III.

PROSPECTIVE, in that a penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it was not punishable
when committed. As provided in Article 366 of the Revised Penal Code, crimes are punished under the laws in
force at the time of their commission.

Exceptions to the prospective application of criminal laws.

Whenever a new statute dealing with crime establishes conditions more lenient or favorable to the accused, it can
be given a
retroactive effect.
But this exception has no application:
1. Where the new law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of action. (Tavera vs.
Valdez, 1 Phil. 463, 470-471)
2. Where the offender is a habitual criminal under Rule 5, Article 62, Revised Penal Code. (Art. 22, RPC)

Different effects of repeal of penal law.

1. If the repeal makes the penalty lighter in the new law, the new law shall be applied, except when the offender
is a habitual delinquent or when the new law is made not applicable to pending action or existing causes of
action.
2. If the new law imposes a heavier penalty, the law in force at the time of the commission of the offense shall be
applied.
3. If the new law totally repeals the existing law so that the act which was penalized under the old law is no
longer punishable, the crime is obliterated.

When the repeal is absolute the offense ceases to be criminal.

People vs. Tamayo

(61 Phil. 225)

Facts: The accused was prosecuted for and convicted of a violation of an ordinance. While the case was
pending appeal, the ordinance was repealed by eliminating the section under which the accused was being
prosecuted.
Ruling: The repeal is absolute. Where the repeal is absolute, and not a reenactment or repeal by implication, the
offense ceases to be criminal. The accused must be acquitted.

But repeal of a penal law by its reenactment, even without a saving clause, would not destroy criminal
liability. (U.S. vs. Cuna, 12 Phil. 241)

When the new law and the old law penalize the same offense, the offender can be
tried under the old law.
U.S. vs. Cuna
(12 Phil. 241)

Facts: The accused was charged with selling opium in violation of Act No. 1461 of the Philippine
Commission. During the pendency of the case, Act No. 1761 took effect repealing the former law, but both Act No.
1461 and Act No. 1761 penalize offenses against the opium laws.
 Ruling: Where an Act of the Legislature which penalizes an offense repeals a former Act which penalized
the same offense, such repeal does not have the effect of thereafter depriving the courts of jurisdiction to try,
convict, and sentence offenders charged with violations of the old law prior to its repeal.

The penalty prescribed by Act No. 1761 is not more favorable to the accused than that prescribed in Act No. 1461,
the penalty in both Acts being the same.

When the repealing law fails to penalize the offense under the old law, the accused
cannot be convicted under the new law.

People vs. Sindiong and Pastor

(77 Phil. 1000)

Facts: The accused was prosecuted for neglecting to make a return of the sales of newspapers and magazines
within the time prescribed by certain sections of the Revised Administrative Code. Said sections of the Revised
Administrative Code were repealed by the National Internal Revenue Code which does not require the making of
return of sales of newspapers and magazines.
Ruling: The court loses jurisdiction where the repealing law wholly fails to penalize the act denned and penalized as
an offense in the old law.
The accused, charged with violations of the old law prior to the repeal, cannot be legally prosecuted after
such repeal.
The provisions of said sections of the Revised Administrative
Code were not reenacted, even substantially, in the National Internal Revenue Code.

A person erroneously accused and convicted under a repealed statute may be punished
under the repealing statute.
The accused was charged with having failed to pay the salary of Cabasares whom he employed as master
fisherman in his motor launch from June 26 to October 12, 1952. He was convicted under Com. Act No. 303, which was
repealed by Rep. Act No. 602, approved on April 16, 1951, and became effective 120 days thereafter. The subject-matter
of Com. Act No. 303 is entirely covered by Rep. Act No. 602 with which its provisions are inconsistent. It was held that
the fact that the offender was erroneously accused and convicted under a statute which had already been repealed and
therefore no longer existed at the time the act complained of was committed does not prevent conviction under the
repealing statute which punishes the same act, provided the accused had an opportunity to defend himself against the
charge brought against him. (People vs. Baesa, C.A., 56
O.G. 5466)

