CRIMINAL LAW - RPC BOOK 1

KARL LAURENZ Q. MAGNO

Registered Criminologist
Real Estate Broker

Coverage under PSFTP Program of Instruction (POI)

General Aspects of Criminal Law 2 hrs

Felonies in General 6 hrs
Circumstances Affecting Criminal Liability 16 hrs
Persons Criminally liable 4 hrs
Penalties in General 3 hrs
Extinction of Criminal Liability 1 hr

I. GENERAL ASPECT OF CRIMINAL LAW

RPC – Act No. 3815, took effect on January 1, 1932

CRIMINAL LAW - branch or division of law which defines

crimes, treats of their nature and provide for their
punishment.

CRIME - an act committed or omitted in violation of a public

law forbidding or commanding it.

Felony – when it is punished by the RPC.

Offense – When it is punished by special laws
Misdemeanor – when punished by local ordinances
SOURCES OF CRIMINAL LAW
1. Revised Penal Code – Act No. 3815
2. Special Penal Laws
3. Penal Presidential Decrees

No common law crimes in the Philippines. The Philippines

follows the doctrine “Nullum Crimen, Nulla poena sine
lege.

Limitation on the Power of the Law Making Body to Enact

Penal Laws:
1. No ex post Facto Law or bill of attainder shall be
enacted (Art. 3, sec. 22).
2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal
offense without due process of law (Art. 3, Sec 14(1).
EX POST FACTO LAWS:
1. Makes criminal an act done before the passage of
the law and which was innocent when done, and punishes
such an act;
2. Aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was
when committed;
3. Changes the punishment and inflicts a greater
punishment than the law annexed to the crime when
committed;
4. Alters the rules of evidence and authorizes
conviction upon less or different testimony than the law
required at the time of the commission of the offense;
5. Assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only
but in effect imposes penalty or deprivation of rights for
something which when done was lawful; and
6. Deprives a person accused of a crime some lawful
protection of a former conviction or acquittal.

Bill of Attainder – a legislative act which inflicts punishment

without trial. Its essence is the substitution of a
legislative act for a judicial determination of guilt.
Characteristics of Criminal Law

1. GENERALITY – Criminal Law is binding on all persons who

live or sojourn in Philippine Territory.
Exceptions: - Head of states
- Ambassadors
- Ministers Plenipotentiary
- Ministers Resident
- Charges d’affaires
Note: Consul is not entitled to the privileges and
immunities of the above.
2. TERRITORIALITY – Criminal laws undertake to punish all
crimes committed within Philippine Territory. Penal
laws of the Philippines are enforceable only within its
territory.

Exception: Art. 2 of the RPC. Provisions of RPC shall be

enforced outside of the jurisdiction of the Philippines
against those who:

a. Should commit an offense while on 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 obligation and
securities mentioned above’
d. While being public officials or employees, should
commit an offense in the exercise of their functions.
e. Should commit any of the crimes against national
security and the law of nations.

3. PROSPECTIVITY – penal laws can only punish those acts or

omissions which are punishable at the time they are
committed.

Exception: When it is favorable to the accused

Exception to the exception:

- Offender is habitual delinquent (Rule 5, Art. 62to
- The new law is expressly made inapplicable to
pending actions.

DOCTRINE OF PRO REO - Whenever a penal law is to be

construed or applied and the law admits of two
interpretations, one lenient or favorable to the
offender will be adopted.

Rules as to Jurisdiction Over Crimes Committed Aboard

Foreign Merchant Vessel.

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 those internal management thereof.

II. FELONIES IN GENERAL

HOW ARE FELONIES COMMITTED:

1. BY MEANS OF DECEIT (dolo) – There is deceit when the act

is performed with deliberate intent.
2. BY MEANS OF FAULT (culpa) – There is fault when the
wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence,
lack o foresight, or lack of skill.

