SCOPE AND CHARACTERISTICS 4.
Offenses committed by public officers or employees in the
1. GENERALITY
General Rule: Penal laws are obligatory on all persons who live or
sojourn in Philippine territory, regardless of nationality, gender, or
other personal circumstances, subject to the principles of public
international law and to treaty stipulations.
Exceptions:
1. Treaty Stipulations
2. Laws of Preferential Application
3. Principles of Public International Law
4. Warship Rule - A warship of another country, even though docked
in the Philippines, is considered an extension of the territory of its
respective country
2. TERRITORIALITY
General Rule: Penal laws of the country have force and effect only
within its territory. It cannot penalize crimes committed outside its
territory.
Scope of Territory: The territory of the country is not limited to the
land where its sovereignty resides but includes also its maritime and
interior waters as well as its atmosphere.
Theory on Aerial Jurisdiction – Absolute Theory
- The subjacent state has complete jurisdiction over the atmosphere
above it subject only to the innocent passage by aircraft of a foreign
country.
-If the crime is committed in an aircraft, no matter how high, as long
as it is within the Philippine atmosphere, Philippine criminal law will
govern.
-The Philippines has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the
airspace above its territory.
Exceptions [SCIONS]
1. Crimes committed while on a Philippine Ship or airship
2. Forging/Counterfeiting of Coins or Currency Notes in the
Philippines
3. Introduction of #2 into the country
exercise of their functions.
5. Crimes against National Security and the law of nations, defined
in Title One of Book Two of this Code.
3. PROSPECTIVITY
- No felony shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed by law prior to
its commission.
- Without prejudice to Art. 22, felonies and misdemeanors, committed prior
to the effectivity of the RPC, shall be punished in accordance with the Code
or Acts in force at the time of their commission
Retroactive Application if Favorable to the Accused
General Rule: No felony shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed
by law prior to its commission. [Art. 21, RPC].
Exception: Insofar as they favor the person guilty of a felony although at the
time of the publication of such laws, a final sentence has been pronounced
and the convict is serving the same. [Art. 22, RPC
PRO REO PRINCIPLE
Applicability of Principle: Penal statutes should be strictly construed against
the State only when the law is ambiguous and there is doubt regarding its
interpretation. Where the law is clear and unambiguous, there is no room for
the rule to apply. [People v. Gatchalian, G.R. No. L- 12011-14 (1958)] In dubio
pro reo.
INTERPRETATION OF PENAL LAWS
Equipoise Doctrine
When the evidence of the prosecution and the defense are equally balanced,
the scale should be tilted in favor of the accused, according to the
constitutional presumption of innocence. [Tin v. People, G.R. No. 126480
(2001)
 Elements of Dolo
INTENTIONAL FELONIES (Dolo)
- Crime committed with deliberate intent.
Requirements/Elements of Dolo or Malice [FID]:
1. Freedom – Voluntariness on the part of the person who commits the act or
omission.
2. Intelligence – Capacity to know and understand the consequences of one’s
act.
3. Intent to commit the act with malice is a purely mental process, and is
presumed from the proof of the commission of an unlawful act. Intent
presupposes the exercise of freedom and the use of intelligence.
Examples of Crimes requiring Specific Criminal Intent (Dolo)
1. Robbery – intent to gain [Art. 293
2. Theft – intent to gain [Art. 308
3. Homicide – intent to kill [Art. 249[
4. Forcible Abduction – intent of lewd designs
Stages Of Execution
THREE (3) STAGES OF ACTS OF EXECUTION
1. Attempted - When the offender commences the commission of a felony
directly by overt acts but does not produce the felony by reason of some
cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance.
2. Frustrated - When the offender performs all the acts of execution which
would produce the felony but does not produce it by reason of causes
independent of the will of the perpetrator.
3. Consummated - When all the elements necessary for its execution and
accomplishment are present; the felony is produced.
Effectivity of RPC
“January 1, 1932”
Article 1. Time when Act takes effect. – This Code shall take effect on the
first day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty-two. While the Revised
Penal Code took effect on January 1, 1932, it was enacted on December 8,
1930 and signed the same day.
Memorize: aberratio ictus, error in personae, praeter intentionem
Error in Persona
- Mistake in identity: A felony is intended, but there is a mistake in the
identity of the victim; injuring one person mistaken for another.
Aberratio Ictus
- Mistake in blow: When an Offender intending to do an injury to one
person actually inflicts it on another.
Praeter Intentionem
- No intention to commit a grave so wrong.
Definition of mala in se/mala prohibita
MALA IN SE - A crime or an act that is inherently immoral, such as murder,
arson, or rape [Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th ed.]
MALA PROHIBIT- An act that is considered a crime because it is prohibited
by statute, although the act itself is not necessarily immoral [Black’s Law
Dictionary, 9th ed.]
