punishable by reclusion perpetua; rape by sexual assault is punishable by prision
mayor. But when the rape is qualified by any of the foregoing circumstances, the imposable
penalty is reclusion perpetua to death, or death.

Rape is qualified when by reason or on occasion thereof, a homicide is committed. The victim
of the homicide may be anybody, not necessarily the rape victim.

If the victim is a descendant of the offender, the absence of violence or offer of resistance would
not be significant because of the overbearing moral influence of the ascendant over the
descendant, which takes the place of violence and offer of resistance in rape cases.

Sexual intercourse with a mental retardate is simple rape. However, if the accused has
knowledge of the victim’s mental disability, the crime is qualified rape.

Where two or more offenders commit rape, the homicide committed on the occasion or by reason
of each rape must be deemed as a constituent of the special complex crime of rape with homicide
as the rape committed. In effect, the presence of homicide loses its character as an independent
offense but assumes a new character like a qualifying circumstance. However, by fiction of law,
it is merged with rape to constitute an element of a special complex crime of rape with homicide
with a specific penalty. No matter how many persons are killed, only one crime of rape with
homicide is committed.

Rape absorbs forcible abduction where the accused intended at the very outset to rape the victim
when he abducted her. Each and every charge of rape is a separate and distinct crime that the law
requires to be proven beyond reasonable doubt. The prosecution’s evidence must pass the
exacting test of moral certainty that the law demands to satisfy the burden of overcoming the
appellant’s presumption of innocence.

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A medico-legal finding is merely corroborative in character and is not an element of rape. The
prime consideration in the prosecution of rape is the victim’s testimony, not necessarily the
medical findings. A medical examination of the victim is not indispensable in a prosecution for
rape. The victim’s testimony alone, if credible, is sufficient to convict an accused.

If the child is under 7, the crime is qualified rape. If at least 7 and under 12 years of age, the
crime is simple (statutory) rape. If over 12 years and under 18, it is simple rape. If over 12 years
and under 18 but incestuous, it is qualified rape.

Attempted Rape v. Acts of Lasciviousness.

In attempted rape, there is intent to effect sexual intercourse, although unsuccessful. In acts of
lasciviousness, there is no intention to lie with the offended woman. The intention is merely to
satisfy lewd design. Thus, to be liable for attempted rape, the accused must actually commence
to force his penis into the victim’s sexual organ or that the erect penis is in the position to
penetrate.

Rape under the RPC in relation to RA 7610 (Child Abuse Law)

a. If the child is below 12, prosecution should be under the RPC for simple (statutory) rape
b. If the child is 12 years of age or older, prosecution may either be for sexual abuse under
RA 7610, or rape under the RPC. The offender cannot be charged of both crimes because
of the rule against double jeopardy
c. There is no complex crime for rape with sexual abuse. A felony cannot be complexed
with an offense.

The sweetheart defense may be raised as a defense in acts of lasciviousness and rape, committed
against or without the consent of the victim. The theory does not apply where there is an
allegation in the information that undue influence, moral ascendancy or inducement moved the
child to consent to the act.

For purposes of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct under RA 7610, the sweetheart defense
is unacceptable. A child exploited in prostitution or subjected to sexual abuse cannot validly give
consent to sexual intercourse. Similarly, consent is not a defense under RA 7610. The mere act
of having sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct with a child exploited in prostitution or
subjected to other sexual abuse is malum prohibitum.

A child is deemed exploited in prostitution or subjected to other sexual abuse when the child
indulges in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct (a) for money, profit, or any other
consideration; or (b) under the coercion or influence of any adult, syndicate or group. The law
covers not only a situation in which a child is abused for profit, but also one in which a child,
through coercion or intimidation, engages in any lascivious conduct. Hence, the law penalizes
not only child prostitution, the essence of which is profit, but also other forms of sexual abuse of
children.

Each sexual intercourse and lascivious conduct with a child under the circumstances mentioned
in the Child Abuse Law is a separate and distinct offense.

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69
 CRIMES AGAINST PERSONAL LIBERTY AND SECURITY

KIDNAPPING AND SERIOUS ILLEGAL DETENTION

1. Offender is a private individual
2. He kidnaps or detains another, or in any other manner deprives the latter of his liberty
3. a. The kidnapping or detention lasts for more than 3 days;
b. It is committed by simulating public authority;
c. Any serious physical injuries are inflicted on the person kidnapped/detained, or threats
to kill him are made; or
d. The person kidnapped/detained is a minor, a female or a public officer.

Qualifying circumstances of the crime of kidnapping and serious illegal detention

1. If the purpose of the kidnapping is to extort ransom
2. When the victim is killed or dies as a consequence of the detention
3. When the victim is raped
4. When the victim is subjected to torture or dehumanizing acts

No specific form of ransom is required to consummate the felony of kidnapping for ransom, as
long as the ransom was intended as a bargaining chip in exchange for the victim’s freedom.

Special complex crimes that may arise in kidnapping

a. Kidnapping with murder or homicide
b. Kidnapping with rape
c. Kidnapping with physical injuries

Kidnapping with murder or homicide

Where the person kidnapped is killed in the course of the detention, regardless of whether the
killing was purposely sought or was merely an afterthought, the kidnapping and
murder/homicide can no longer be complexed under Art. 48, nor be treated as separate crimes,
but shall be punished as a special complex crime of kidnapping with murder or homicide.

Suppose aside from demanding money, two persons were killed on occasion of the kidnapping.
What is the crime committed? Kidnapping for ransom with homicide, not double homicide.
Regardless of the number of killings or deaths that occurred as a consequence of the kidnapping,
the appropriate denomination of the crime should be the special complex crime of kidnapping for
ransom with homicide.

Suppose some other person, not the kidnapped victims, were killed on the occasion of the
kidnapping. What is the crime? Two separate crimes of murder/homicide, and kidnapping are
committed. The killing is treated as a separate offense.

But the crime is murder/homicide where the primordial intent is to kill the victim and the
deprivation of liberty was only incidental thereto.

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Kidnapping with rape
No matter how many times the kidnapped victim is raped, the resulting crime is a special
complex crime of kidnapping with rape. Each act of rape cannot be treated as distinct and
separate from the other.

Kidnapping Forcible abduction

At the outset, the intention of the offender is
merely to deprive the victim of his/her liberty
Kidnapping with rape
If the woman kidnapped is also raped, there is
a special complex crime of kidnapping with
rape
There is no lewd design at the onset of the
kidnapping
Even if there are multiple rapes, there is only
one crime of kidnapping with rape
At the outset, the taking of the victim is
coupled with lewd designs
Forcible abduction with rape
There is a complex crime under Art. 48 since
forcible abduction is a necessary means to
commit the rape
There is lewd design at the onset of the
abduction
If there are multiple rapes, only first rape shall
be complexed with forcible abduction. The
succeeding acts of rape shall be treated as
separate crimes

SLIGHT ILLEGAL DETENTION

1. Offender is a private individual
2. He kidnaps or detains another, or in any other manner deprives him of his liberty
3. The crime is committed without the attendance of any of the circumstances in Art. 267
(kidnapping and serious illegal detention)

The penalty is mitigated where the offender voluntarily releases the person so kidnapped or
detained within 3 days from the commencement of the detention, without having attained the
purpose intended, and before the institution of criminal proceedings against him.

UNLAWFUL ARREST
1. Offender arrests or detains another person
2. For the purpose of delivering him to the proper authorities
3. The arrest or detention is not authorized by law or there is no reasonable ground therefor.