Classification of felonies according to the means by which

they are committed:

1. INTENTIONAL FELONIES – with malice or malicious, with

intent to cause injury to another.
2. CULPABLE FELONIES – no malice. Ex. Art. 217-
Malversation through negligence, Art. 224-
Evasion through negligence and Art. 365-
Criminal negligence
Reason for punishing acts of negligence

Every man must use common sense, and exercise due

care in all his acts; it is his duty to be cautious, careful and
prudent, if not from instinct, then through fear of incurring
punishment.

Elements of Felonies:

1. There must be an act or omission

2. The act or omission must be punishable by law
3. The act is performed or the omission incurred by means of
dolo or fault.

Requisites of Dolo or Malice-Intentional Felony

1. Freedom
2. Intelligence
3. Intent – The act of a person does not make him a criminal,
unless his mind be criminal. Actus non facit reum, nisi mens
sit rea.

Requisites of Culpa – Culpable Felonies

1. Freedom
2. Intelligence
3. Imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or skill
 Crimes punished by Special Laws

Mala Prohibta - Intent to commit the crime is not necessary in

crimes punished by Special Laws.
- It is enough that the offender has the intent to
perpetrate the act prohibited by the Special Law.
- The act prohibited is the crime itself.
- Not bad but merely prohibited by special laws.
- Good faith and absence of criminal intent are
not valid defenses in crimes punished by special
laws

Mala In Se - Crimes which are wrongful in nature. Those

punished under the RPC
- Good faith and absence of criminal intent are
valid defenses
- When the acts are inherently immoral, they are
mala in se even if punished by special laws.

Intent distinguished from Motive

Intent - the purpose to use a particular means to effect

such result.
- an element of the crime
Motive - the moving power which impels one to action
for a definite result.
 - Not an element of a crime but relevant when
there is doubt as to the identity of the assailant

HOW CRIMINAL LIABILITY IS INCURRED

1. By any person committing a felony although the wrongful

act done be different from that which he intended.

- One who commits an intentional felony is responsible for

all the consequences which may naturally and logically
result therefrom, whether foreseen or intended or not
intended. The doctrine is “el que es causa de la causa es
causa del mal causado.” He who is the cause of the cause
is the cause of the evil caused.
- The causes which may produce a result different from that
which the offender intended are:
a. Mistake in the identity of the victim – Error in
personae
b. Mistake in the blow – Aberratio ictus
c. The injurious result is greater than that intended –
Praeter intentionem.

Proximate Cause – is 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.
The Felony committed is not the proximate cause of the
resulting injury when:
1. There is an active force that intervened between
the felony committed and the resulting injury, and
the active force is a distinct act or fact absolutely
foreign from the felonious act of the accused’
2. The resulting injury is due to the intentional act of
the victim.

3. 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.
This is the so called IMPOSSIBLE CRIME.

IMPOSSIBLE CRIME – Elements:

1. That the act performed would be an offense against

persons or property.
2. That the act was done with evil intent.
3. That its accomplishment is inherently impossible, or
that the means employed is either inadequate or
ineffectual.
4. That the act performed should not constitute a
 violation of another provision of the Revised Penal
Code.

Attempted, Frustrated and Consummated Felonies

Attempted Felony – 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 causes
or accident other than his own spontaneous
desistance.

Frustrated Felony – 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.

Consummated Felony – A felony is consummated when all

the elements necessary for its execution and
accomplishment are present.

1. Internal Acts – not punishable

2. External Act - punishable
A. Preparatory acts – ordinarily not punishable, except if it
constitutes an independent crime such as possession of
pick locks.
 B. Acts of Execution – those which are performed within
attempted, frustrated and consummated stage.

Overt Act – An overt act is some physical activity or deed,

indicating the intention to commit a particular crime,
more than mere planning or preparation, which if
carried to its complete termination following its
natural course, without being frustrated by external
obstacles by the voluntary desistance of the
perpetrator, will logically and necessarily ripen into a
concrete offense.

