The concept of crimes has been a timeless concept integrated to the concept of civilization for

time immemorial. By simple definition, “crime” has been described as an unlawful act
punishable by a figure or figures of authority. Through the inherent power of the state, police
power, the state has the power to impose laws to protect the interests of the community and for
the overall betterment of society, which gives them the power to sanction an offender for
harming their communities by violating these laws. However, what precisely constitutes a
criminal act differs from country to country. This is the reason why most states adhere to a form
of criminal justice system, wherein such is imposed and emphasized by various institutions
ranging from police enforcement, corrections and rehabilitation offices, and through an extensive
legal system, reliant on a penal code, defining crimes and their penalties, and their interpretations
of it.

In the Philippines, the existence and abundance of crimes has been an extremely prevalent and
persistent issue. Illegal drug trade, human trafficking, arms trafficking, murder, child
pornography, corruption, and domestic violence has been a rampant issue in society. In just the
crime of “murder”, the Philippines has an extremely high rate of murder cases, even topping the
boards to become the country with the highest rate of murder cases in the entirety of Southeast
Asia in 2014. To address this, the Philippine Government has established numerous institutions
which serve to maintain peace and order. These institutions, which include Law Enforcement,
Prosecution, Court, Corrections, and the Mobilized Community, are responsible for enforcement
of our laws, and for the apprehension and prosecution of those who violate them (Celso S.
Bravo).

Three departments of the national government under the executive branch manage the Philippine
criminal correctional system. The Department of Justice (DOJ), through its Bureau of
Corrections (BuCor), oversees seven national prison facilities. Its Parole and Probation
Administration (PPA) handles the parole and probation system, while its Board of Pardons and
Parole (BPP) manages affairs concerning the grant of executive clemency. The Department of
Interior and Local Government (DILG) supervises provincial, city, and municipal jails through
its Bureau of Jail and Management Penology (BJMP). The Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) supervises the regional rehabilitation centers for juvenile offenders
through its Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare (BCYW).

The Philippine courts penalize convicts who are guilty beyond reasonable doubt by sentencing
them to serve the appropriate sentences for the crimes they committed in correctional facilities or
prisons, in an attempt to correct their deviant behavior and to prevent the prisoners from
inflicting further harm to Philippine Society. According to the official website of the Bureau of
Corrections, there are seven (7) correctional facilities in the Philippines. Female convicts serve
their sentences at the Correctional Institution for Women at Mandaluyong City, while male
convicts serve their sentences at: San Ramon Prison & Penal Farm, Zamboanga; Ihawig Prison
& Penal Farm, Palawan; Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Dajuli, Davao del Norte; New Bilibid
Prison, Muntinlupa; Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro; and Leyte
Regional Prison, Leyte.

A question persists however with regards to in what way is the Philippine Criminal Justice
System cemented in Philippine Society. To know the guiding principle and theory that the Penal
Code of the Philippines is mainly based on, would help us better understand why the
apprehension and the punishment of criminals are done this way , and why the apprehension and
the punishment of criminals are done this way, and more specifically, why our criminal justice
system is built this way. An extensive analysis of these concepts may ultimately pave the way for
future ideas and suggestions on the ways to understand and improve on these subjects. To start
this analysis, one must first focus on the lingering concepts present in the aforementioned
information on the criminal justice system, namely: punishment and rehabilitation. To
understand the relevance of punishment and rehabilitation, however, first we must address two
important theories that are discussed in criminal law: the classical theory, and the positivist
theory.

Classical Theory

The classical school of thought may be attributed to the emergence of reformist legal ideas that
was developed during the eighteenth century from popular scholars and figures. The inception of
such concepts was developed in response to the cruel forms of punishment that dominated at the
time, as the penal code was almost brutally simplified to creative and cruel forms of torture, as
well as death, once found guilty by any figure of authority. The scholars and authors that served
as the theorists on the development of a penal code consists of Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy
Bentham.
(https://law.jrank.org/pages/908/Criminology-Intellectual-History-Classical-criminology.html)

Beccaria was an Italian writer who published a book, Dei deliti e delle pene (On Crimes and
Punishments) in 1764 as a way to present ideas on changing torturous forms of punishments in
preference to rationalist and social contract based ideas. Beccaria theorized that there should be a
fixed legal scale of crimes with a corresponding fixed legal scale of penalties, and the
punishments shall be proportional to the criminal act committed. Severe punishments must be
doled out to severe criminal acts, while slight offenses, while not forgiven, are given the benefit
of light sentences and punishments.