A new law which omits anything contained in the old law dealing on the same subject,
operates as a repeal of anything not so included in the amendatory act.
The Agricultural Land Reform Code superseded the
Agricultural Tenancy Law (except as qualified in Sections 4 and
35 of the Code). The Code instituted the leasehold system and abolished share tenancy subject to certain conditions
indicated in Section 4 thereof. It is significant that Section 39 is not reproduced in the Agricultural Land Reform Code
whose Section 172 repeals "all laws or part of any law inconsistent with" its provisions. Under the leasehold system, the
prohibition against pre-threshing has no more raison d' etre because the lessee is obligated to pay a fixed rental as
prescribed in Section 34 of the Agricultural Land Reform Code, or the Code of Agrarian Reforms, as redesignated in
R.A. No. 6389 which took effect on September 10, 1971. Thus, the legal maxim, cessante ratione legis cessat ipsa lex (the
reason for the law ceasing, the law itself also ceases), applies to this case. (People vs.
Almuete, 69 SCRA 410)

Self-repealing law.
The anomalous act attributed to Pedro de los Reyes as described in the information is undoubtedly a violation of
Republic Act No. 650 being a "material misrepresentation in any document required" by said Act "or the rules and
regulations issued thereunder" and was committed while said Act was in force. It was punishable under Section 18 of
said Act with fine or imprisonment, or both, and with forfeiture of the goods or commodities imported in violation
thereof. (Sec. 18, R.A. No. 650) But since Rep. Act No. 650 expired by its own limitation on June 30, 1953, the forfeiture
therein provided could no longer be subsequently enforced. And, as correctly stated by the Undersecretary of Justice in
his Opinion No. 138, dated July 22,1953, "the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Customs to proceed with the forfeiture
of goods and commodities imported in violation of the Import Control Law was lost and that all proceedings of
forfeiture, as well as criminal actions pending on June 30, 1953, abated with the expiration of Republic Act No. 650."
The falsification or misrepresentation allegedly committed on the import license could no longer be a basis for the
penalty of forfeiture at the time of the release of goods. Where an act expires by its own limitation, the effect is the same
as though it had been repealed at the time of its expiration; and it is a recognized rule in this jurisdiction that the repeal
of a law carries with it the deprivation of the courts of jurisdiction to try, convict and sentence persons charged with
violation of the old law prior to the repeal. (People vs. Jacinto, C.A., 54 O.G. 7587)

Construction of penal laws.

1. Penal laws are strictly construed against the Government and liberally in favor of the accused. (U.S. vs.
Abad Santos, 36 Phil. 243; People vs. Yu Hai, 99 Phil. 728) The rule that penal statutes should be strictly
construed against the State may be invoked only where the law is ambiguous and there is doubt as to its
interpretation. Where the law is clear and unambiguous, there is no room for the application of the rule.
(People vs. Gatchalian, 104 Phil. 664)
2. In the construction or interpretation of the provisions of the Revised Penal Code, the Spanish text is
controlling, because it was approved by the Philippine Legislature in its Spanish text. (People vs. Manaba, 58
Phil. 665, 668)

3. Facts: Accused Garcia was prosecuted for having sold tickets for "Have" races of the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, in violation of Act 4130, as amended by Commonwealth Act No. 301, which
penalizes any person who, without being a duly authorized agent of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, sold
tickets of said corporation. The tickets sold by the accused were different from, and not, the tickets issued by
said corporation. The law relied upon does not include "Have" tickets for Sweepstakes races.
4. Held: The accused must be acquitted, the act imputed to him not being punished by Act 4130,
as amended.
5. No person should be brought within the terms of criminal statutes who is not clearly within
them, nor should any act be pronounced criminal which is not clearly made so by the statute. (U.S. vs. Abad
Santos, 36 Phil. 243, 246)
6. People vs. Mangulabnan
7. (99 Phil. 992, 998)
8. Facts: During the robbery in a dwelling house, one of the culprits fired his gun upward in the
ceiling, not knowing that there was a person in the ceiling of the house. The owner of the house who was up
in the ceiling was hit by the slug that passed through it and was killed.
9. Art. 294, par. 1, of the Revised Penal Code provides, according to its English text, that the
crime is robbery with homicide "when by reason or on occasion of the robbery the crime of homicide shall
have been committed."
10. The Spanish text of the same provision reads, as follows: "Cuando con motivo o con ocasion del
robo resultare homicidio."
 11. Held: In view of the Spanish text which must prevail, the crime committed is robbery with
homicide, even if the homicide supervened by mere accident.
12. While the English text of Art. 294, par. 1, of the Revised Penal
13. Code seems to convey the meaning that the homicide should be intentionally committed, the
Spanish text means that it is sufficient
14. that the homicide shall have resulted, even if by mere accident.
15. Other cases of incorrect translation of the Spanish text into the English
text.