Elements of Frustrated Felony

1. The offender performs all the acts of execution;
2. All the acts performed would produce the felony as a
consequence;
3. But the felony is not produce; and
4. By reason of causes independent of the will of the
perpetrator.
Causes independent of the will of the perpetrator
- If the crime is not produced because of the timely
intervention of a third person, it is frustrated.
- If the crime is not produced because the offender
himself prevented its consummation, there is no
frustrated felony, for the 4th element is not present.
Ex. A doctor conceived the idea of killing his wife, and to
carry out such plan, he mixed arsenic with the soup of
his wife. Immediately after the victim took the
poisonous food, the offender suddenly felt such a
twinge of conscience that he himself washed out the
stomach of the victim and administered to her the
adequate antidote. This is not frustrated parricide, it
is physical injury.

CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT A FELONY

Conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an

agreement concerning the commission of a felony
and decide to commit it.
Proposal exists when the person who has decided to
 commit a felony proposes its execution to some
other person.

Conspiracy to commit a felony is punishable only in the cases

in which the law provides:
Ex. Conspiracy to commit treason
Conspiracy to commit coup d’etat
Conspiracy to commit rebellion
Conspiracy to commit insurrection
Conspiracy to commit sedition
Conspiracy to commit terrorism (RA 9372-Human
Security Act)

Proposal to commit a felony is punishable in the cases in

which the law provides:
Ex. Proposal to commit treason
Proposal to commit coup d’etat
Proposal to commit rebellion
Conspiracy to commit insurrection

Classification of felonies according to their gravity.

Grave Felonies Prision Mayor and above

Less Grave Felonies Arresto Mayor to Prision
Correccional
Light Felonies Arresto Menor
 RPC Special Laws
Penalties Reclusion Perpetua Life Imprisonment
Reclusion Temporal
Prision Mayor
Prision Correccional
Arresto Mayor
Arresto Menor

Stage Attempted
Frustrated
Consummated Always consummated

Liable Accessories
Accomplices
Principal Always Principal

Circ. w/c Mitigating None

Affect Crim’l Aggravating None
Liability

Period Maximum No period

Medium
Minimum
III. CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING CRIMINAL LIABILITY
(JEMAA)

1. Justifying Circumstance, Art. 11

2. Exempting Circumstances, Art. 12 and absolutory causes,
Arts. 20, 124, last par., 280, last par., 332, 344; etc
3. Mitigating Circumstances, Art. 13
4. Aggravating Circumstances, Art. 14
5. Alternatives Circumstances, Art. 15

JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES

JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES – are those where the act of a

person is said to be in accordance with law, so that
such person is deemed not to have transgressed the
law and is free from both criminal and civil liability.

1. SELF-DEFENSE – Elements:
a. Unlawful aggression;
b. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to
prevent or repel it; and
c. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person
defending himself.
Peril to one’s life

1. Must be Actual – The danger must be present, actually in

existence, must be real, not merely imaginary.
2. Must be imminent – The danger is on the point of
happening.

Slap on the face is unlawful aggression – the face represents

a person and his dignity, slapping it is a serious attack.

There is self-defense even if the aggressor used a toy pistol,

provided the accused believed it was a real gun.

2. DEFENSE OF RELATIVE, such as:

Spouse
Ascendants
Descendants
Legitimate, natural or adopted brothers and sisters,
or relatives by affinity in the same degrees
Relatives by consanguinity within the 4th civil degree
Elements of defense of relatives:
1. Unlawful aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to
prevent or repel it; and
3. In case the provocation was given by the person
attacked, the one making the defense had no part
therein.

3. DEFENSE OF STRANGER, its elements:

1. Unlawful aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to
prevent or repel it; and
3. The person defending be not induced by revenge,
resentment, or other evil motives.

4. AVOIDANCE OF GREATER EVIL OR INJURY

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. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists;

B. That the injury feared be greater than that done to
avoid it;
 C. That there be no other practical and less harmful
means of preventing it.

5. FULFILLMENT OF DUTY OR LAWFUL EXERCISE OF RIGHT

OR OFFICE

Doctrine of Self-help (Art. 429, CC) is applied in Criminal Law

a lawful exercise of a right. The owner or lawful
possessor of a thing has the right to exclude any
person from the enjoyment and disposal thereof. For
this purpose, he may use such force as may be
reasonably necessary to repel or prevent an actual or
threatened unlawful physical invasion or usurpation
of his property.

