I. Revised Penal Code / Special Laws, Presidential Decrees, and Executive Orders
Book 1
1. Fundamental Principles
a) Definition of Criminal Law
A branch of municipal law which defines crimes, treats of their nature and provides
for their punishment.
i) Difference between Mala in Se and Mala Prohibita1
Mala in se2
Mala prohibita
Violations of special laws.3
Violations of the Revised Penal Code
1
Test to determine if violation of special law is malum prohibitum or malum in se:
Analyze the violation: Is it wrong because there is a law prohibiting it or punishing it as such? If you
remove the law, will the act still be wrong?
If the wording of the law punishing the crime uses the word “willfully”, then malice must be proven.
Where malice is a factor, good faith is a defense.
In violation of special law, the act constituting the crime is a prohibited act. Therefore culpa is not a
basis of liability, unless the special law punishes an omission.
When given a problem, take note if the crime is a violation of the Revised Penal Code or a special law.
2
which literally means, that the act is inherently evil or bad or per se wrongful.
3
Not all violations of special laws are mala prohibita. While intentional felonies are always mala in se, it
does not follow that prohibited acts done in violation of special laws are always mala prohibita. Even if
the crime is punished under a special law, if the act punished is one which is inherently wrong, the same is
malum in se, and, therefore, good faith and the lack of criminal intent is a valid defense; unless it is the
product of criminal negligence or culpa.
Likewise when the special law requires that the punished act be committed knowingly and willfully,
criminal intent is required to be proved before criminal liability may arise.
When the act penalized is not inherently wrong, it is wrong only because a law punishes the same.
1
b) Scope of Application and Characteristics of the Philippine Criminal
Law
Generality4
The law is binding to all persons who live or sojourn in the
Philippines
Territoriality5
The law is binding to all crimes committed within the
National Territory of the Philippines
Prospectivity
The law does not have any retroactive effect.6
4
Generality of criminal law means that the criminal law of the country governs all persons within the
country regardless of their race, belief, sex, or creed. However, it is subject to certain exceptions brought
about by international agreement. Ambassadors, chiefs of states and other diplomatic officials are
immune from the application of penal laws when they are in the country where they are assigned.
Exceptions to general application of criminal law:
a) principles of public international law
b) treaties or treaty stipulations
c) laws of preferential application
Consuls are not diplomatic officers. This includes consul-general, vice-consul or any consul in a foreign
country, who are therefore, not immune to the operation or application of the penal law of the country
where they are assigned. Consuls are subject to the penal laws of the country where they are assigned.
It has no reference to territory. Whenever you are asked to explain this, it does not include territory. It
refers to persons that may be governed by the penal law.
5
Exceptions to Territorial Application:
Instances enumerated under Article 2 (see Reference)
6
Exception to Prospective Application:
When new statute is favorable to the accused who is not a habitual delinquent. Applicable to special
laws which provide more favorable conditions to the accused.
2
c) Constitutional limitations on the power of Congress to enact penal
laws7 in the Bill of Rights
Equal protection
Any person shall not be denied the equal protection of the
laws.8
Due process
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property
without due process of law.9
Non-imposition of cruel and
unusual punishment or
excessive fines
Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the
Philippines.10
Bill of attainder
A legislative act which inflicts punishment without judicial
trial.
Ex post facto law
One which makes an action done before the passage of the
law and which was innocent when done criminal and
punishes such action.
7
Only the legislative branch of the government can enact penal laws. While the President may define and
punish an act as a crime, such exercise of power is not executive but legislative as he derives such power
from the law-making body. It is in essence, an exercise of legislative power by the Chief Executive.
8
Art. III, Sec. 1, 1987 Constitution
9
Ibid.
10
R.A. 9346
3
2. Felonies
Acts or omissions punishable by the Revised Penal Code.
a) Classifications of Felonies
According to the manner of their commission
Intentional
Culpable
Those committed with deliberate intent;
Those resulting from negligence, reckless
imprudence, lack of foresight or lack of
skill.11
According to the stages of their execution
Attempted
Frustrated
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 cause or accident
other
than
his
own
spontaneous desistance.
Consummated
The offender commences All the elements necessary
the commission of a felony for its execution are
as a consequence but which present.12
would produce the felony as
a consequence but which
nevertheless do not produce
the felony by reason of
causes independent of the
perpetrator;
According to their gravity
Grave
Attaches
the
capital
punishment or penalties
which in any of their periods
are afflictive.