1. "sosteniendo combate" into "engaging in war" in Art. 135.

(People vs. Geronimo, 100 Phil. 90, 95-96)
2. "sufriendo privacion de libertad" into "imprisonment" in Art. 157. (People vs. Abilong, 82 Phil. 172, 174)
3. "nuevo delito" into "another crime" in the headnote of Art. 160. (People vs. Yabut, 58 Phil. 499, 504)
4. "semilla alimenticia" into "cereal" in Art. 303. (People vs. Mesias, 65 Phil. 267, 268)
5. "filed" in the third paragraph of Art. 344 which is not found in the Spanish text. (People vs. Manaba, 58 Phil. 665,
668)

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

21

HISTORY OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE

of Justice, dated October 18, 1927, composed of Anacleto 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 Philippines. 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 seen."
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. Tamparong, 31 Phil. 321, 323, the Supreme Court traced the history of the old Penal Code, as
follows:
"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 x x x . (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 Legislature, 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: (1) Book One, and (2) Book Two.
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.
Article 1. Time when Act takes effect. — This Code shall take effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred
and 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 some provisions of eminently positivistic tendencies (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 positivist theory.

Characteristics of the classical theory.

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 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.
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.

1. 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.
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.
 (Basic Principles, Rationale, pp. 2 and 3, by the Code Commission on Code of Crimes)

Art. 2. Application of its provisions. — Except as provided in the treaties a n d l a w s of preferential application,
the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its
interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency n o t e o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e I s l a n d s o r o b l i g a t i o
n s a n d securities i s s u e d by t h e G o v e r n m e n t of the Philippine Islands;

3 . S h o u l d b e l i a b l e for a c t s c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e introduction into these Islands of the obligations

and securities mentioned in the preceding number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions; or
APPLICATION OF ITS PROVISIONS Art. 2

5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in Title One of
Book Two of this Code.

Scope of the application of the provisions of the Revised Penal Code.

The provisions of the Revised Penal Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, but also
outside of its jurisdiction in certain cases.
The five paragraphs of Art. 2 treat of the application of the
Revised Penal Code to acts committed in the air, at sea, and even in a foreign country when such acts affect the political
or economic life of the nation.

In what cases are the provisions of the Revised Penal Code applicable even if the felony
is committed outside of the Philippines?
They are applicable in the following cases:
1. When the offender should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship.
The Philippine vessel, although beyond three miles from the seashore, is considered part of the national
territory.
Thus, any person who committed a crime on board a
Philippine ship or airship while the same is outside of the
Philippine territory can be tried before our civil courts for violation of the Penal Code.
But when the Philippine vessel or aircraft is in the territory of a foreign country, the crime committed on
said vessel or aircraft is subject to the laws of that foreign country.
A Philippine vessel or aircraft must be understood as that which is registered in the Philippine Bureau of
Customs.
It is the registration of the vessel or aircraft in accordance with the laws of the Philippines, not the
citizenship of its owner, which makes it a Philippine ship or airship. A vessel or aircraft which is unregistered or
unlicensed does not come within the purview of paragraph No. 1 of Art. 2.
 Thus, if a crime is committed ten miles from the shores of the Philippines on board a vessel belonging to a Filipino,
but the same is not registered or licensed in accordance with the laws of the Philippines, paragraph No. 1 of Art. 2 is not
applicable.
The Philippine court has no jurisdiction over the crime of theft committed on the high seas on board a vessel not
registered
or licensed in the Philippines. (U.S. vs. Fowler, 1 Phil. 614)
2. When the offender should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippines or obligations and
securities issued by the Government.
Thus, any person who makes false or counterfeit coins (Art. 163) or forges treasury or bank notes or other
obligations and securities (Art. 166) in a foreign country may be prosecuted before our civil courts for violation of Art.
163 or Art. 166 of the Revised Penal Code.
3. When the offender should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into the Philippines of the obligations
and securities mentioned in the preceding number.
The reason for this provision is that the introduction of forged or counterfeited obligations and securities into the
Philippines is as dangerous as the forging or counterfeiting of the same, to the economical interest of the country.
4. When the offender, while being a public officer or employee, should commit an offense in the exercise of his
functions.
The crimes that may be committed in the exercise of public functions are direct bribery (Art. 210), indirect
bribery (Art. 211), frauds against the public treasury (Art. 213), possession of prohibited interest (Art. 216),
malversation of public funds or property (Art. 217), failure of accountable officer to render accounts (Art. 218), illegal
use of public funds or property (Art. 220), failure to make delivery of public funds or property (Art. 221), and
falsification by a public officer or employee committed with abuse of his official position. (Art. 171)