The essence of the crime of unlawful arrest is that it is made for the purpose of delivering the
person to the proper authorities, but it was made without any reasonable ground therefor. There
is no period of detention fixed by law. What is controlling is the motive of the offender. If his
purpose is to deliver him to the proper authorities, it is unlawful arrest. If there is no such
intention, the crime may be illegal detention.

The offender is a private individual, or a public officer who has no authority to arrest or detain a
person. If he has authority to do so, then the crime is arbitrary detention.

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KIDNAPPING AND FAILURE TO RETURN A MINOR
1. The offender is entrusted with the custody of a minor person, and
2. He deliberately fails to restore the said minor to his parents or guardians

“Deliberate” means something more than mere negligence – it must be premeditated, headstrong,
foolishly daring and intentional. The offender in kidnapping and failure to return a minor is one
entrusted with the custody of a minor person, and what is being punished is the deliberate failure
to restore the custody of the minor to his parents or guardians. If the offender is not entrusted
with the custody of the minor, he is liable for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

SLAVERY
The offender purchases, sells, kidnaps or detains a human being for the purpose of enslaving
him.

EXPLOITATION OF CHILD LABOR

1. Offender retains a minor in his service, against the latter’s will
2. Under the pretext of reimbursing himself of a debt incurred by an ascendant, guardian or
person entrusted with the custody of such minor

SERVICES RENDERED UNDER COMPULSION IN PAYMENT OF DEBT

1. Offender compels a debtor to work for him, either as household servant or as a farm
laborer
2. The debtor is compelled against his will
3. The purpose is to require or enforce the payment of a debt

There must be a creditor-debtor relationship; otherwise, the offender is liable for coercion.

ABANDONMENT OF PERSONS IN DANGER AND ABANDONMENT OF ONE’S OWN

VICTIM
Punishable acts
1. Failing to render assistance to any person whom the offender finds in an uninhabited
place wounded or in danger of dying when he can render such assistance without
detriment to himself, unless such omission shall constitute a more serious offense
2. Failing to help or render assistance to another whom the offender has accidentally
wounded or injured
3. Failing to deliver a child under 7 years of age whom the offender has found abandoned,
to the authorities or to his family, or failing to take him to a safe place

ABANDONING A MINOR
1. Offender has the custody of the child who is under 7 years of age
2. He abandons such child

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The kind of abandonment contemplated by law is that which deprives the minor of the care and
protection from danger to his person. It is a permanent, conscious and deliberate abandonment.
Thus, momentary abandonment does not amount to abandonment of a minor.

Qualifying circumstances:
a. When the minor dies as a result of the abandonment
b. When the life of the minor was put in danger as a result of the abandonment

TRESPASS TO DWELLING
1. The offender is a private person who enters the dwelling of another, and
2. Such entrance is effected against the latter’s will.

If the offender is a public officer, the crime is violation of domicile.

The crime of trespass to dwelling is qualified when the offense is committed by means of
violence or intimidation.

Circumstances when the crime of trespass to dwelling is not punishable (absolutory causes):
a. When the entrance is committed by a person to prevent serious harm to himself, the
occupant or a third person
b. When the entrance is for the purpose of rendering some service to humanity or justice
c. Anyone who shall enter cafes, taverns, inns and other public houses while they are open

TRESPASS TO PROPERTY
1. Offender enters the closed premises or the fenced estate of another,
2. While either of them is uninhabited,
3. Prohibition to enter is manifest, and
4. Trespasser has not secured the permission of the owner or the caretaker thereof.

GRAVE THREATS
1. Offender threatens another with the infliction upon the person, honor, or property of the
latter or of his family
2. Of any wrong amounting to a crime.

LIGHT THREATS
1. Offender threatens another with the infliction upon the person, honor, or property of the
latter or of his family
2. Of a wrong not constituting a crime

OTHER LIGHT THREATS

1. Offender commits any of the following acts:
a. Threatens another with a weapon, or draws such weapon in a quarrel, unless it be in
lawful defense
b. Orally threatens another, in the heat of anger, with some harm constituting a crime
but who, by subsequent acts, shows that he did not persist in the idea
c. Orally threatens another to do any harm not constituting a felony

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GRAVE COERCIONS
1. Offender, by means of violence, threats or intimidation,
2. a. prevents another from doing something not prohibited by law, or
b. compels him to do something against his will, whether it be right or wrong

Grave coercion is committed when the victim is prevented from doing something that is not
prohibited by law. There is no coercion if he is prevented from doing something that is unlawful
in the first place. However, if the victim is compelled to do something against his will, there is
grave coercion if the compulsion is by means of violence, threats or intimidation.
Isagani lost his gold necklace bearing his initials. He saw Roy wearing the said necklace. Isagani
asked Roy to return to him the necklace as it belongs to him but Roy refused. Isagani drew his
gun and told Roy “If you will not give back the necklace to me, I will kill you!” Out of fear for
his life and against his will, Roy gave the necklace to Isagani. What offense did Isagani commit?

Isagani committed the crime of grave coercion for compelling Roy, by means of serious threats
or intimidation, to do something against the latter’s will, whether it be right or wrong.

LIGHT COERCION
1. Offender is a creditor who, by means of violence, seizes anything belonging to his debtor
2. For the purpose of applying the same to the payment of the debt own to him.

UNJUST VEXATION
Any act committed without violence but which unjustifiably annoys or vexes an innocent person.
In determining whether the crime of unjust vexation is committed, the offender’s act must have
caused annoyance, irritation, vexation, torment, distress or disturbance to the mind of the person
to whom it is directed.

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 CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

ROBBERY
Any person who, with intent to gain, shall take any personal property belonging to another, by
means of violence against or intimidation of any person, or using force upon anything, shall be
guilty of robbery.

Prohibited articles, e.g. opium, may be the subject matter of robbery.

The offended party need not be the owner; it is enough that he has possession of the thing
robbed. But the personal property must belong to another. Thus, a co-owner or a partner cannot
commit robbery or theft with regard to the co-ownership or partnership property.

The taking of the property must be unlawful. Where the taking was lawful and the property taken
was misappropriated after such lawful taking, the crime may be estafa or malversation but not
robbery.

When unlawful taking is complete.

1. As to robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons
Unlawful taking is complete from the moment the offender gains possession of the thing
even if he has had no opportunity to dispose of the same
2. As to robbery with force upon things
Unlawful taking is complete from the time the thing is taken out of the building/premises.

SPECIAL COMPLEX CRIMES

1. Robbery with homicide
2. Robbery with rape
3. Robbery with serious physical injuries
4. Robbery with arson
5. Robbery with intentional mutilation
If the homicide, rape, serious physical injuries, arson or intentional mutilation was committed by
reason of or on occasion of the robbery, the crime is considered as a special complex with a
single indivisible penalty. These crimes, therefore, cannot be treated as separate crimes.

Robbery with homicide

If death results by reason of or on occasion of the robbery, even if it is by mere accident, the
special complex crime of robbery with homicide is committed. It is essential, however, that the
robbery and the homicide are both consummated in order for this special complex crime to
apply. Thus, if during the robbery, X died of stroke due to fear from having been held at
gunpoint, the crime is robbery with homicide.

Homicide is used in its generic term, which means that parricide, infanticide or murder are
included in the term. The circumstances which attended the death are considered as generic
aggravating circumstances, not as qualifying circumstances. Thus, there is no crime of homicide
with murder, parricide or infanticide.

