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
means of fault (culpa).

There is deceit when the act is

performed with deliberate intent; and
there is fault when the wrongful act
results from imprudence, negligence,
lack of foresight, or lack of skill.
Elements of felonies
1. That there must be an act or omission;
2. That the act or omission must be
punishable by the Revised Penal Code;
and
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)
Dolo is DELIBERATE INTENT, otherwise
referred to as criminal intent, and must be
coupled with freedom
of action and intelligence on the part of the
offender as to the act done by him.

Requisites of Dolo:
1) Freedom;
2) Intelligence; and
3) Intent
Culpa (CONSTRUCTIVE INTENT)-
Although there is no intentional
felony, there could be culpable
felony.

The act or omission is not

malicious; the injury caused being
simply the incident of another act
performed without malice.
The element of criminal intent is replaced
by negligence, imprudence, lack of
foresight or lack of skill. Thus, the
requisites are the following:

1) Freedom;
2) Intelligence; and
3) Negligence (deficiency of perception) or
imprudence (deficiency of action)
 Acts executed negligently are
voluntary.
People vs. Lopez
(C.A. 44 0.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.
The Manner
Of
Committing
the Crime
1) Formal Crimes - consummated in one instant, no
attempt. (a) Ex. Slander and false testimony (b)
There can be no attempt, because between the
thought and the deed, there is no chain of acts that
can be severed.

2) Material Crimes – have three stages of execution

Thus, in determining the stage of some crimes, the
manner of execution becomes pivotal in
determining the end of the subjective phase, i.e.
once the offender performs the act in the manner
provided for in the law, HE IS ALREADY DEEMED
TO HAVE PERFORMED EVERY ACT FOR ITS
EXECUTION
3) Crimes consummated by mere attempt or
proposal by overt act. (a) Ex. Flight to enemy‘s
country
(Art. 121) and corruption of minors (Art. 340)

4) Felony by omission (a) There can be no

attempted stage when the felony is by
omission, because
the offender does not execute acts, he omits to
perform an act which the law requires him to
do
5) Crimes requiring the intervention of
two persons to commit them are
consummated by mere agreement.
(a) In bribery, the manner of committing
the crime requires the meeting of the
minds between the giver and the
receiver.
(b) When the giver delivers the money to
the supposed receiver, but there is no
meeting of the minds, the only act done
by the giver is an attempt.