6. OBEDIENCE TO AN ORDER ISSUED FOR SOME LAWFUL

PURPOSE, its requisites:
a. An order has been issued by a superior;
b. Such order is for some lawful purpose; and
c. The means used by the subordinate to carry out
said order is lawful.

7. BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME, RA 9262

 EXEMPTING CIRCUMSATNCES

EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES – are those grounds for

exemption from punishment because there is
wanting in the agent of the crime or any of the
conditions which make the act voluntary.
1. Imbecile or insane person.
2. Person under 15 years of age, RA 9344.
3. Accident.
4. A person who acts under the compulsion of an irresistible
force.
5. A person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable
fear of an equal or greater injury.
6. A person who fails to perform an act required by law,
when prevented by some lawful or insuperable cause.

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF MINORITY UNDER RA 9344

A. 15 years or less at the time of the commission of the

crime, exempt from criminal liability, however, he shall
be subjected to “intervention program.”
B. More than 15 yrs old but below 18 yrs old at the time of
the commission of the crime, exempt if he acted
without discernment.
 C. More than 15 yrs old but below 18 yrs old at the time of
the commission of the crime, if he acted with
discernment, liable but shall undergo “diversion
program.”

INTERVENTION – Refers to series of activities which are

designed to address issues that caused the child to
commit a crime. It may take the form of an
individualized treatment program which may include
counseling, skills training, education and other
activities that will enhance his/her psychological,
emotional and pyscho-social well-being.

DIVERSION PROGRAM – refers to the program that the child

in conflict with the law is required to undergo after
she/he is found responsible for an offense without
resorting to formal court proceedings.

Offenses where persons less than 18 years of age are exempt

(RA 9344)

1. Vagrancy (Art. 202)

2. Prostitution (Art. 202)
3. Mendicancy (PD 1563)
4. Sniffing Rugby (PD 1619)

ACCIDENT, its elements:

a. A person is performing a lawful act;
b. With due care;
 c. He cause injury to another by mere accident; and
d. Without fault or intention of causing it.

COMPULSION BY FORCE OR VIOLENCE, its elements;

a. Compulsion is by means of physical force;
b. The physical force must be irresistible force; and
c. The physical force must come from third person.

“Actus me invito actus non est meus actus” - An act done

by me against my will is not my act.

UNCONTROLLABLE FEAR OF AN EQUAL OR GREATER INJURY

- Due to intimidation or threat, which is real or imminent.

ABSOLUTORY CAUSES – those where the act committed is a

crime but for reason of public policy and sentiment
there is no penalty imposed.
1. Art. 6. Spontaneous desistance during attempted
stage.
2. Art. 20. Accessories exempt from criminal liability with
respect to the principal who is their:
a. Spouses
b. Ascendants
c. Descendants
e. Legitimate, natural and adopted brothers and
sisters
f. Relatives by affinity within the same degrees.
 Except accessories under par. 1 of Art. 19. – By
profiting themselves or assisting the offenders to
profit by the effects of the crimes.

3. Art. 124, last par. Commission of a crime, violent

insanity or any other ailment requiring compulsory
confinement in a hospital, shall be considered legal
grounds for the detention of any person.
4. Art. 247. Death or physical injuries inflicted under
exceptional circumstances.
5. Art. 280, par. 3. Trespass to dwelling for the purpose of
preventing some serious harm to himself, the occupants
or a third person, rendering some service to
humanity, or entering cafes, taverns, ins and other
public houses, while the same is open.
6. Instigation, if made by public officers.
7. Marriage of the of the offender with the offended party
in rape, abduction, seduction or acts of lasciviousness
 MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Classes of Mitigating Circumstances:

1. Ordinary or Generic Mitigating

- susceptible of being offset by aggravating
circumstance.
- produces the effect of applying the minimum
period.
- two or more mitigating circumstance without any
aggravating, penalty is next lower in degree.
2. Privileged Mitigating
- cannot be offset by aggravating circumstance.
- produces the effect of lowering by one or two
degrees the penalty provided for the crime.