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But the intent to rob must precede the killing. Thus, if the intention was to kill the victim and the
robbery was only an afterthought, the offender is liable for two separate crimes of robbery and
murder/homicide, as the case may be.

There is no crime of robbery with multiple homicide. The crime is robbery with homicide,
notwithstanding the number of homicides committed on the occasion of the robbery.

If, aside from homicide, rape and physical injuries are also committed by reason or on the
occasion of the robbery, the crime is still robbery with homicide.

Robbery with rape

This special complex crime contemplates a situation where the original intent of the accused was
to take, with intent to gain, personal property belonging to another and rape is committed on the
occasion thereof or as an accompanying crime. In short, the criminal intent to gain must precede
the intent to rape.

Although the victim was raped multiple times on the occasion of robbery, the additional acts of
rape are not considered as aggravating circumstances in the complex crime of robbery with rape.

Note, however, that robbery and rape may be treated as separate crimes when the rape precedes
the robbery, as when the robbery was committed as an afterthought.

Robbery with physical injuries

The physical injuries contemplated under this special complex crime is one that is serious. If the
physical injuries are slight or less serious, they are absorbed in the crime of robbery.

Robbery with arson

The special complex crime would only be committed if the primordial intent of the offender is to
commit robbery and there is no killing, rape or intentional mutilation committed during the
robbery. Otherwise, the crime would be robbery with homicide, or robbery with rape, or robbery
with intentional mutilation, in that order and the arson would only be an aggravating
circumstance.

SPECIAL AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES IN ROBBERY

When a robbery is committed and by reason or on occasion thereof,
1. Physical injuries are inflicted
2. If the robbery is committed in an uninhabited place
3. By a band
4. By attacking a moving train, street car, motor vehicle or airship
5. By entering the passenger’s compartments in a train, or in any manner taking the
passengers thereof by surprise in the respective conveyances
6. On a street, road, highway, or alley, and the intimidation is made with the use of firearms

As special aggravating circumstances, they cannot be offset by ordinary mitigating

circumstances.

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Robbery “by a band” means that there are more than 3 armed malefactors who take part in the
commission of the robbery. The use of an unlicensed firearm is without prejudice to the criminal
liability for illegal possession of firearms.

ATTEMPTED ROBBERY WITH HOMICIDE [Art. 297]

This special complex crime committed under Art. 297. In attempted robbery with homicide, the
person killed is not one of the offenders. This is in contrast to robbery with homicide where the
person killed may be one of the offenders.

ROBBERY BY EXECUTION OF DEEDS [Art. 298]

1. Offender has intent to defraud another
2. He compels him to sign, execute or deliver any public instrument or document
3. The compulsion is by means of violence or intimidation

ROBBERY WITH FORCE UPON THINGS [Art. 299-305]

Robbery with force upon things may be committed in
a. An inhabited place
b. Public building
c. Edifice devoted to religious worship
d. An uninhabited place
e. Private building

Robbery with force upon things is committed when the malefactors shall enter the house or
building in any of the following manner:
1. Through an opening not intended for entrance or egress
2. By breaking any wall, roof, or floor or breaking any door or window
3. By using false keys, picklocks, or similar tools
4. By using any fictitious name or pretending the exercise of public authority
5. By breaking doors, wardrobes, chests, or any other kind of locked or sealed furniture or
receptacle
6. By taking such furniture or objects away to be broken or forced open outside the place of
the robbery

The malefactor must enter the house/building which means that his whole body must be inside
the house or building. If not, the crime committed is theft even if he broke a window to allow his
hand to steal some personal property inside.

ROBBERY IN A HIGHWAY [Art. 306 in relation to Art. 294]

Robbery in a Highway Highway Robbery/Brigandage under PD
532
Mere formation of a band for the purpose of Mere formation of a band is not punishable
committing robbery in the highways is
punishable. When acts of depredation are
committed, band becomes an aggravating
circumstance

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 There must be more than 3 armed malefactors One malefactor will suffice
There is a preconceived victim There is no preconceived victim. Robbery is
committed against indiscriminate persons

THEFT
Theft is committed by any person who, with intent to gain but without violence against or
intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take personal property of another without the
latter’s consent.

Persons liable for theft:

1. Those who, with intent to gain but without violence against or intimidation of persons nor
force upon things, shall take personal property of another without the latter’s consent
2. Any person who, having found lost property, shall fail to deliver the same to the local
authorities or to its owner
3. Any person who, after having maliciously damaged the property of another, shall remove
or make use of the fruits or objects of the damage caused by him
4. Any person who shall enter an enclosed estate or a field where trespass is forbidden or
which belongs to another and without the consent of its owner, shall hunt or fish upon the
same or shall gather fruits, cereals, or other forest or farm products

There is theft when only the physical or material possession of the thing is transferred. Where
both the material and juridical possession (right to transfer the thing) are transferred and the
offender subsequently misappropriates it, the crime of estafa is committed.

Appropriating lost property. The finder may be either a finder in fact or a finder in law. A finder
in fact is the actual finder who misappropriates lost personal property. A finder in law is one who
did not actually find lost property but who received from the actual finder the property for the
purpose of turning it over to the proper authorities. If he instead misappropriates it, he is liable
for theft.

QUALIFIED THEFT
1. If committed by a domestic servant
2. If committed with grave abuse of confidence
3. If the property stolen is a mail matter
4. If the property stolen consists of coconuts taken from the premises of the plantation,
5. If the property stolen consists of fish from a fishpond or fishery
6. If the property is taken on the occasion of fire, earthquake, typhoon, volcanic eruption, or
other calamity, vehicular accident or civil disturbance

Mrs. S was a bank teller. In need of money, she took P5,000 from her money drawer and made it
appear that a certain depositor made a withdrawal from his account. What crime is committed?
Qualified theft. Mrs. S was only in material possession of the property as she received the same
in behalf of the bank. Juridical possession remains with the bank. Juridical possession means
possession which gives the transferee a right over the thing which the transferee may set up even

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against the owner. If a bank teller appropriates the money for her personal gain, the crime
committed is theft qualified by grave abuse of confidence because the offender has possession of
the property due to the confidence reposed on her.

Anti-Cattle Rustling Law

Cattle Rustling is taking away by any means, methods or schemes, without the consent of the
owner, of any of the large cattle whether or not for profit, or whether committed with or without
violence against or intimidation of persons or force upon things.

Anti-Carnapping Law
Carnapping is the taking, with intent to gain, of a motor vehicle belonging to another without the
latter’s consent, or by means of violence against or intimidation of persons or by using force
upon things.

The penalty of life imprisonment shall be imposed when the owner, driver, or occupant of the
carnapped motor vehicle is killed or raped in the commission of the carnapping (special complex
crime).

OCCUPATION OR REAL PROPERTY OR USURPATION OF REAL RIGHTS IN

PROPERTY [Art. 312]
1. The offender, by means of violence against or intimidation,
2. a. Takes possession of any real property, or
b. Usurps any real rights in property
3. The property belongs to another

In usurpation, the RPC provides for a two-layered penalty: penalty for the violence and/or
intimidation, and penalty of fine for the usurpation.

Thus, if the usurpation was committed with killing or physical injuries, the penalty for robbery
with homicide or robbery with serious physical injuries will be imposed plus fine.

SWINDLING/ESTAFA [Art. 315]

There are 3 ways of committing estafa:
1. With unfaithfulness or abuse of confidence, or
2. By means of false pretenses or fraudulent acts
3. Through fraudulent means
Damage or prejudice to another must be proven.