When any of these felonies is committed abroad by any of our public officers or employees while in the
exercise of his functions, he can be prosecuted here.
5. When the offender should commit any of the crimes against the national security and the law of nations.
The crimes against the national security and the law of nations are treason (Art. 114), conspiracy and
proposal to commit treason (Art. 115), espionage (Art. 117), inciting to war and giving motives for reprisals (Art.
118), violation of neutrality (Art. 119), correspondence with hostile country (Art. 120), flight to enemy's country
(Art. 121), and piracy and mutiny on the high seas. (Art. 122)

The crimes punishable in the Philippines under Art. 2 are cognizable by the Regional Trial
Court in which the charge is filed.
The crimes committed outside of the Philippines but punishable therein under Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code
shall be cognizable by the Regional Trial Court in which the charge is first filed. (Rule 110, Sec. 15[d], Revised Rules of
Criminal Procedure)
Regional Trial Courts (formerly CFI) have original jurisdiction over all crimes and offenses commited on the high
seas or beyond the jurisdiction of any country on board a ship or warcraft of any kind registered or licensed in the
Philippines in accordance with its laws. (Sec. 44[g], Judiciary Act of 1948, Rep. Act No. 296)

IMPORTANT WORDS AND PHRASES IN ART. 2

1. "Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application."
 This phrase means that while the general rule is that the provisions of the Revised Penal Code shall be
enforced against any person who violates any of its provisions while living or sojourning in the Philippines,
the exceptions to that rule may be provided by the treaties and laws of preferential applications, like the RP-
US Visiting Forces Accord, the Military Bases Agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the
United States of America, and the provisions of Rep. Act No. 75.
2. "its atmosphere."
The sovereignty of the subjacent State, and therefore its penal laws extend to all the air space which
covers its territory, subject to the right of way or easement in favor of foreign aircrafts.
3. "interior waters."
The phrase "interior waters" includes creeks, rivers, lakes and bays, gulfs, straits, coves, inlets and
roadsteads lying wholly within the three-mile limit.

4. "maritime zone."
The States by means of treaties have fixed its length to three miles from the coastline, starting from
the low water mark.
It includes those bays, gulfs, adjacent parts of the sea or recesses in the coastline whose width at their
entrance is not more than twelve miles measured in a straight line from headland to headland, and all straits
of less than six miles wide.
For those straits having more than that width, the space in the center outside of the marine league
limits is considered as open sea. (Opinion of Attorney General, Jan. 18,1912)

Crimes committed on board foreign merchant ship or airship.

Just as our merchant ship is an extension of our territory, foreign merchant ship is considered an extension of the
territory of the country to which it belongs. For this reason, an offense commited on the high seas on board a foreign
merchant vessel is not triable by our courts. (U.S. vs. Fowler, 1 Phil. 614)

Continuing offense on board a foreign vessel.

But a continuing crime committed on board a Norwegian merchant vessel sailing from Formosa to the Philippines,
by failing Art. 2

to provide stalls for animals in transit in violation of Act No. 55, is triable in the Philippines.
The offense of failing to provide suitable means for securing animals while transporting them on a (foreign) ship
from a foreign port to a port of the Philippines is within the jurisdiction of the courts of the Philippines when the
forbidden conditions existed during the time the ship was within territorial waters, regardless of the fact that the same
conditions existed when the ship sailed from the foreign port and while it was on the high seas. (U.S. vs. Bull, 15 Phil. 7)

Offense committed on board a foreign merchant vessel while on Philippine waters is

triable before our court.
Since the Philippine territory extends to three miles from the headlands, when a foreign merchant vessel enters this
three-mile limit, the ship's officers and crew become subject to the jurisdiction of our courts. The space within 3 miles of
a line drawn from the headlands which embrace the entrance to Manila Bay is within territorial waters. (U.S. vs. Bull, 15
Phil. 7, 17-18)

Rules as to jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard foreign merchant vessels.