Mitigating Circumsatnces:
1. Incomplete justifying or exempting
2. Minority
3. No intention to commit so grave a wrong as that
committed.
- There must be evident disproportion between the
means employed to execute the criminal act and its
consequence.
 4. Sufficient provocation, requisites:
a. Must be sufficient;
b. Originated from the offended party; and
c. Provocation must be immediate to the act.

5. Immediate vindication of a grave offense

Provocation and vindication, distinguished:

a. In provocation, it is made directly to the person
committing the felony; in vindication, the grave
offense may be committed against the offender’s
relatives.
b. In provocation, the cause that brought about the
provocation need not be a grave offense; In
vindication, the offended party must have done a
grave offense to the offender or his relatives.
c. In provocation, there is no interval of time between the
provocation and the commission of the crime; in
vindication, there can be interval of time.
6. Passion or obfuscation
- must arose from lawful sentiments.
- the act of the offended party must be unlawful or unjust
7. Voluntary surrender
a. Offender had not been actually arrested;
b. Offender surrendered himself to a person in authority
or to the latter’s agent; and
c. The surrender was voluntary
8. Plea of guilt or confession
9. Being deaf and dumb, blind, or otherwise suffering some
 physical defect
10. Illness
11. Other circumstances analogous to the above.
Ex. .Voluntary restitution of stolen property.
.Extreme poverty
AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES

4 Kinds of Aggravating Circumstances:

1. Generic/Ordinary – that which applies to all crimes.
Ex. Recidivism
2. Specific – that which applies to a particular felony.
Ex. Cruelty
3. Inherent – that which is a part of the felony.
Ex. Fraud in estafa, Evident premeditation in robbery
4. Qualifying – that which changes the nature of the offense
and elevates it to higher category.
Ex. Treachery

Aggravating Circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public
position. Applicable only to public officer
-Ex. Maltreatment of prisoner.
2. That the crime be committed in contempt of or with
Insult to the public authorities.
-Ex. A and B are quarreling. The mayor intervened to
pacify them but the continued quarreling until A
killed B.
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.
-Applicable only to crimes against person or honor.
-Ex. Of disregard of rank, a pupil who attacked a
teacher.
-Dwelling includes boarding house.
4. That the act be committed with abuse of confidence or
obvious ungratefulness.
-Ex. -Visitor commits theft in the house of the host
-Security guard robbed a bank
-Abuse of confidence inherent in:
Malversation
Qualified theft
Estafa by conversion or misappropriation
Qualified seduction
5. That the crime be committed in the place of the Chief
Executive, or in his presence, or where public
authority are engaged in the discharge of their duties
or in a place dedicated to religious worship.
6. That the crime be committed in the night time or in an
uninhabited place, or by a band.
-Uninhabited place includes the open sea where no
help could be expected by the victim.
-Band-Whenever 4 or more armed malefactors shall
have acted together in the commission of the crime.
-By a band –aggravating in crimes against property,
person or in illegal detention or treason.
 -By a band – inherent in BRIGANDAGE.
7. That the crime be committed on the occasion of a
conflagration, shipwreck, 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.
-Pardon does not obliterate the fact that the accused
was a recidivist, but amnesty does.
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. (Habituality or reiteracion)

Four forms of repetition:

1. Recidivism- Art. 14, para 9
2. Habituality or reiteracion- Art. 14, para 10
3. Habitual Delinquency- Art. 62, para 5
4. Quasi-recidivism- Art. 160

There is habitual delinquency when a person, within a

period of 10 years from the date of his release or last
conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical
injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification, is found
guilty of said crimes a 3rd time or oftener. Additional
penalty is imposed for being a habitual delinquent.
In habitual delinquency, the offender is either a
recidivist or one who has been previously punished for 2
or more offenses (Habituality).