1. Estafa committed with unfaithfulness or abuse of confidence:

a. By altering the substance, quantity or quality of anything of value which the offender
shall deliver by virtue of an obligation
b. By misappropriating or converting money or other personal property received by
the offender in trust, or on commission, or for administration, or under any other
obligation which involves the duty to return or deliver the same
c. By taking advantage of the signature in blank

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2. Estafa committed by means of false pretenses or fraudulent acts:
a. By using fictitious name, or falsely pretending to possess power, influence,
qualifications, property, business or imaginary transactions, or other similar deceits
b. By altering the quality, fineness, or weight of anything pertaining to his art or business
c. By pretending to have bribed any Government employee
d. By postdating a check, or issuing a check in payment of an obligation when the
offender has no funds or has insufficient funds
e. By obtaining food or accommodation at a hotel, restaurant and other similar
establishments, without paying
In the second form of estafa, it is essential that the deceit or false pretense be prior to or
simultaneous with the prejudice and that the same be the very cause of the damage.
3. Estafa through fraudulent means
a. By inducing another, by means of deceit, to sign any document
b. By resorting to some fraudulent practice to insure success in a gambling game
c. By removing, concealing, or destroying any court record, office files, document, or any
other papers
Illustration of 3(a): A induced an illiterate owner who was desirous of mortgaging his property
for a certain amount, to sign a document which he believed was only a power of attorney but in
truth, it was a deed of sale. A is guilty of Estafa under par 3(a) and the damage could consist at
least in the disturbance in property rights.

Estafa through misappropriation or conversion.

The words “convert” and “misappropriate” connote an act of using or disposing of
another’s property as if it were one’s own or devoting it to a purpose or use different from that
agreed upon.

When money or property is delivered for a particular purpose and it was used for another
purpose, it is essential to determine whether juridical or physical possession was transferred.
When what is transferred is material possession, it is only theft. But when juridical possession is
transferred, its conversion to another purpose other than that for which it was entrusted is estafa.

Juridical possession refers to a possession which gives the transferee a right over the
thing transferred and this, he may set up even against the owner. Material possession means
physical possession. A cash custodian who is found short of the cash under her primary
responsibility is guilty of qualified theft, not estafa. Her possession of the cash belonging to the
bank is similar to that of a teller. Hers is only material/physical possession and not juridical
possession of the missing cash.

There must be a demand made by the offended party to the offender. Demand, however,
is not necessary when there is evidence of misappropriation of the goods by the offender.

Mere failure to return the thing held in trust does not constitute estafa, but may be
appreciated as circumstantial evidence to prove misappropriation/conversion. Estafa through
misappropriation or conversion is committed when the accused actually appropriates the
property of another for his own benefit, to the prejudice of the owner.

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*** A money market transaction partakes of the nature of a loan and therefore non-payment
thereof would not give rise to a criminal liability for estafa through misappropriation or
conversion. The accused was not obliged under the money market transaction to return the same
money received.

Estafa (i) by using fictitious name, or (ii) falsely pretending to possess power, influence,
qualifications, property, business or imaginary transactions, or (ii) other similar deceits

Under this class of estafa, the element of deceit is indispensable. The deceit consists of
the accused’s false statement or fraudulent representation which was made prior to, or at least
simultaneously with, the delivery of the money by the complainants. It is essential for conviction
that the false statement or fraudulent representation constitutes the very cause or the only motive
which induces the complainant to part with the valuable thing. The offended party must have
relied on the false pretense, fraudulent act, or fraudulent means, that is, he was induced to part
with his money or property because of the false pretense, fraudulent act, or fraudulent means.

Thus, when the accused led complainants to believe that they possessed the power, means
and legal qualifications to provide the latter with work in Italy, and the complainants parted with
their money and suffered damage by reason of these deceitful and illegal acts, conviction for
estafa and for illegal recruitment was proper.

Estafa by postdating a check or issuing a worthless check

1. The check is drawn or postdated in payment of an obligation contracted at the time
the check was issued
2. There are no funds sufficient to cover the check
3. The payee sustains damage thereby

The law penalizes the issuance of a check only if it were itself the immediate
consideration for the reciprocal receipt of benefits, i.e. check is issued simultaneously with or at
the time the obligation is contracted. There is no estafa if the worthless check was issued in
payment of a pre-existing obligation.

*** What does fraud and deceit in the crime of estafa mean?
Fraud is deemed to comprise anything calculated to deceive, including all acts, omissions and
concealment involving a breach of legal or equitable duty, trust or confidence justly reposed,
resulting in damage to another.

Deceit means the false representation of a matter of fact whether by words or conduct, by galse
or misleading allegations, or by concealment of that which should have been disclosed.

BOUNCING CHECKS LAW [B.P. 22]

Two ways of violating BP 22
1. Making, drawing and issuing any check to apply on account or for value, knowing at the
time of issue that he does not have sufficient funds in or credit with the drawee bank for
the payment of the check in full, which check is subsequently dishonored by the drawee
bank for insufficiency of funds or credit

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 2. Making, drawing and issuing a check while having sufficient funds in or credit with the
drawee bank, but failing to keep sufficient funds or to maintain a credit to cover the full
amount of the check if presented within 90 days from the date of the check, for which
reason it is dishonored by the bank.

Where the check is drawn by a corporation, the person/s who actually signed the check in
behalf of such drawer shall be liable for violation of BP 22.

There is prima facie presumption of knowledge of insufficiency of funds when the check
is presented to the drawee bank within 90 days from the date of the check and the check was
dishonored for failure of the maker to make arrangements for the payment in full within 5
banking days from the notice of dishonor. Thus, it must be shown that a notice of dishonor has
been received by the drawer and within 5 banking days thereafter failed to satisfy the amount of
the check or make arrangement for its payment.

Even if the check was intended to replace the bad one, its issuance 15 days after
petitioners had been notified of the dishonor of their previous check cannot negate the
presumption that they knew of the insufficiency of funds.

If the check is presented after the 90-day period, there is no more presumption of
knowledge of insufficiency of funds. Knowledge of its insufficiency may still be proved through
direct or circumstantial evidence. If the check is presented for payment after 6 months or 180
days from the date of issue, the check is considered as stale. No criminal action can arise
therefrom.

The gravamen of the offense is the issuance of a worthless check. The issuance of
worthless checks is punishable even though the checks have been issued to guarantee a person’s
obligation. But if the check was issued merely as evidence of indebtedness, with an agreement
that it shall not be presented to the banks, there is no liability for estafa or violation of BP 22.
Also, knowledge by the complainant that the drawer does not have sufficient funds in the bank at
the time the check was issued does not give rise to estafa through bouncing checks.

Violation of BP 22 is in the nature of a transitory/continuing offense. Venue may be in

any of the places where the check was made, issued or drawn.

Estafa
Liability arises when the check is issued
concurrently at the time the obligation is
incurred, not for a pre-existing obligation
Damage to the offended party and deceit of
the offender are essential elements
Crime against property
Malum in se
BP 22
Liability for violation of BP 22 is incurred
whether or not it was issued in payment of a
pre-existing obligation
Damage to the offended party, and deceit on
the part of the offender are immaterial
Crime against public interest (since the act is
penalized for its disastrous effect on the
banking system and the economy)
Malum prohibitum

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The crimes of estafa and violation of BP 22 are different offenses having different elements. In
estafa, deceit and damage are essential elements of the offense. For BP 22, the elements of deceit
and damage are not essential. Hence, these should be treated as separate and distinct offenses.
There is no absorption; two separate cases are indicted for estafa and BP 22.