 There are two rules as to jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard merchant vessels while in the territorial
waters of another country.
French Rule. — Such crimes are not triable in the courts of that country, unless their commission affects the peace
and security of the territory or the safety of the state is endangered.
English Rule. — Such crimes are triable in that country, unless they merely affect things within the vessel or they
refer to the internal management thereof.
In this country, we observe the English Rule.
According to the French theory and practice, matters happening on board a merchant ship which do not concern
the tranquility of the port or persons foreign to the crew, are justiceable only by the courts of the country to which the
vessel belongs. The French courts therefore claim exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed on board French
merchant vessels in foreign ports by one member of the crew against another. Such jurisdiction has never been
admitted or claimed by Great Britain as a right, although she has frequently conceded it by treaties. (U.S. vs. Bull, 15
Phil. 7, 14)

Do the Philippine courts have jurisdiction over the crime of homicide committed on board
a foreign merchant vessel by
a member of the crew against another?
Disorders which disturb only the peace of the ship or those on board are to be dealt with exclusively by the
sovereignty of the home of the ship, but those which disturb the public peace may be suppressed, and, if need be, the
offenders punished by the proper authorities of
the local jurisdiction.
It may not be easy at all times to determine to which of the two jurisdictions a particular act of disorder belongs.
Much will undoubtedly depend on the attending circumstances of the particular case, but all must concede that felonious
homicide is a subject for the local jurisdiction, and that if the proper authorities are proceeding with the case in the
regular way, the consul has no right to interfere to prevent it. (Mali and Wildenhus vs. Keeper of the Common Jail,
120 U.S. 1, cited in People vs. Wong Cheng, 46 Phil. 729, 731-732)

Crimes not involving a breach of public order committed on board a foreign merchant
vessel in transit not triable by our courts.
Mere possession of opium aboard a foreign merchant vessel in transit is not triable in Philippine courts, because
that fact alone does not constitute a breach of public order. The reason for this ruling is that mere possession of opium
on such a ship, without being used in our territory, does not bring about in this country those disastrous effects that our
law contemplates avoiding. But said courts acquire jurisdiction when the tins of opium are landed from the vessel on
Philippine soil. Landing or using opium is an open violation of the laws of the Philippines. (U.S. vs. Look Chaw, 18 Phil.
573, 577-578)
When the foreign merchant vessel is not in transit because the Philippines is its terminal port, the person in
possession of opium on board that vessel is liable, because he may be held guilty of illegal importation of opium. (U.S. vs.
Ah Sing, 36 Phil. 978, 981-982)
Art. 2

Smoking opium constitutes a breach of public order.

Smoking opium aboard an English vessel while anchored two and one-half miles in Manila Bay constitutes a
breach of public order, because the primary object of the law in punishing the use of opium is to protect the inhabitants
of this country against the disastrous effects entailed by the use of such drug. And to smoke opium within our territorial
limits, even though aboard a foreign merchant ship, is certainly a breach of the public order here established, because it
causes such drug to produce its pernicious effects within our territory. Philippine courts have jurisdiction over crimes
constituting a breach of public order aboard merchant vessels anchored in Philippine
jurisdictional waters. (People vs. Wong Cheng, 46 Phil. 729, 733)

Philippine courts have no jurisdiction over offenses committed on board foreign warships
in territorial waters.
In case vessels are in the ports or territorial waters of a foreign country, a distinction must be made between
merchant ships and warships; the former amore or less subjected to the territorial laws. (See U.S. vs. Bull, 15 Phil. 7; U.S.
vs. Look Chaw, 18 Phil. 573; and People vs. Wong Cheng, 46 Phil. 729)
Warships are always reputed to be the territory of the country to which they belong and cannot be subjected to the
laws of another
state. A United States Army transport is considered a warship. (U.S. vs. Fowler, 1 Phil. 614)

Extra-territorial application of Republic Act No. 9372.