Quasi-recidivism. Any person who shall commit a

felony after having been convicted by final judgment,
before beginning to serve such sentence, or while serving
the same. This is a special aggravating circumstance which
cannot be offset by ordinary mitigating circumstance.

11. That the crime be committed in consideration of a

price, reward, or promise.
12. That the crime 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.
The essence of premeditation is the deliberate
planning to commit the crime and persistently
and continuously followed the plan,
notwithstanding the ample time to allow his
conscience to overcome his will, after meditation
and reflection.
Evident premeditation is inherent in Robbery.
14. That craft, fraud, or disguise be employed.
 15. That advantage be taken of superior strength, or
means be employed to weaken the defense.
Abuse of superior strength depends on the age, size
and strength of the parties.

16. That the act be committed with treachery (alevosia).

There is treachery when the offender commits any of
the crimes against 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.
17. That means be employed or circumstances brought
about which add ignominy to the natural effect of the
act.
Ignominy is a circumstance pertaining to the moral
order, which adds disgrace and obloquy to the
material injury caused by the crime.
18. That the crime be committed after an unlawful entry.
There is 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, or window be broken.
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons
under fifteen years of age, or by means of motor
vehicle, airship, or other similar means.
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be
deliberately augmented by causing other wrong not
necessary for its commission.
 -Cruelty. There is cruelty when the culprit enjoys and
delights in making his victim suffer slowly and
gradually, causing him unnecessary physical pain in
the commission of the criminal act.

ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES

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.

They are: A. Relationship

B. Intoxication
D. Degree of instruction and education of the
offender.

A. RELATIONSHIP
The alternative circumstance of relationship shall be
taken into consideration when the offended party is
the:
1. Spouse
2. Ascendant
3. Descendant
4. Legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister
5. Relative by affinity in the same degree of the
offender.

As a rule:
 -Relationship is mitigating in crimes against property.
-Relationship is aggravating in:
-crimes against person
-crimes against chastity
-crimes against honor

Relationship is exempting in the crime of Theft, Swindling or

Malicious Mischief under Art. 332.

Art. 332. No criminal, but only civil, liability shall

result from commission of theft, swindling or malicious
mischief committed or caused mutually by spouses,
ascendants, and descendants, or relatives by affinity in the
same line; brothers and sisters and brothers-in-law and
sisters-in-law, if living together.

B. INTOXICATION is mitigating if:

-Not habitual
-Not subsequent to the plan to commit a felony

INTOXICATION is aggravating if:

-Habitual
-Intentional

C. DEGREE OF INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION OF THE

OFFENDER
Low degree of instruction and education or lack of it
is generally mitigating.
 High degree of instruction and education is
aggravating, when the offender avails himself of his
learning in committing the crime.

IV. PERSONS CRIMINALLY LIABLE

Who are criminally liable?

The following are criminally liable for grave and less grave
felony:
A. Principals
B. Accomplices
C. Accessories

The following are criminally liable for light felonies:

A. Principals
B. Accomplices

WHO ARE PRINCIPALS?

1. Principal by direct participation
2. Principal by induction
3. Principal by indispensable cooperation - those who
cooperate by another act without which it would not
have been accomplished.
WHO ARE ACCOMPLICES?
Those who cooperate in the execution of the offense by
previous or simultaneous acts.

- In case of doubt as to the participation of the offender

as to whether principal or accomplice, he is considered
an accomplice.
- Acts of the accused are not indispensable
- An accomplice merely supplies the principal with
material or moral aid without conspiracy.

Distinction between accomplice and conspirator

1. Conspirators decide that a crime be committed;

accomplice merely concur in it.
2. Accomplices do not decide whether the crime should be
committed, they merely assent to the plan and
cooperate in its accomplishment’
3. Conspirators are the authors of the crime; accomplices
are merely instruments who perform acts not essential
to the preparation of the offense.
WHO ARE 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
subsequently to its commission in any of the following:
1. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to
profit by the effects of the crime;
2. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime or the
effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its
discovery.
3. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of
the principals of the crime, provided the accessory acts
with abuse of his public functions or whenever the
author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide,
murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief
Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some
other crime.