Crime
Crime - An act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it. It is a generic term used to refer to a wrongdoing punished
by either the RPC or a special law. [ORTEGA]
Criminal Law
Criminal Law - That branch of public substantive law which defines crimes,
treats of their nature, and provides for their punishment.
 Alternative and aggravating circ.
ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES
Article 15. Their concept. - Alternative circumstances are those which must
be taken into consideration as aggravating or mitigating according to the
nature and effects of the crime and the other conditions attending its
commission. They are the relationship, intoxication and the degree of
instruction and education of the offender
The alternative circumstance of relationship - shall be taken into
consideration when the offended party in the spouse, ascendant, descendant,
legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister, or relative by affinity in the
same degrees of the offender
The intoxication of the offender shall be taken into consideration as a
mitigating circumstance when the offender has committed a felony in a state
of intoxication, if the same is not habitual or subsequent to the plan to
commit said felony but when the intoxication is habitual or intentional, it shall
be considered as an aggravating circumstance.
1. RELATIONSHIP
The alternative circumstance of relationship shall be taken into
consideration when the offended party is the: [SAD SiRA]
A. Spouse
B. Ascendant
C. Descendant
D. Siblings : Legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister
E. Relative by Affinity in the same degree of the offender [People v. Marco,
G.R. No. 132392 (2001)
Relatives by Affinity
Includes in-laws, stepfather, or stepmother, stepchild and the like. It is the
duty of the stepparents to bestow upon their stepchildren a mother’s or
father’s affection, care and protection [
Other relatives included
The relationship of stepfather or stepmother and stepson or stepdaughter is
included by analogy as similar to that of ascendant and descendant.
Relationship as Exempting Circumstance:
1. When the accessory is related to the principal.
General Rule: This includes spouses, ascendants, descendants, legitimate,
natural, and adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the
same degrees, with the single exception of accessories falling within the
provisions of paragraph 1 of the next preceding article. [Art. 20, RPC]
Exception: When said relatives profited themselves or assisted the offender
to profit by the effects of the crime. [Art. 19 (1), RPC]
2. Death under exceptional circumstances.
A legally married person who having surprised his spouse in the act of
committing sexual intercourse with another person who shall inflict upon
them physical injuries of any other kind (i.e. less serious and slight physical
injuries). [Art. 247, RPC]
3. Select Crimes Against Property.
For crimes of theft, swindling (estafa), and malicious mischief there is no
criminal liability if they be caused by the following persons [SADRAS-WS-BS]:
a. Spouses, Ascendants and Descendants, or Relatives by Affinity in the Same
line.
b. The Widowed Spouse with respect to the property which belonged to the
deceased spouse before the same shall have passed into the possession of
another; and
c. Brothers and Sisters and brothers-in law and sisters-in-law, if living together.
[Art. 322, RPC]
Relationship as Mitigating Circumstance:
1. In crimes against property [RUFA]
a) Robbery [Arts. 294-302, RPC]
b) Usurpation [Art. 312, RPC]
c) Fraudulent insolvency [Art. 314, RPC]
d) Arson [Arts. 321-322, 325-326, RPC]
2. When the crime is less serious or slight physical injuries Accused’s State of Intoxication Must be Proved
– if the offended party is a relative of a lower degree than the offender. [Art. - The defendant testified that before the murder, he took a bottle of wine and
263, RPC; REYES, Book 1] drank little by little until he got drunk. The policeman who arrested the
accused testified that the latter smelled of wine and vomited. The Court held
3. In trespass to dwelling
that the evidence presented was not satisfactory to warrant a mitigation of
- Where a son-in law, believing his wife to be in her father's house,
the penalty.
attempted to force an entry therein, the relationship is to be considered in
mitigation. [U.S. vs. Ostrea, 2 Phil. 93, 95 (1903)] The person pleading intoxication must prove that he took such quantity of
alcoholic beverage, prior to the commission of the crime, as would blur his
RELATIONSHIP AS AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE
reason.
CRIMES AGAINST PERSON CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY
General Rule: Relationship is always aggravating 3.DEGREE OF EDUCATION OR INSTRUCTION
Higher degree; or Relatives of the same [People v.Orilla, G.R. Nos.
level [People v. Alisub, 69 Phil. 148949-40 (2004)]
Low Degree of Education - Refers to the lack of sufficient intelligence of and
362 (1969) knowledge of the full significance of one’s act.
Exception: Rationale: Because of the nature and effect
Always aggravating of the crime committed. It is not shocking to
in the following: our moral sense when we hear a father
Requisite: To be considered mitigating, degree of instruction must have
1. Serious Physical Injuries [Reyes, committed, for instance, the crime of slight some reasonable connection to the offense.