Rep. Act No. 9372, otherwise known as the "Human Security Act of 2007" which was passed into law on 6 March
2007 has extraterritorial application.
Section 58 of Rep. Act No. 9372 provides that subject to the provision of an existing treaty of which the
Philippines is a signatory and to any contrary provision of any law of preferential application, the provisions of the Act
shall apply:
(1) to individual persons who commit any of the crimes defined and punished in the Act within the terrestrial domain,
interior waters, maritime zone and airspace of the Philippines;
(2) to individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial limits of the Philippines, commit, conspire of
plot any of the crimes denned and punished in the Act inside the territorial limits of the Philippines;
(3) to individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial limits of the Philippines, commit any of the
said crimes on board Philippine ship or airship;
(4) to individual persons who commit any of said crimes within any embassy, consulate or diplomatic premises
belonging to or occupied by the Philippine government in an official capacity; to individual persons who, although
physically outside the
(5) territorial limits of the Philippines, commit said crimes against Philippine citizens or persons of Philippine descent,
where their citizenship or ethnicity was a factor in the commission of the crime; and to individual persons who,
although physically outside the territorial limits of the Philippines, commit said crimes directly against the
Philippine government

FELONIES AND CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH

AFFECT CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Chapter One FELONIES

Art. 3. Definition. — Acts and omissions punishable by law are felonies (delitos).
 Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by m e a n s of fault (culpa).
There is deceit w h e n the act is performed with deliberate intent; and there is fault w h e n the wrongful act
results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill.

Felonies, defined.
Felonies are acts and omissions punishable by the Revised Penal Code.

Elements of felonies.
The elements of felonies in general are:
1. That there must be an act or omission.
2. That the act or omission must be punishable by the Revised Penal Code.
3. That the act is performed or the omission incurred by means of dolo or culpa. (People vs. Gonzales, G.R. No.
80762, March 19, 1990, 183 SCRA 309, 324)

33

Art. 3

IMPORTANT WORDS AND PHRASES IN ART. 3.

Meaning of the word "act."

By act must be understood any bodily movement tending to produce some effect in the external world, it being
unnecessary that the same be actually produced, as the possibility of its production is sufficient. (See People vs. Gonzales,
supra)
But the act must be one which is defined by the Revised Penal
Code as constituting a felony; or, at least, an overt act of that felony, that is, an external act which has direct connection
with the felony intended to be committed. (See Art. 6)

Example of felony by performing an act.

A took the watch of B with intent to gain and without the consent of the latter. The act of taking the watch of B,
with intent to gain, constitutes the crime of theft.

Only external act is punished.

The act must be external, because internal acts are beyond the sphere of penal law. Hence, a criminal thought or a
mere intention, no matter how immoral or improper it may be, will never constitute a felony.
Thus, even if A entertains the idea of killing B, as long as he does not commence the commission of the crime
directly by overt act, A is not criminally liable.

Meaning of the word "omission."

By omission is meant inaction, the failure to perform a positive duty which one is bound to do. There must be a law
requiring the doing or performance of an act.
Examples of felony by omission:
1. Anyone who fails to render assistance to any person whom he finds in an uninhabited place wounded or in
danger of dying, is liable for abandonment of persons in danger. (Art.
275, par. 1)
FELONIES Art. 3

2. An officer entrusted with collection of taxes who voluntarily fails to issue a receipt as provided by law, is
guilty of illegal exaction. (Art. 213, par. 2[b])
3. Every person owing allegiance to the Philippines, without being a foreigner, and having knowledge of any
conspiracy against the government, who does not disclose and make known the same to the proper authority,
is liable for misprision of treason. (Art. 116)
It will be noted that in felonies by omission, there is a law requiring a certain act to be performed and the person
required to do the act fails to perform it.

The omission must be punishable by law.

Because there is no law that punishes a person who does not report to the authorities the commission of a crime
which he witnessed, the omission to do so is not a felony.

People vs. Silvestre and Atienza

(56 Phil. 353)

Facts: Martin Atienza was convicted as principal by direct participation and Romana Silvestre as
accomplice of the crime of arson by the Court of First Instance.
On the night of November 25, 1930, while Nicolas de la Cruz and his wife, Antonia de la Cruz, were
gathered together with the appellants herein after supper, Martin Atienza told said couple to take their furniture
out of the house because he was going to set fire to it. Upon being asked by Nicolas and Antonia why he wanted to
set fire to the house, he answered that it was the only way he could be revenged upon the people of Masocol, who,
he said, had instigated the charge of adultery against him and his co-defendant, Romana Silvestre. As Martin
Atienza was at that time armed with a pistol, no one dared say anything to him, not even Romana Silvestre, who
was about a meter away from her co-defendant. Alarmed at what Martin Atienza had said, the couple left the
house at once to communicate with the barrio lieutenant, Buenaventura Ania, as to what they had just heard
Martin Atienza say; but they had hardly gone a hundred arms' length when they heard cries of "Fire! Fire!"
Turning back they saw their home in flames. The fire destroyed about forty-eight houses.