Accessories under the RPC can be a principal under

PD 1829- OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
TWO CLASSES OF ACCESSORIES UNDER PARA 3.
1. Public officers who harbor, conceal or assist in the
escape of the principal of any crime (not light felony)
with abuse of his public functions.
2. Private persons who harbor, conceal or assist in the
escape of the principal of the crime of:
a. Treason
b. Parricide
c. Murder
d. An attempt against the life of the President
e. Who is known to be habitually guilty of some other
crime

Accessories who are exempt from criminal liability

An accessory is exempt from criminal liability, when the

principal is his:
a. Spouse
b. Ascendants
c. Descendants
d. Legitimate, natural or adopted brother, sister or relative
by affinity within the same degree
Accessory is not exempt from criminal liability even if the
principal is related to him, if such accessory:
-Profits by the effects of the crime
-Assisted the offender to profit by the effects of the
crime

V. PENALTIES IN GENERAL

PENALTY – is the suffering that is inflicted by the state for the

transgression of a law.

JURIDICAL CONDITIONS OF PENALTY

1. Must be productive of suffering

2. Must be commensurate with the offense
3. Must be personal
4. Must be legal
5. Must be certain
6. Must be equal for all
7. Must be correctional

Effect of Penal Laws

General Rule : Prospective
Exceptions : When favorable to the accused who is not
a habitual delinquent
: New law is expressly made inapplicable
 CLASSIFICATION OF PENALTIES

Capital Punishment
Death
Afflictive Penalties (for Grave Felonies) Duration
Reclusion Perpetua 20 yrs & 1 day - 40 yrs
Reclusion Temporal 12 yrs & 1 day - 20 yrs
Prison Mayor 6 yrs & 1 day - 12 yrs
Correctional Penalties (for Less Grave Felonies)
Prision Correccional 6 months & 1 day - 6 yrs
Arresto Mayor 1 month & 1day – 6 months
Suspension
Destierro 6 months & 1 day to 6 yrs
Light Penalties (for Light Felonies)
Arresto Menor 1 - 30 days

FINE – Alternative penalty to imprisonment

Afflictive - Exceeds P6,000.00

Correctional - P200.00-P6,000.00
Light - Less than P200.00
II. ACCESSORY PENALTIES

They are deemed included in the imposition of the

principal penalties

Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification

Perpetual or temporary special disqualification
Suspension from public office, the right to vote and
be Voted for, the profession or calling
Civil Interdiction
Indemnification
Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and
proceeds of the offense
Payment of cost
COMPLEX CRIME – There is complex crime when a single act
constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or
when an offense is a necessary means for committing
the other. The penalty for the most serious crime
shall be imposed in its maximum period.

Two kinds of Complex Crime

1. Compound Crime (Delito Compuesto) – when a single

act causes 2 or more grave or less grave felonies.
Ex. Double homicide
3. Complex Crime Proper (Delito Complejo) – When an
Offense is a necessary means for committing another
offense.
Ex. Estafa thru falsification
Malversation thru falsification

Continued/Continuous Crime (Delito Continuado) – a term

used to denote as only one crime a series of acts
arising from a single criminal resolution which are
carried out in the same place and at about the same
time.
Ex. Robbing all the occupants of the 5 houses in a
 compound pursuant to a single criminal resolution.

Continuing/Transitory Crime – One whose essential elements

take place in more than one municipality/city so that
the criminal prosecution of it may be filed in any such
municipality or city.
Ex. Kidnapping a person then bringing him to another
Place.