Less grave
The law punishes
penalties which in
maximum
period
correccional;
11
Art. 3
Art. 6
13
Art. 9
12
4
Light
with Infractions of law for the
their commission of which the
was penalty is arresto menor.13
b) Elements of Criminal Liability
i) act or omission
ii) punishable by the Revised Penal Code
iii) committed by either dolo or culpa
c) Impossible Crime14 - one 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.15
d) Stages of Execution16
14
Art. 4, par. 2
1. Offender must believe that he can consummate the intended crime, a man stabbing another who he
knew was already dead cannot be liable for an impossible crime.
2. The law intends to punish the criminal intent.
3. There is no attempted or frustrated impossible crime.
Requisites:
1. Act would have been an offense against persons or property
2. Act is not an actual violation of another provision of the Code or of a special penal law
3. There was criminal intent
4. Accomplishment was inherently impossible; or inadequate or ineffectual means were employed.
16
see Classification of Felonies, supra.
Does not apply in:
1. Offenses punishable by Special Penal Laws, unless the otherwise is provided for.
2. Formal crimes (e.g., slander, adultery, etc.)
3. Impossible Crimes
4. Crimes consummated by mere attempt. Examples: attempt to flee to an enemy country, treason,
corruption of minors.
5. Felonies by omission
6. Crimes committed by mere agreement. Examples: betting in sports (endings in basketball),
corruption of public officers.
15
5
e) Conspiracy17 and Proposal
Conspiracy18
Proposal19
When two or more persons come to an When the person who has decided to
agreement concerning the commission of a commit a felony proposes its execution to
felony and decide to commit it.
some other person or persons.
17
Two kinds of conspiracy:
(1) Conspiracy as a crime; and
(2) Conspiracy as a manner of incurring criminal liability
When conspiracy itself is a crime, no overt act is necessary to bring about the criminal liability. The
mere conspiracy is the crime itself. This is only true when the law expressly punishes the mere
conspiracy; otherwise, the conspiracy does not bring about the commission of the crime because
conspiracy is not an overt act but a mere preparatory act. Treason, rebellion, sedition, and coup d’etat
are the only crimes where the conspiracy and proposal to commit to them are punishable.
When the conspiracy is only a basis of incurring criminal liability, there must be an overt act done
before the co-conspirators become criminally liable.
When the conspiracy itself is a crime, this cannot be inferred or deduced because there is no overt act.
All that there is the agreement. On the other hand, if the co-conspirator or any of them would execute an
overt act, the crime would no longer be the conspiracy but the overt act itself.
If the conspiracy is only a basis of criminal liability, none of the co-conspirators would be liable, unless
there is an overt act. So, for as long as anyone shall desist before an overt act in furtherance of the crime
was committed, such a desistance would negate criminal liability. For as long as none of the conspirators
has committed an overt act, there is no crime yet. But when one of them commits any overt act, all of
them shall be held liable, unless 1) a co-conspirator was absent from the scene of the crime or 2) he
showed up, but he tried to prevent the commission of the crime
As a general rule, if there has been a conspiracy to commit a crime in a particular place, anyone who did
not appear shall be presumed to have desisted. The exception to this is if such person who did not appear
was the mastermind.
Conspiracy as a crime, must have a clear and convincing evidence of its existence. Every crime must be
proved beyond reasonable doubt.
When the conspiracy is just a basis of incurring criminal liability, however, the same may be deduced or
inferred from the acts of several offenders in carrying out the commission of the crime. The existence of
a conspiracy may be reasonably inferred from the acts of the offenders when such acts disclose or show a
common pursuit of the criminal objective.
Conspiracy is a matter of substance which must be alleged in the information, otherwise, the court will
not consider the same.
A conspiracy is possible even when participants are not known to each other.
There is conspiracy when the offenders acted simultaneously pursuing a common criminal design; thus,
acting out a common criminal intent.
Even though there was conspiracy, if a co-conspirator merely cooperated in the commission of the crime
with insignificant or minimal acts, such that even without his cooperation, the crime could be carried out
as well, such co-conspirator should be punished as an accomplice only.
18
Punishable in the following cases: treason, rebellion or insurrection, sedition, coup d’ etat, arson and
monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade.
19
Only the person proposing or the proponent is criminally liable
Proposal is true only up to the point where the party to whom the proposal was made has not yet
accepted the proposal. Once the proposal was accepted, a conspiracy arises. Proposal is unilateral, one
party makes a proposition to the other; conspiracy is bilateral, it requires two parties
6
Elements
Crimes
a. Agreement among 2 or more a. A person has decided to commit a
persons to commit a crime
crime
b. They decide to commit it
b. He proposes its commission to
another
a. Conspiracy to commit sedition
a. Proposal to commit treason
b. Conspiracy to commit rebellion
b. Proposal to commit rebellion or
insurrection
c. Conspiracy to commit treason
f) Multiple Offenders (differences, rules, effects)
Habitual delinquency
Recidivism
Two convictions are enough.