Violation of BP 22 is punishable by imprisonment of not less than 30 days but not more than 1
year, OR a fine of not less than, but not more than double, the amount of the check which in no
case shall exceed P200,000, or both such fine and imprisonment at the court’s discretion. A.C.
12-2000 provides that where the circumstances exist which indicate good faith or a clear mistake
of fact without taint of negligence, the imposition of a fine alone should be considered as the
more appropriate penalty. Thus, payment of a fine is an alternative to imprisonment. But if the
fine is imposed and the accused is unable to pay the same, a subsidiary imprisonment may be
imposed.

SYNDICATED ESTAFA [PD 1689]

1. Estafa or other forms of swindling is committed
2. The estafa or swindling is committed by a syndicate (consists of 5 or more persons
formed with the intention of carrying out the unlawful act, transaction or scheme)
3. The defraudation results in the misappropriation of moneys contributed by stockholders,
or members of rural banks, cooperatives, farmers’ associations, or of funds solicited by
corporations/associations from the general public.

In People v. Tibayan, the accused were convicted with syndicated estafa as they were engaged in
a Ponzi Scheme. (a) The incorporators/directors of TGICI comprising more than 5 people,
including the accused, made false pretenses and representations to the investing public regarding
a supposed lucrative investment opportunity with TGICI in order to solicit money from them; (b)
the said false pretenses and representations were made prior to or simultaneous with the
commission of fraud; (c) relying thereon, private complainants invested their money into TGICI;
and (d) the incorporators or directors of TGICI ended up running away with the private
complainants’ investments, obviously to the latter’s prejudice.

ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT [RA 8042, as amended by RA 10022]

Illegal recruitment means any act of canvassing, enlisting, transporting, contracting, hiring,
utilizing or procuring workers and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising
for employment abroad, whether for profit or not, when undertaken by a non-licensee or non-
holder of authority. If the non-licensee or non-holder of authority offers or promises for a fee
employment abroad to 2 or more persons, he shall be deemed engaged in illegal recruitment.

4 Kinds of Illegal Recruitment:

1. Simple illegal recruitment by a licensee or holder of authority
2. Simple illegal recruitment by a non-licensee or non-holder of authority
3. Illegal recruitment in a large scale (if committed against 3 or more persons individually
or as a group)
4. Illegal recruitment by a syndicate (carried out by a group of 3 or more persons conspiring
or confederating with one another)

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Illegal recruitment may be undertaken by either non-license or license holders. Non-license
holders are liable by the simple act of engaging in recruitment and placement activities, while
license holders may also be held liable for committing the acts prohibited under Section 6 of RA
8042, as amended.

Illegal recruitment is considered an offense involving economic sabotage (punishable by life

imprisonment) if any of the qualifying circumstances exists:
a. Illegal recruitment in a large scale
b. Illegal recruitment by a syndicate

One who commits illegal recruitment may be convicted separately of illegal recruitment and
estafa under the same set of facts. The former is malum prohibitum, where criminal intent is not
necessary for conviction; estafa is malum in se where intent is essential.

OTHER FORMS OF SWINDLING [Art. 316]

1. Conveying, selling, encumbering or mortgaging real property while pretending to be its
owner
2. Disposing of real property that is encumbered, although such encumbrance is not
recorded
3. Offender, who is the owner of a personal property, wrongfully takes it from its lawful
possessor, to the prejudice of the latter or any third person
4. Execution of any fictitious contract, to the prejudice of another
5. Accepting any compensation given under the belief that it was in payment of services
rendered when none has been rendered

Under the law on sales, it is not prohibited for one to sell property he does not own yet as long as
at the time of delivery, he is already the owner. What the law penalizes is the pretense to sell it as
an owner or the misrepresentation with intent to defraud.

Under par. 2, mere selling of the real property without disclosing the encumbrance will not result
in estafa because there is no law penalizing the sale of encumbered property. It is the deceit in
selling the property that gives rise to criminal liability. There is estafa if the deed of sale has a
false statement that the property is free from encumbrances and by reason of that representation,
the offended party bought the property.

ARSON [Art. 320, RPC; and PD 1613]

PD 1613 currently governs simple arson. Art. 320 of the RPC governs destructive arson.

Simple Arson under PD 1613:

1. Any building used as office of the government or any of its agencies;
2. Any inhabited house or dwelling;
3. Any industrial establishment, shipyard, oil well or mine shaft, platform or tunnel;
4. Any plantation, farm, pastureland, growing crop, grain field, orchard, bamboo grove or
forest;
5. Any rice mill, sugar mill, cane mill or mill central; and
6. Any railway or bus station, airport, wharf or warehouse. 

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Destructive Arson under Art. 320 of the RPC
1. One or more buildings or edifices, consequent to one single act of burning, or as a result of
simultaneous burnings, committed on several or different occasions
2. Any building of public or private ownership, devoted to the public in general, regardless of
whether the offender had knowledge that there are persons in said building or edifice at the
time it is set on fire and regardless of whether the building is actually inhabited or not.
3. Any train or locomotive, vessel, airplane, devoted to transportation or conveyance, or for
public use, entertainment or leisure.
4. Any building, factory, warehouse installation and any appurtenances thereto, which are
devoted to the service of public utilities.
5. Any building the burning of which is for the purpose of concealing or destroying evidence
of another violation of law, or for the purpose of concealing bankruptcy or defrauding
creditors or to collect from insurance.
6. When the arson is committed by 2 or more persons, regardless of whether their purpose is
merely to burn the building or the burning merely constitutes an overt act in the
commission or another violation of law
7. In an inhabited place, any storehouse or factory of inflammable or explosive materials.
8. When death results (special complex crime of arson with homicide)

Simple Arson contemplates crimes with less significant social, economic, political and national
security implications than Destructive Arson. The acts constituting Destructive Arson are
characterized as heinous crimes "for being grievous, odious and hateful offenses and which, by
reason of their inherent or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity are
repugnant and outrageous to the common standards and norms of decency and morality in a just,
civilized and ordered society."

Arson is committed even if the property burned is owned by the offender. Also, even if the
owners of properties burned are different, there is only one crime of arson. If a person acting
under one criminal impulse burned several buildings, only one crime of destructive arson is
committed.

When as a result of arson a person dies, it is not a complex crime of arson with homicide. It is
destructive arson (or special complex crime of arson with homicide).

Even if the whole house has not been completely gutted by the fire, the crime is still
consummated arson. It is enough that a portion thereof is shown to have been destroyed. There is
no crime of frustrated arson. If no burning resulted but offender commenced the commission of
the felony directly by overt acts which would have resulted to arson but was not able to produce
the felony because of causes other than his spontaneous desistance, attempted arson is
committed.

MALICIOUS MISCHIEF [Art. 332]

Malicious mischief is any means causing damage to the property of another without the use of
fire. There must be specific intent to destroy the property of another. Thus, it cannot be
committed by culpa.

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Malicious mischief is destruction of property other than by fire. The moment fire is used to
destroy a property, it is arson.

If the intent is to irritate another, the crime is not malicious mischief but unjust vexation.
Malicious mischief is a crime against property while unjust vexation is against personal security.

ABSOLUTORY CAUSE [Art. 332]

The following persons are exempt from criminal liability, not civil liability, from the commission
of the crime of Theft, Estafa, or Malicious Mischief:
1. Spouses, ascendants and descendants, or relatives by affinity in the same line
2. The widowed spouse with respect to property which belonged to the deceased spouse
before the same shall have passed into the possession of another
3. Brothers and sisters and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, if living together.
The foregoing exemptions are not applicable to strangers participating in the commission of the
crime.