How many criminal information to be filed in complex crime,

continued crime or continuing crime?
Ans: Only one (1) criminal information

SPECIAL COMPLEX CRIME (Composite Crime)

1. Rape with homicide (Art. 266-B)

2. Kidnapping with homicide or rape (Art. 2667)
3. Robbery with violence, if accompanied by: (Art. 294
Homicide
Rape
Mutilation
Arson
4.Attempted or frustrated robbery with homicide (Art. 297)
Application of penalty

Consummated Frustrated Attempted

Principals 0 1 2
Accomplices 1 2 3
Accessories 2 3 4

Degrees of Penalty Period of Penalty

Reclusion Perpetua Indivisible

Reclusion Temporal Max
Med
Min
Prison Mayor Max
Med
Min
Prision Correctional Max
Med
Min
Arresto Mayor Max
Med
Min
Arresto Menor Max
 Med
Min

Application of penalties which contains three periods:

1. No aggravating and no mitigating - Medium Period

2. Only a mitigating - Minimum Period
3. Only an aggravating - Maximum Period
4. Mitigating and aggravating - Offset
5. 2 or more mitigating and no aggravating, court may
Impose the penalty next lower in degree

GOOD CONDUCT Time Allowance: a deduction of:

5 days each month = for the first 2 years.

8 days each month = for 3rd - 5th years
10 days each month= for 6th – 10th years
15 days each month = for 11th and successive years

Special Time Allowance for Loyalty

A deduction of 1/5 of the period of sentence shall be

granted to a prisoner who evaded the service of sentence
on the occasion of disorder resulting from conflagration,
earthquake, explosion, or similar catastrophe, or during a
mutiny in which he has not participated, gives himself up
 to the authorities within 48 hrs following the issuance of a
proclamation announcing the passing away of such
calamity or catastrophe.

VI. EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Total Extinction of Criminal Liability

1. Death of the convict

2. Service of sentence
3. Amnesty
4. Absolute pardon
5. Prescription of crime
6. Prescription of penalty
7. Marriage of the offended woman
8. Forgiveness or pardon of the offended spouse in marital
rape

Partial Extinction of Criminal Liability

1. Conditional pardon
2. Commutation of sentence
3. Good conduct time allowance
4. Parole

Prescription of Crime – is the loss of the right of the state to

prosecute a crime after the lapse of time fixed by law.
 - It starts to run upon discovery by the public authorities,
their agents or the offended party.
Prescription of Penalty – is the loss of the right of the state to
enforce the penalty after the lapse of time fix by law.
- It starts to run from the date the culprit should evade
the service of his sentence.
PRESCRIPTION OF CRIMES UNDER THE RPC
1. Crimes punishable by death, RP or RT - 20 yrs
2. Crimes punishable by Prision Mayor - 15 yrs
3. Crimes punishable by Correccional - 10 yrs
4. Crimes punishable by Arresto Mayor - 5 yrs
5. Crime of libel - 1 yr
6. Oral defamation and slander by deed - 6 mts
7. Light Felonies - 2 mts

PRESCRIPTION OF CRIMES UNDER SPECIAL LAWS AND

ORDINANCES
1. Offenses punished only by a fine or
by imprisonment for not more than 1 month - 1 yr
2. Offenses punished by imprisonment
For than 1 month but less than 2 yrs - 4 yrs
3. Offenses punished by imprisonment
For 2 yrs or more but less tha 6 yrs - 8 yrs
4. Offenses punished by imprisonment
for 6 yrs or more - 12 yrs
5. Offenses under Internal Revenue Law - 5 yrs
6. Violations of Municipal Ordinances - 2 mts
7. Violations of the regulations or
 Conditions of certificate of convenience - 2 mts

PRESCRIPTION OF PENALTY
1. Death and Reclusion Perpetua - 20 yrs
2. Prision Mayor and Reclusion Temporal - 15 yrs
3. Correccional penalty - 10 yrs
4. Arresto Mayor - 5 yrs
5. Light penalties - 1 yr

WHEN PRESRIPTION OF PENALTY COMMENCES TO RUN

- From the date the culprit evaded the service of his
sentence.

WHEN PRESRIPTION OF PENALTY IS INTERRUPTED

1. Convict gives him up.
2. When captured.
3. Goes to a foreign country with which we have no
extradition treaty.
4. Commits another crime before the expiration of the
period of prescription.