The classical theory with regards to crimes focuses more on the free will of the offender, and the
punishment most appropriate to one’s offenses. There exists an idea that a criminal is a rational
being, capable of making a rational choice and having free will to choose between good and
wrongful actions. Criminals are able to gauge the severity of their actions, with reference to
achieving maximum pleasure and minimal pain. To combat this, criminals must feel the threat of
deterrents (through punishments and sanctions) that will outweigh the benefits of committing a
crime. Consequences must be severe enough however to deter potential criminals from
committing the crime, but should be harsher than the criminal gain.
(https://www.criminology.com/the-history-of-criminology-2/) Such idea renders capital
punishment such as death penalties pointless, as there would be no deterrent, except in extremely
severe crimes such as murder. Thus, the classical theoriests argued that the punishment to be
handed down to criminals must only be proportionate to the crime they committed, and must not
exceed what is necessary only to deter the offender from committing murder
crimes..(https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/the-classical-school-of-crimino
logical.php) Becarria strongly argued that the prevention of crime or “deterrence” is more
important than punishment, and an idea exists wherein the certainty and quickness with which a
punishment is handed down is a much more effective deterrence than the threat of a severe
punishment itself. The classical theory deals with the response to crimes rather than addressing
the causes of it on a psychological and social level. While the system works well, if taken in its
purest form, it will fail to address the distinctions between habitual offenders and first time
offenders, as well as the sane and insane, nor the juvenile from the adults. This exclusive focus
can be quite dangerous because the aforementioned categories might just be taken for granted,
and everyone will be judged and sentenced just the same.
https://law.jrank.org/pages/908/Criminology-Intellectual-History-Classical-criminology.html

To summarize the characteristics of the classical theory, Reyes (___) emphasized four points. (1)
The basis of criminal liability is human free will and the purpose of the penalty is retribution.(2)
That man is essentially a moral creature with an absolute free will to choose between good and
evil, thereby placing more stress upon the effect or result of the felonious act that upon the man,
the criminal himself. (3) It has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct proportion
between crime and penalty. (4) There is a scant regard to the human element.

Positivist School

However, the classical school of thought was not perfect. There were principles that were
modified by other scholars and other theorists kicking up the concept of neoclassical theory.
Neoclassicists retained the primary idea that there must be focus on the free will of the criminal,
but began to factor in to account the personal circumstances of each case, allowing judges more
freedom to judge these convicts. Scholars began to consider the notion that an individual’s free
will can be governed by numerous other factors such as pathology. Environmental and
psychological mitigating circumstances were entertained during this phase, and courts have
begun to accept expert testimony on whether an accused individual had full control of his free
will at the time of his offense, and whether or not he was capable of choosing between right and
wrong. With the rise of these numerous issues, the positivist school of thought comes into play.
(https://law.jrank.org/pages/908/Criminology-Intellectual-History-Classical-criminology.html)

Unlike the classical school of thought, the positivist school understates the role of free will and
highlights the personal factors such as social upbringing and psychological state of an individual
that may drive such to a life of crime.
(https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095615832) The
positivist view opposes the classical view, and states that the focus of the study should be on the
criminal, and that the nature of of the criminal is due to individual circumstances relating to the
biological, psychological, physical, and others. The positivist view emphasizes that due to the
existence of personal problems, criminals are partially relieved of their liabilities from the crime
they committed.
(https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/the-classical-school-of-criminological.
php)

The Positivist school of thought emerged because of the publication of the first annual national
crime statistics in 1827, sixty years after the debut of Beccaria's ideas on the classical approach
to crime. However, it was observed that the rate of crimes remained relatively constant from year
to year, while some places had higher crime rates than other places in the country. These factors
hinted that there is more to crime than just free will. Adolphe Quetelet was credited with being
one of the first people to conduct an analysis on these statistics. His findings showed that there
are some people more likely to commit crime than others, especially those from marginalized
communities like the poor and the undereducated. Some young males are not blessed with the
virtues ingrained to more mature and educated individuals, and so are more likely to commit
criminal acts. There is also evidence suggesting that the disparity of wealth among the social
classes provokes criminal intent. The research committed here would eventually inspire the
creation of one of the most important theories in criminal law.
https://law.jrank.org/pages/909/Criminology-Intellectual-History-Positivist-criminology.html

Cesare Lombroso was a psychiatrist, who published the book Lúomo delinquente (The Criminal
Man) in 1876. His book highlighted that individuals engaged in crime were biologically similar
to those in earlier evolutionary stages, labeling them as more primitive than their noncriminal
counterparts. Lombroso’s idea highlighted that criminals were born and not made, and they are
not as rational compared to those who are not criminals. There is strength in this argument as
compared to previous schools of thoughts, as a person with mental illnesses or physical defects
may behave differently than those who do not have such handicaps. The heart of a positivist view
focuses on the causes of criminal behavior, not on the criminal itself.
https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/the-classical-school-of-criminological.p
hp
To summarize the positivist theory, Reyes highlighted two (2) important characteristics. (1) That
man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid phenomenon that constrains him to do
wrong, in spite or contrary to his volition, and (2) that crime is essentially a social and natural
phenomenon, and as such, it cannot be treated and checked by the application of abstract
principles of law and jurisprudence nor by the imposition of a punishment, fixed and determined
a priori; but rather through the enforcement of individual measures in each particular case after a
thorough, personal, and individual investigation conducted by a competent body of psychiatrists
and social scientists.