Theft includes qualified theft. There is no exemption if the crime committed is robbery. Thus, if
a brother breaks his sister’s piggy bank, the former is liable for robbery.

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 CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY
The crimes of adultery, concubinage, seduction, abduction and acts of lasciviousness are so-
called private crimes. They cannot be prosecuted except upon the complaint initiated by the
offended party. The law regards the privacy of the offended party here as more important than
the disturbance to the order of society. The law gives the offended party the preference whether
to sue or not to sue.

But the moment the offended party has initiated the criminal complaint, the public prosecutor
will take over and continue with prosecution of the offender. This is so because when the
prosecution starts, the crime already becomes public and it is beyond the offended party to
pardon the offender.

The crimes of adultery and concubinage shall not be prosecuted except upon a complaint filed by
the offended spouse. The offended party cannot institute criminal prosecution without including
both the guilty parties, if they are both alive, nor, in any case, if he shall have consented or
pardoned the offenders.

The offenses of seduction, abduction, rape or acts of lasciviousness, shall not be prosecuted
except upon a complaint filed by the offended party or her parents, grandparents, or guardian,
nor, in any case, if the offender has been expressly pardoned by the above-named persons, as the
case may be.
In cases of seduction, abduction, acts of lasciviousness and rape, the marriage of the offender
with the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action or remit the penalty already imposed
upon him. The provisions of this paragraph shall also be applicable to the co-principals,
accomplices and accessories after the fact of the above-mentioned crimes.

ADULTERY [Art. 333]

Adultery is committed by a married woman who shall have sexual intercourse with a man not her
husband and by the man who has carnal knowledge of her, knowing her to be married, even if
the marriage be subsequently declared void. Its essence is sexual intercourse with a man not her
husband; there will be as many counts of adultery as there are sexual acts just like in rape.

Adultery does include the sexual intercourse of the wife with another woman.

CONCUBINAGE [Art. 334]

Committed by a husband who shall
a. keep a mistress in the conjugal dwelling, or
b. shall have sexual intercourse, under scandalous circumstances, with a woman who is
not his wife, or
c. shall cohabit with her in any other place.
The concubine shall suffer the penalty of destierro.

In both adultery and concubinage, the complainant must be a legal spouse at the time of the filing
of the complaint. If at that time, the complainant has obtained a divorce abroad, although not
recognized here, he has no standing to file the complaint.

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When the husband and his paramour are charged by the wife for concubinage, and they are also
charged by the husband of the paramour for adultery, the infidels can be liable for both adultery
and concubinage under the same set of facts. There is no double jeopardy or absorption of crimes
because the complainants in the cases are different and different provisions of law are violated.

The offended party in adultery or concubinage cannot institute criminal prosecution without both
parties, if they are both alive, nor in any case, if he shall have consented or pardoned the
offenders. For either consent or pardon to benefit the accused, it must be given prior to the filing
of a criminal complaint.

Acts of Lasciviousness [Art. 336, 339]

1. Offender commits any act of lasciviousness
2. Victim may be a male or a female
3. Offender commits the act of lasciviousness under the following circumstances:
a. By using force or intimidation
b. Offended is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious
c. Offended is under 12 years of age or is demented

Qualified seduction [Art. 337]

1. The victim is a virgin (morally, not physically)ggg, which is presumed if she is unmarried
and of good reputation
2. She must be over 12 and under 18 years of age
3. The offender has sexual intercourse with her
4. There is abuse of authority, confidence, or relationship on the part of the offender

Qualified seduction may be committed by any person in public authority, priest, home-servant,
domestic, guardian, teacher, or any person who, in any capacity, shall be entrusted with the
education or custody of the woman seduced.

It can also be committed by any person who shall seduce his sister or descendant, whether or
not she be a virgin or over 18 years of age.

Simple Seduction [Art. 338]

1. The victim is single and of good reputation
2. She must be over 12 and under 18 years of age
3. The offender has sexual intercourse with her
4. The crime is committed with deceit on the part of the offender

Corruption of minors [Art. 340]

Committed by a person who shall promote or facilitate the prostitution or corruption of persons
underage to satisfy the lust of another. The minor is used to satisfy the lust of another, and not
the corruptor’s.

Consented abduction [Art. 343]. - The abduction of a virgin over 12 years and under 18 years
of age, carried out with her consent and with lewd designs.

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Forcible abduction [Art. 342]
The abduction of any woman against her will and with lewd designs. Rape can be complexed
with forcible abduction. But if there are multiple counts of rape, only the first rape will be
complexed with forcible abduction and the succeeding rapes shall be considered as separate
counts of rape. There is no complex crime of forcible abduction with acts of lasciviousness
because they share the same element of lewd designs.

When the victim is under 12 years of age, the crime is always forcible abduction, whether she
has consented to the abduction or not.

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CRIMES AGAINST CIVIL STATUS

Simulation of birth, Substitution of birth [Art. 347]

The simulation of birth must be made in the record of birth; simulation in any other document is
falsification. Substitution of birth refers to the substitution of one child for another.

Bigamy [Art. 349]

Committed by any person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before the former
marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been declared presumptively
dead by means of a judgment rendered in the proper proceedings.

In order to convict the person of bigamy, it is necessary that the subsequent marriage has all the
essential requisites of marriage. Thus, there is no bigamy if the subsequent marriage is void for
lack of a marriage license.

Illegal marriage [Art. 350]

Committed by a person who, without being included in the provisions of the next proceeding
article, shall contract marriage knowing that the requirements of the law have not been complied
with or that the marriage is in disregard of a legal impediment.

Thus, even if the offender is not liable for bigamy because the subsequent marriage is void for
lack of a marriage license, he can still be liable for illegal marriage.

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 CRIMES AGAINST HONOR
Libel [Art. 353-362]
A libel is public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or
any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or
contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.

Elements of libel
1. Allegation of a discreditable act or condition concerning another;
2. Publication of the charge
3. Identity of the person defamed
4. Existence of malice

An allegation is considered defamatory if it ascribes to a person the commission of a crime, a

vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending
to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the
memory of one who is dead

There is a publication if the material is communicated to a third person. Thus, a writing to a

person other than the one defamed is sufficient publication.

To satisfy the element of identifiability, it must be shown that at least a third person or a stranger
was able to identify him as the object of the defamatory statement.

Statements uttered on television and radio are not slander but libel under Art. 355.

Every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention

and justifiable motive for making it is shown, except in the following cases:
a. A private communication made by any person to another in the performance of any legal,
moral or social duty; and
b. A fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comments or remarks, of any
judicial, legislative or other official proceedings which are not of confidential nature, or
of any other act performed by public officers in the exercise of their functions.

Persons liable for libel:

a. Any person who shall publish, exhibit, or cause the publication or exhibition of any
defamation in writing or by similar means
b. The author or editor of a book or pamphlet, or the editor or business manager of a daily
newspaper, magazine or serial publication, shall be responsible for the defamations
contained therein to the same extent as if he were the author thereof.

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 CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE
Culpa may either be a crime (Art. 365) or a modality of committing a crime (Art. 3).

The elements of criminal negligence are:

1. Offender does or fails to do an act
2. The doing or the failure to do an act is voluntary
3. It is without malice
4. Material damage results from the reckless imprudence
5. There is inexcusable lack of precaution on the part of the offender

Reckless imprudence is the inexcusable lack of precaution of a person taking into consideration
his employment or occupation, degree of intelligence, physical condition and other
circumstances regarding time, person and place. Such inexcusable negligence results in material
damage to another.