Romana listened to her co-defendant's threat without raising a protest, and did not give the alarm when the
latter set fire to the house.
Held: Mere passive presence at the scene of another's crime, mere silence and failure to give the alarm,
without evidence of agreement or conspiracy, is not punishable.
Romana Silvestre was acquitted.

"Punishable by law."
This is the other element of a felony. This is based upon the maxim, "nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege," that is,
there is no crime where there is no law punishing it.
 The phrase "punished by law" should be understood to mean "punished by the Revised Penal Code" and not by a
special law. That is to say, the term "felony" means acts and omissions punished in the Revised Penal Code, to
distinguish it from the words "crime" and "offense" which are applied to infractions of the law punished by special
statutes.

Classification of felonies according to the means by which they are committed.

Art. 3 classifies felonies, according to the means by which they are committed, into (1) intentional felonies, and (2)
culpable felonies.
Thus, the second paragraph of Art. 3 states that felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also
by means of fault (culpa).

Intentional felonies and culpable felonies distinguished.

In intentional felonies, the act or omission of the offender is malicious. In the language of Art. 3, the act is
performed with deliberate intent (with malice). The offender, in performing the act or in incurring the omission, has the
intention to cause an injury to another. In culpable felonies, the act or omission of the offender is not malicious. The
injury caused by the offender to another person is "unintentional, it being simply the incident of another act performed
without malice." (People vs. Sara, 55 Phil. 939) As stated in Art. 3, the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence,
lack of foresight or lack of skill.

Felonies committed by means of dolo or with malice.

The word "deceit" in the second paragraph of Art. 3 is not the proper translation of the word "dolo." Dolus is
equivalent to malice, which is the intent to do an injury to another. (I Wharton's Criminal Law 180)
When the offender, in performing an act or in incurring an omission, has the intention to do an injury to the
person, property, or right of another, such offender acts with malice. If the act or omission is punished by the Revised
Penal Code, he is liable for intentional felony.
Most of the felonies defined and penalized in Book II of the Revised Penal Code are committed by means of dolo or
with malice. There are few felonies committed by means of fault or culpa. Art. 217 punishes malversation through
negligence. Art. 224 punishes evasion through negligence. Art. 365 punishes acts by imprudence or negligence, which,
had they been intentional, would constitute grave, less grave or light felonies.
There are crimes which cannot be committed through imprudence or negligence, such as, murder, treason,
robbery, and malicious mischief.

Felonies committed by means of fault or culpa.

Between an act performed voluntarily and intentionally, and another committed unconsciously and quite
unintentionally, there exists another, performed without malice, but at the same time punishable, though in a lesser
degree and with an equal result, an intermediate act which the Penal Code qualifies as imprudence or negligence.

A person who caused an injury, without intention to cause an evil, may be held liable for
culpable felony.
The defendant, who was not a medical practitioner, tied a girl, wrapped her feet with rags saturated with
petroleum and thereafter
set them on fire, causing injuries. His defense was that he undertook to render medical assistance in good faith and to
the best of his ability to cure her of ulcer. It was held that while there was no intention to cause an evil but to provide a
remedy, the defendant was liable for physical injuries through imprudence. (U.S. vs. Divino, 12 Phil. 175, 190)
Imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or lack of skill.
Imprudence indicates a deficiency of action. Negligence indicates a deficiency of perception. If a person fails to take
the necessary precaution to avoid injury to person or damage to property, there is imprudence. If a person fails to pay
proper attention and to use due diligence in foreseeing the injury or damage impending to be caused, there is negligence.
Negligence usually involves lack of foresight. Imprudence usually involves lack of skill.

Reason for punishing acts of negligence (culpa).