At least three convictions are required.
The crimes are not specified; it is enough that The crimes are limited and specified to:
they may be embraced under the same title of
the Revised Penal Code.
(a) serious physical injuries,
(b) less serious physical injuries,
(c) robbery,
(d) theft,
(e) estafa or swindling and
(f) falsification.
There is no time limit between the first There is a time limit of not more than 10
conviction and the subsequent conviction. years between every convictions computed
Recidivism is imprescriptible.
from the first conviction or release from
punishment
thereof
to
conviction
computed from the second conviction or
release therefrom to the third conviction
and so on .
7
It is a generic aggravating circumstance which
can be offset by an ordinary mitigating
circumstance. If not offset, it would only
increase the penalty prescribed by law for the
crime committed to its maximum period.
It is a special aggravating circumstance,
hence it cannot be offset by any mitigating
circumstance. Aside from the penalty
prescribed by law for the crime committed,
an additional penalty shall be imposed
depending upon whether it is already the
third conviction, the fourth, the fifth and so
on .
The circumstance need not be alleged in the The circumstance must be alleged in the
information.
information; otherwise the court cannot
acquire jurisdiction to impose additional
penalty.
Reiteracion20
Recidivism
Necessary that offender shall have served Enough that final judgment has been
out his sentence for the first sentence
rendered in the first offense
Previous and subsequent offenses must not Same title
be embraced in the same title of the Code
Not always an aggravating circumstance
Always aggravating
20
Thus, if A has been convicted of Murder, and after grant of parole committed Homicide, he labors under
this paragraph (10) known as reiteracion, but he is also suffering from recidivism (recidencia). In such a
case, he will be considered only as recidivist, and par. 10 will no longer apply to him.
8
Offenders
Effects
Recidivist – one who at the time of his trial Generic aggravating
for one crime, shall have been previously
convicted by final judgment of another crime
embraced in the same title of the RPC.21
Reiteracion or habituality – one who has been May be aggravating depending on the
punished for an offense to which the law discretion of the court.
attaches an equal or greater penalty.22
Quasi-recidivism – any person who shall The penalty is raised to the maximum period
commit a felony after having been convicted of the penalty prescribed for the new felony.
by final judgment, before beginning to serve
such sentence, or while serving the same,
shall be punished by the maximum period of
the penalty prescribed by law for the new
felony.
21
It is important that the conviction which came earlier must refer to the crime committed earlier than
the subsequent conviction.
Basis: Greater perversity of the offender as shown by his inclination to commit crimes
Requisites:
a. offender is on trial for an offense
b. he was previously convicted by final judgment21 of another crime
c. that both the first and the second offenses are embraced in the same title of the RPC (not special
law)
d. the offender is convicted of the new offense
Recidivism must be taken into account no matter how many years have intervened between the first
and second felonies
To prove recidivism, it must be alleged in the information and with attached certified copies of the
sentences rendered against the accused
Exceptions: if the accused does not object and when he admits in his confession and on the witness
stand
22
In reiteracion, the penalty attached to the crime subsequently committed should be higher or at least
equal to the penalty that he has already served. If that is the situation, that means that the offender was
never reformed by the fact that he already served the penalty imposed on him on the first conviction.
However, if he commits a felony carrying a lighter penalty; subsequently, the law considers that somehow
he has been reformed but if he, again commits another felony which carries a lighter penalty, then he
becomes a repeater because that means he has not yet reformed.
You will only consider the penalty in reiteracion if there is already a second conviction. When there is a
third conviction, you disregard whatever penalty for the subsequent crimes committed. Even if the
penalty for the subsequent crimes committed are lighter than the ones already served, since there are
already two of them subsequently, the offender is already a repeater.
However, if there is only a second conviction, pay attention to the penalty attached to the crime which
was committed for the second crime. That is why it is said that reiteracion is not always aggravating. This
is so because if the penalty attached to the felony subsequently committed is not equal or higher than the
penalty already served, even if literally, the offender is a repeater, repetition is not aggravating.
9
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 any of said crimes a third time or
oftener.23
a) Upon a third conviction, the culprit shall
be sentenced to the penalty provided by law
for the last crime of which he be found guilty
and to the additional penalty of prision
correccional in its medium and maximum
periods;
b) Upon a fourth conviction, the culprit shall
be sentenced to the penalty provided for the
last crime of which he be found guilty and to
the additional penalty of prision mayor in its
minimum and medium periods; and
c) Upon a fifth or additional conviction, the
culprit shall be sentenced to the penalty
provided for the last crime of which he be
found guilty and to the additional penalty of
prision mayor in its maximum period to
reclusion temporal in its minimum period.