Book 1] physical injury against his daughter; but it
2. Homicide or certainly is very shocking when we hear that
Murder [REYES, Book 1] a father committed acts of lasciviousness on
General Rule: Low degree of education is a mitigating circumstance.
3. Rape [People v. Delen, G.R. No. the person of his own daughter. [REYES,
194446 (2014)] Book 1] Aggravating circumstances
Relationship Not Appreciated:
1. When relationship is an element of the offense: [PAC] Article 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following are aggravating
a. Parricide circumstances:
b. Adultery
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public position.
c. Concubinage [REYES, Book 1]
2. That the crime be committed in contempt or with insult to the public
2. INTOXICATION
authorities.
Requisites to be Considered as Mitigating Circumstance: [DSC-NHD-NWIR]
a) Act was done due to alcoholic intake of the offender, he suffers from 3. That the act be committed with insult or in disregard of the respect due the
Diminished Self- Control. offended party on account of his rank, age, or sex, or that is be committed in
b) Offender is Not a Habitual Drinker. the dwelling of the offended party, if the latter has not given provocation.
c) Offender did Not take the alcoholic drink
4. That the act be committed with abuse of confidence or obvious
When Aggravating Circumstance ungratefulness.
a) If intoxication is habitual; or
5. That the crime be committed in the palace of the Chief Executive or in his
b) If it is intentional to embolden offender to commit crime [REYES, Book 1]
presence, or where public authorities are engaged in the discharge of their
Meaning of Habitual Drunkard -A habitual drunkard is one given to duties, or in a place dedicated to religious worship.
intoxication by excessive use of intoxicating drinks. The habit should be actual
and confirmed. It is unnecessary that it be a matter of daily occurrence.
6. That the crime be committed in the nighttime, or in an uninhabited place,
or by a band, whenever such circumstances may facilitate the commission of
the offense. Whenever more than three armed malefactors shall have acted
together in the commission of an offense, it shall be deemed to have been
committed by a band.
7. That the crime be committed on the occasion of a conflagration, shipwreck,
earthquake, epidemic or other calamity or misfortune.
8. That the crime be committed with the aid of armed men or persons who
insure or afford impunity.
9. That the accused is a recidivist. A recidivist is one who, at the time of his
trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of
another crime embraced in the same title of this Code.
10. That the offender has been previously punished by 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.
11. That the crime be committed in consideration of a price, reward, or
promise.
12. That the crime be committed by means of inundation, fire, poison,
explosion, stranding of a vessel or international 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 evidence premeditation.
14. That craft, fraud or disguise be employed.
15. That advantage be taken of superior strength, or means be employed to
weaken the defense.
16. That the act be committed with treachery (alevosia). There is treachery
when the offender commits any of the crimes against the person, employing
means, methods, or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and
specially to insure its execution, without risk to himself arising from the
defense which the offended party might make.
17. That means be employed or circumstances brought about which add
ignominy to the natural effects of the act.
18. That the crime be committed after an unlawful entry. There is an unlawful
entry when an entrance is effected by a way not intended for the purpose.
19. That as a means to the commission of a crime a wall, roof, floor, door, or
window be broken.
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under fifteen years
of age or by means of motor vehicles, airships, 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.
A. KINDS OF AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES
1. GENERIC. - Those that can generally apply to all crimes. Nos. 1, 2, 3
(dwelling), 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 18, 19, and 20 except “by means of motor
vehicles”. A generic aggravating circumstance may be offset by a generic
mitigating circumstance.
2. SPECIFIC. - Those that apply only to particular crimes. Nos. 3 (except
dwelling), 15, 16, 17 and 21.
3. QUALIFYING. - Those that change the nature of the crime (i.e. Art. 248
enumerate the qualifying AC which qualifies the killing of person to murder).
If two or more possible qualifying circumstances were alleged and proven,
only one would qualify the offense and the others would be generic
aggravating.
Examples of qualifying aggravating circumstances:
a. Circumstance of treachery or evident premeditation qualifies the killing of
a person to murder. [Art. 248]
b. Circumstances of grave abuse of confidence and calamity qualifies the
crime of theft to qualified theft. [Art. 310]
c. c. Circumstances of minority or taking advantage of public office qualifies
the crime of simple seduction to qualified seduction. [Art. 337]
4. INHERENT. - Those that are already elements of the felony and are thus no
longer considered against the offender in the determination of the felony.
[Boado Comprehensive Reviewer, p. 55]

5. SPECIAL. - Those which arise under special conditions to increase the

penalty of the offense and cannot be offset by mitigating circumstances:
a. Quasi-recidivism [Art. 160]
b. Complex crimes [Art. 48]
c. Error in personae [Art. 49]
d. Taking advantage of public position [Art. 171]
e. Membership in an organized/syndicated crime group [Art. 62