A man must use common sense, and exercise due reflection in all his acts; it is his duty to be cautious, careful and
prudent, if not from instinct, then through fear of incurring punishment. He is responsible for such results as anyone
might foresee and for his acts which no one would have performed except through culpable abandon. Otherwise, his own
person, rights and property, and those of his fellow beings, would ever be exposed to all manner of danger and injury.
(U.S. vs. Maleza, 14 Phil. 468, 470)

In felonies committed by means of dolo or with malice and in felonies committed by

means of fault or culpa, the acts or omissions are voluntary.
The adjective voluntary used in the old Penal Code is suppressed in the definition of felonies in Art. 3 of the
Revised Penal Code. This omission does not mean that an involuntary act may constitute a felony. As in the old Penal
Code, the act or omission must be voluntary and punishable by law to constitute a felony. Art. 3 classifies felonies into (1)
intentional felonies, and (2) culpable felonies. An intentional felony is committed when the act is performed with
deliberate intent, which must necessarily be voluntary.
On the other hand, in culpable felony, which is committed when the wrongful act results from imprudence,
negligence, lack of foresight or lack of skill, the act is also voluntary.
 The only difference between intentional felonies and culpable felonies is that, in the first, the offender acts
with malice; whereas, in the second, the offender acts without malice.

The definition of reckless imprudence in Art. 365 says "reckless imprudence consists in voluntarily, but
without malice, doing or failing to do an act from which material damage results."
Thus, a hunter who seemed to have seen with his lantern something like the eyes of a deer about fifty
meters from him and then shot it, but much to his surprise, on approaching what he thought was a deer, it
proved to be his companion, performed a voluntary act in discharging his gun, although the resulting
homicide is without malice, because he did not have the intent to kill the deceased. But the hunter, knowing
that he had two companions, should have exercised all the necessary diligence to avoid every undesirable
accident, such as the one that unfortunately occurred on the person of one of his companions. The hunter
was guilty of the crime of homicide through reckless imprudence (People vs. Ramirez, 48 Phil. 206)
A criminal act is presumed to be voluntary. Fact prevails over assumption, and in the absence of
indubitable explanation, the act must be declared voluntary and punishable. (People vs. Macalisang, 22
SCRA 699)

Acts executed negligently are voluntary.

People vs. Lopez
(C.A. 44 O.G. 584)

Facts: Lopez was driving a truck. A girl was crossing the street during a torrential rain. The girl
was struck down by the truck. During the trial, Lopez claimed that he had no intention of causing
injury to the girl.
Held: Lopez was not accused of intentional homicide, but of having caused her death by reckless
imprudence, which implies lack of malice and criminal intent. Acts executed negligently are
voluntary, although done without malice or criminal design. In this case, Lopez was not compelled to
refrain or prevented from taking the precaution necessary to avoid injury to persons.

When there is compulsion or prevention by force or intimidation, there is no voluntariness in the act.

39

Three reasons why the act or omission in felonies must be voluntary.

1. The Revised Penal Code continues to be based on the Classical Theory, according to which the
basis of criminal liability is human free will.
2. Acts or omissions punished by law are always deemed voluntary, since man is a rational being.
One must prove that his case falls under Art. 12 to show that his act or omission is not
voluntary.
3. In felonies by dolo, the act is performed with deliberate intent which must necessarily be
voluntary; and in felonies by culpa, the imprudence consists in voluntarily, but without malice,
doing or failing to do an act from which material injury results.
Therefore, in felonies committed by means of dolo, as well as in those committed by means of culpa,
the act performed or the omission incurred by the offender is voluntary, but the intent or malice in
intentional felonies is replaced by imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or lack of skill in culpable
felonies.
Requisites of dolo or malice.
In order that an act or Omission may be considered as having been performed or incurred with
deliberate intent, the following requisites must concur:

(1)He must have FREEDOM while doing an act or omitting to do an act;

(1)He must have INTELLIGENCE while doing the act or omitting to do the act;

(1)He must have INTENT while doing the act or omitting to do the act.

1. Freedom. When a person acts without freedom, he is no longer a human being but a tool; his liability is
as much as that of the knife that wounds, or of the torch that sets fire, or of the key that opens a door,
or of the ladder that is placed against the wall of a house in committing robbery.
Thus, a person who acts under the compulsion of an irresistible force is exempt from criminal liability.
(Art. 12, par. 5)
So also, a person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or greater injury is
exempt from criminal liability (Art. 12, par. 6)