THE REVISED PENAL CODE

(Act No. as amended)

AN ACT REVISING THE PENAL CODE
AND OTHER PENAL LAWS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of
the same.
PRELIMINARY ARTICLE - This law shall be known Th e Revised
Penal Code."

BOOK ONE
General Provisions Regarding the Date of En•
forcement and the Application of the Provisions of
this Code, and Regarding the Offenses, the Persons
Liable and the Penalties

Preliminary Title
DATE OF AND APPLICATION
OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CODE

History of the Revised Penal Code.

This Code is called "Revised Penal Code," because the Committee
which was created by Administrative Order No. 94 of the Department

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 HISTORY OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE

of Justice, dated October 18, 1927, composed of Diaz, as

chairman, and Quintin Paredes, Guillermo Guevara, Alex Reyes
and Mariano H. de Joya, as members, was instructed to revise the
old Penal Code, taking into consideration the existing conditions,
the special penal laws and the rulings laid down by the Supreme
Court.
The Committee did not undertake the codification of all penal
laws in the What the Committee did was merely to revise
the old Penal Code and to include in the draft the other penal laws
related to it.
The Revised Penal Code does not embody the latest progress of
criminal science, as the results of the application of advanced and
radical theories "still remain to be
The old Penal Code, which was revised by the Committee, took
effect in the Philippines on July 14, 1887, and was in force up to
December 31 , 1931.
In the case of U.S. vs. 31 Phil. 321 , 323 , the
Supreme Court traced the history of the old Penal Code, as fol•
lows:
"The royal order dated December 17, 1886, directed the
execution of the royal decree of September 4, 1884, wherein it
was ordered that the Penal Code in force in the Peninsula, as
amended in accordance with the recommendations of the code
committee, be published and applied in the Philippine Islands
(This law) having been published in the Official Gazette
of Manila on March 13 and 14, 1887, became effective four
months thereafter."

The Revised Penal Code, as enacted by the Philippine Legisla•

ture, was approved on December 8, 1930. It took effect on January
1, 1932. Felonies and misdemeanors, committed prior to January 1,
1932, were punished in accordance with the Code or Acts in force at
the time of their commission, as directed by Art. 366 of the Revised
Penal Code.

The Revised Penal Code consists of two books.

The Revised Penal Code consists of two books, namely: Book
One, and (2) Book Two.

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 DATE OF EFFECTIVENESS OF THE Art 1
REVISED PENAL CODE

Book One consists of two parts: (a) basic principles affecting

criminal liability (Arts. 1-20), and (b) the provisions on penalties
including criminal and civil liability (Arts. 21-113).
In Book Two are defined felonies with the corresponding
penalties, classified and grouped under fourteen different titles (Arts.
114-365).

Date of Effectiveness.
A r t i c l e 1. Time when Act takes effect. — Thi s C od e sha l l
t ak e eff ec t o n th e f ir s t da y o f J a n u a r y , n i n e t e e n h u n d r e d an d
thirty-two .

The Revised Penal Code is based mainly on principles of the

classical school.
This Revised Penal Code continues, like the old Penal Code,
to be based on the principles of the old or classical school, although
som e p r o v i si o n s of e m i n e n t l y p o s i t i v i s t i c t e n d e n c i e s (those
having reference to the punishment of impossible crimes, juvenile
delinquency, etc.) were incorporated in the present Code.

Two theories in Criminal Law.

There are two important theories in criminal law: (1) the classical
theory, and (2) the theory.

Characteristics of classical theory.

1. The basis of criminal liability is human free will and the
purpose of the penalty is retribution.
2. . That ma n is e s s e n t i a l l y a moral creat ur e with
an absolutely free will to choose between good and
evil, thereby placing more stress upon the effect or
result of the felonious act than upon the man, the
criminal himself.
3. It has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct
proportion between crime and penalty.

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Art. 2 APPLICATION OF ITS PROVISIONS

4. There is a scant regard to the human element. (Basic Principles, Rationale, p. 2, by

the Code Commission on Code of Crimes)

Characteristics of the positivist theory.

That man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid phenomenon which
constrains him to do wrong, in spite of or contrary to his volition.
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
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.

(Basic Principles, Rationale, pp. 2 and 3, by the Code Commission on Code of Crimes)

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