Simple negligence is a mere lack of prevision in a situation where either the threatened harm is
not immediate or the danger not openly visible. The gravamen of simple negligence is the failure
to exercise the diligence necessitated or called for by the situation which was not immediately
life-destructive. In reckless imprudence, the impending damage is immediate and the danger
manifest.

Regardless of what consequences resulted in reckless imprudence or simple negligence, only one
information should be prepared because the grave or less grave felony will be complexed; the
light felony, however, is treated separately.

ANTI-HAZING ACT OF 2018

Hazing refers to any act that results in physical or psychological suffering, harm or injury
inflicted on a recruit, neophyte, applicant or member as part of an initiation rite or practice made
as a prerequisite for admission or a requirement for continuing membership in a fraternity,
sorority, or organization.

The Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 is mala prohibita. The mere conduct of hazing is prohibited by law.
The offenders are not entitled to the benefit of praeter intentionem.

HUMAN SECURITY ACT OF 2007

Terrorism is any act punishable under the RPC and special penal laws which sows and creates a
condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce
the Government to give in to an unlawful demand.

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 Republic Act 7610
Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and
Discrimination Act

Child abuse refers to the maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which includes any
of the following:
a. Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional
maltreatment;
b. Any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and
dignity of a child as a human being;
c. Unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival, such as food and shelter; or
d. Failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious
impairment of his growth and development or in his permanent incapacity or death

Child Prostitution and Other Sexual Abuse. Children, whether male or female, who for
money, profit, or any other consideration or due to the coercion or influence of any adult,
syndicate or group, indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be
children exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse. Sexual intercourse or other sexual
abuse, even if with the consent of the child over 12 years old, is always a violation of RA 7610.

Persons liable:
A. Those who engage in or promote, facilitate or induce child prostitution
B. Those who have sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct with a child exploited in
prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse. (Sexual intercourse with a child under 12
is rape and the accused should be prosecuted under the RPC; sexual intercourse or
their forms of sexual abuse committed against a child over 12 years old may be
prosecuted under RPC or RA 7610)
C. Those who derive profit or advantage therefrom, whether as manager or owner of the
establishment where the prostitution takes place

Child Trafficking. Committed by any person who shall engage in trading and dealing with
children including the act of buying and selling of a child for money, or for any other
consideration, or barter.

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 ANTI-CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ACT OF 2009.

Child pornography refers to any representation, whether visual, audio, or written combination
thereof, by electronic, mechanical, digital, optical, magnetic or any other means, of child
engaged or involved in real or simulated explicit sexual activities.

Prohibited acts:
1. To hire, employ, use, persuade, induce or coerce a child to perform in the creation or
production of any form of child pornography;
2. To produce, direct, manufacture or create any form of child pornography;
3. To publish offer, transmit, sell, distribute, broadcast, advertise, promote, export or import
any form of child pornography;
4. To possess any form of child pornography with the intent to sell, distribute, publish, or
broadcast.
5. To engage in the luring or grooming of a child;
6. To willfully access any form of child pornography;
7. To conspire to commit any of the prohibited acts stated in this section.
8. To possess any form of child pornography.

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 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ACT OF 2003

Acts of Trafficking in Persons.

a. To recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, provide, or receive a person by any means,
including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or
apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
b. To introduce or match for money, profit, or material, economic or other consideration,
any person or any Filipino women to a foreign national, for marriage for the purpose of
acquiring, buying, offering, selling or trading him/her to engage in prostitution,
pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt
bondage;
c. To offer or contract marriage, real or simulated, for the purpose of acquiring, buying,
offering, selling, or trading them to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced labor or slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage; 
d. To undertake or organize tours and travel plans consisting of tourism packages or
activities for the purpose of utilizing and offering persons for prostitution, pornography
or sexual exploitation;
e. To maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;
f. To adopt or facilitate the adoption of persons for the purpose of prostitution,
pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt
bondage;
g. To recruit, hire, adopt, transport or abduct a person, by means of threat or use of force,
fraud deceit, violence, coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of
organs of said person; and
h. To recruit, transport or adopt a child to engage in armed activities in the Philippines or
abroad.

Qualified Trafficking in Persons. 

a. When the trafficked person is a child;
b. When the adoption is effected through the “Inter-Country Adoption Act and said
adoption is for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor,
slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
c. When the crime is committed by a syndicate, or in large scale. Trafficking is deemed
committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of 3 or more persons conspiring or
confederating with one another. It is deemed committed in large scale if committed
against 3 or more persons, individually or as a group;
d. When the offender is an ascendant, parent, sibling, guardian or a person who exercise
authority over the trafficked person or when the offense is committed by a public officer
or employee;
e. When the trafficked person is recruited to engage in prostitution with any member of the
military or law enforcement agencies;
f. When the offender is a member of the military or law enforcement agencies; and
g. When by reason or on occasion of the act of trafficking in persons, the offended party
dies, becomes insane, suffers mutilation or is afflicted with HIV or the AIDS.

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Use of Trafficked Persons. Any person who buy or engages the services of trafficked persons
for prostitution are also punished with 6 months of community service, or 1 year imprisonment.
ANTI-PHOTO AND VIDEO VOYEURISM ACT OF 2009

Prohibited Acts. 
a. To take photo or video coverage of a person or group of persons performing sexual act or
any similar activity or to capture an image of the private area of a person/s such as the
naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast without the
consent of the person/s involved and under circumstances in which the person/s has/have a
reasonable expectation of privacy;
b. To copy or reproduce, or to cause to be copied or reproduced, such photo or video or
recording of sexual act or any similar activity with or without consideration;
c. To sell or distribute, or cause to be sold or distributed, such photo or video or recording of
sexual act, whether it be the original copy or reproduction thereof; or
d. To publish or broadcast, or cause to be published or broadcast, whether in print or
broadcast media, or show or exhibit the photo or video coverage or recordings of such
sexual act or any similar activity through VCD/DVD, internet, cellular phones and other
similar means or device.

The prohibition under paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) shall apply notwithstanding that consent to
record or take photo or video coverage of the same was given by such person/s. Any person who
violates this provision shall be liable for photo or video voyeurism as defined herein.

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 COMPREHENSIVE DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT OF 2002
Punishable acts
SEC. 4. Importation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals.

SEC. 5. Sale, Trading, Administration, Dispensation, Delivery, Distribution and Transportation

of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals. — The penalty of
life imprisonment to death shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law,
shall sell, trade, administer, dispense, deliver, give away to another, distribute, dispatch in transit
or transport any dangerous drug, regardless of the quantity and purity involved, or shall act as a
broker in any of such transactions.

SEC. 6. Maintenance of a Den, Dive or Resort.

SEC. 7. Employees and Visitors of a Den, Dive or Resort. 
a. Any employee of a den, dive or resort, who is aware of the nature of the place as such;
b. Any person who is aware of the nature of the place as such and shall knowingly visit
the same.

SEC. 8. Manufacture of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential

Chemicals. 

SEC. 9. Illegal Chemical Diversion of Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals.

SEC. 11. Possession of Dangerous Drugs.

a. 10 grams or more of opium;
b. 10 grams or more of morphine;
c. 10 grams or more of heroin;
d. 10 grams or more of cocaine or cocaine hydrochloride;
e. 50 grams or more of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu”;
f. 10 grams or more of marijuana resin or marijuana resin oil;
g. 500 grams or more of marijuana; and
h. 10 grams or more of other dangerous drugs

SEC. 12. Possession of drug paraphernalia. The possession of such equipment, instrument,

apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for any of the purposes enumerated in the
preceding paragraph shall be prima facie evidence that the possessor has smoked, consumed,
administered to himself/herself, injected, ingested or used a dangerous drug and shall be
presumed to have violated Section 15.

SEC. 13. Possession of Dangerous Drugs During Parties, Social Gatherings or Meetings.

SEC. 14. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for

Dangerous Drugs During Parties, Social Gatherings or Meetings.

SEC. 15. Use of Dangerous Drugs. This Section shall not be applicable where the person tested
is also found to have in his/her possession such quantity of any dangerous drug provided for
under Section 11, in which case the provisions stated therein shall apply.

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Section 24. Non-Applicability of the Probation Law for Drug Traffickers and Pushers. – Any
person convicted for drug trafficking or pushing under this Act, regardless of the penalty
imposed by the Court, cannot avail of the privilege granted by the Probation Law.

Section 25. Qualifying Aggravating Circumstances in the Commission of a Crime by an

Offender Under the Influence of Dangerous Drugs. – A positive finding for the use of dangerous
drugs shall be a qualifying aggravating circumstance in the commission of a crime by an
offender, and the application of the penalty provided for in the RPC shall be applicable.

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 COMPREHENSIVE FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION REGULATION ACT
Punishable acts:
1. Unlawful acquisition, or possession of firearms and ammunition. The unlawful
acquisition, possession of firearms (small arms, Class-A light weapons or Class-B light
weapons) and ammunitions, whether loaded or not. Possession of ammunitions and major
parts of firearms is also prohibited.

2. Use of loose firearm in the commission of a crime. 

- The use of a loose firearm, when inherent in the commission of a crime punishable under
the RPC or other special laws, shall be considered as an aggravating circumstance.
- If the crime committed with the use of a loose firearm is penalized by the law with a
maximum penalty which is lower than that prescribed for illegal possession of firearm,
the penalty for illegal possession of firearm shall be imposed in lieu of the penalty for the
crime charged.
- If the crime committed with the use of a loose firearm is penalized by the law with a
maximum penalty which is equal to that imposed for illegal possession of firearms, the
penalty of prision mayor in its minimum period shall be imposed in addition to the
penalty for the crime punishable under the RPC or other special laws of which he/she is
found guilty.
- If the violation of this Act is in furtherance of, or incident to, or in connection with the
crime of rebellion of insurrection, or attempted coup d’ etat, such violation shall be
absorbed as an element of the crime of rebellion or insurrection, or attempted coup d’
etat.
- If the crime is committed by the person without using the loose firearm, the violation of
this Act shall be considered as a distinct and separate offense.

3. Absence of permit to carry outside of residence. Permit to own a firearm is distinct

from a permit to carry one. Any person who has a license to own a firearm but who shall
carry the registered firearm outside his/her residence without any legal authority therefor
is liable under the Act.

4. Unlawful manufacture, importation, sale or disposition of firearms or ammunition or

parts thereof

5. Arms smuggling

6. Tampering, obliteration or alteration of firearms identification.

7. Use of an imitation firearm. – An imitation firearm used in the commission of a crime

shall be considered a real firearm and the person who committed the crime shall be
punished in accordance with this Act.

8. Illegal transfer/registration of firearms. – It shall be unlawful to transfer possession of any

firearm to any person who has not yet obtained or secured the necessary license or permit
thereof.

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 ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING ACT OF 2001.
Money Laundering Offense. Money laundering is a crime whereby the proceeds of an unlawful
activity are transacted, thereby making them appear to have originated from legitimate sources. It
is committed by the following:
(a) Any person knowing that any monetary instrument or property represents, involves, or relates
to, the proceeds of any unlawful activity, transacts or attempts to transact said monetary
instrument or property.
(b) Any person knowing that any monetary instrument or property involves the proceeds of any
unlawful activity, performs or fails to perform any act as a result of which he facilitates the
offense of money laundering referred to in paragraph (a) above.
(c) Any person knowing that any monetary instrument or property is required under this Act to
be disclosed and filed with the AMLC, fails to do so.

“Transaction” refers to any act establishing any right or obligation or giving rise to any
contractual or legal relationship between the parties thereto. It also includes any movement of
funds by any means with a covered institution.

“Unlawful activity” refers to any act or omission or series or combination thereof involving or
having relation to the following:
- Kidnapping for ransom
- Violations of the Dangerous Drugs Act
- Violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act;
- Plunder
- Robbery and extortion
- Jueteng and Masiao
- Piracy on the high seas under the RPC, as amended and PD 532;
- Qualified theft under Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended;
- Swindling
- Smuggling under Republic Act Nos. 455 and 1937;
- Hijacking and other violations under RA 6235; destructive arson and murder, including
those perpetrated by terrorists against non-combatant persons and similar targets;
- Fraudulent practices and other violations under Securities Regulation Code of 2000;
- Felonies or offenses of a similar nature that are punishable under the penal laws of other
countries.

 Prosecution of Money Laundering.

(a) Any person may be charged with and convicted of both the offense of money laundering and
the unlawful activity.
(b) Any proceeding relating to the unlawful activity shall be given precedence over the
prosecution of any offense or violation under this Act without prejudice to the freezing and other
remedies provided.

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 ANTI-GRAFT AND CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT

Corrupt practices of public officers. In addition to acts or omissions of public officers already
penalized by existing law, the following shall constitute corrupt practices of any public officer
and are hereby declared to be unlawful:
(a) Persuading, inducing or influencing another public officer to perform an act constituting a
violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority or an offense in
connection with the official duties of the latter, or allowing himself to be persuaded, induced, or
influenced to commit such violation or offense.
(b) Directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, share, percentage, or benefit,
for himself or for any other person, in connection with any contract or transaction between the
Government and any other part, wherein the public officer in his official capacity has to
intervene under the law.
(c) Directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present or other pecuniary or material
benefit, for himself or for another, from any person for whom the public officer, in any manner
or capacity, has secured or obtained, or will secure or obtain, any Government permit or license,
in consideration for the help given or to be given.
(d) Accepting or having any member of his family accept employment in a private enterprise
which has pending official business with him during the pendency thereof or within one year
after its termination.
(e) Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party
any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative
or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable
negligence.
(f) Neglecting or refusing, after due demand or request, without sufficient justification, to act
within a reasonable time on any matter pending before him for the purpose of obtaining, directly
or indirectly, from any person interested in the matter some pecuniary or material benefit or
advantage, or for the purpose of favoring his own interest or giving undue advantage in favor of
or discriminating against any other interested party.
(g) Entering, on behalf of the Government, into any contract or transaction manifestly and
grossly disadvantageous to the same, whether or not the public officer profited or will profit
thereby.
(h) Directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or
transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in
which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest.
(i) Directly or indirectly becoming interested, for personal gain, or having a material interest in
any transaction or act requiring the approval of a board, panel or group of which he is a member,
and which exercises discretion in such approval, even if he votes against the same or does not
participate in the action of the board, committee, panel or group.
(j) Knowingly approving or granting any license, permit, privilege or benefit in favor of any
person not qualified for or not legally entitled to such license, permit, privilege or advantage, or
of a mere representative or dummy of one who is not so qualified or entitled.
(k) Divulging valuable information of a confidential character, acquired by his office or by him
on account of his official position to unauthorized persons, or releasing such information in
advance of its authorized release date.

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