Notwithstanding, the total of the two
penalties to be imposed upon the offender
shall in no case exceed 30 years.24
23
When the offender is a recidivist and at the same time a habitual delinquent, the penalty for the crime
for which he will be convicted will be increased to the maximum period unless offset by a mitigating
circumstance. After determining the correct penalty for the last crime committed, an added penalty will
be imposed in accordance with Article 62.
Habitual delinquency, being a special or specific aggravating circumstance must be alleged in the
information. If it is not alleged in the information and in the course of the trial, the prosecution tried to
prove that the offender is a habitual delinquent over the objection of the accused, the court has no
jurisdiction to consider the offender a habitual delinquent.
24
Art. 62, no. 5.
10
g) Complex Crimes vis Special Complex Crimes25
Special complex crime26
Complex crime
Committed either 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. 27 In both
cases, the penalty for the more serious crime
shall be imposed and is to be applied in its
maximum period. It has two kinds:
compound crime28 and complex crime
proper.29
Made up of more than one crime, but which,
in the eyes of the law, warrants a single
indivisible offense. They are regarded as a
special species of complex crime because
there is one specific penalty imposed.30
Art. 48 is not applicable in case of special complex crimes specially provided for in
the Revised Penal code like Robbery with Homicide or Rape or Arson31 or Rape with
Homicide32 and applies only when no specific penalty is stated in the law.
25
In case the crime committed is a composite crime, the conspirator will be liable for all the acts
committed during the commission of the crime agreed upon. This is because, in the eyes of the law, all
those acts done in pursuance of the crime agreed upon are acts which constitute a single crime.
26
or composite crime
27
Art. 48
28
When a single act constitutes 2 or more grave or less grave felonies
Requisites:
1) that only one single act is committed by the offender
2) that the single act produces
a) 2 or more grave felonies
b) one or more grave and one or more less grave felonies
c) 2 or more less grave felonies
29
When an offense is a necessary means for committing another
Requisites:
1) that at least 2 offenses are committed
2) that one or some of the offenses must be necessary to commit the other
3) that both or all the offenses must be punished under the same statute
30
An example of special complex crime is rape with homicide, when the homicide is consummated;
otherwise they are separate offenses; kidnapping with homicide; robbery with arson.
31
Sec. 9, R.A. 7659 amending par. 1 of Art. 294
32
Sec. 11, id. amending Art. 335.
11
3. Circumstances which Affect Criminal Liability
a) Justifying Circumstances33
The acts of the actor are in accordance with law and hence, he is justified; no
criminal and civil liability because there is no crime.
i) Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 200434
a) Battered woman35 syndrome
A scientifically defined pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms found in
women living in battering relationships as a result of cumulative abuse.36
Characterized by the so- called cycle of violence, which has 3 phases:
1. Tension building phase
2. Acute battering incident
3. Tranquil, loving37 phase38
b) Exempting Circumstances39
There is an absence of voluntariness, and hence, though there is a crime, there is no
criminal liability.
33
See Reference
R.A. 9262
35
A woman who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or psychological behavior by a man in
order to coerce her to do something he wants her to do without concern for her rights.
Includes wives or women in any form of intimate relationship with men.
In order to be classified as a battered woman, the couple must go through the battering cycle at least
twice. Any woman may find herself in an abusive relationship with a man once. If it occurs a second time,
and she remains in the situation, she is defined as a battered woman. (People v.Genosa, G.R. No. 1359
81, Jan. 15, 2004)
36
Sec. 3 (c)
37
or at least non-violent
38
One must undergo 3 phases to establish the pattern of violence. One must pass 2 cycles, each
with 3 phases.
39
See Reference
34
12
i) Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006;40 also refer to Child
and Youth Welfare Code41
1) Definition of “child in conflict with the law”
A child who is alleged as, accused of, or adjudged as, having committed an offense
under Philippine laws.42
2) Minimum age of criminal responsibility
Age Bracket
Criminal Liability
Treatment
15 years old or below
Exempt
The child shall be subjected
to an intervention program
Above 15 but below 18, who
acted without discernment
Exempt
The child shall be subjected to
an intervention program
Not exempt
The child shall be subjected to
the
appropriate
proceedings in accordance
with the Act.
Above 15 but below 18, who a
cted with discernment
The exemption from criminal liability does not include exemption from civil liability,
which shall be enforced in accordance with existing laws.43
3) Determination of age
The age of a child may be determined from the child's:
1. Birth certificate
2. Baptismal certificate
3. Any other pertinent documents
In the absence of these documents, age may be based on information from
the child himself/herself, testimonies of other persons, the physical appearance of the
40
R.A. 9344
P.D. 603, as amended
42
Sec. 4 (e), R.A. 9344.
The child in conflict with the law shall enjoy the presumption of minority. He/she shall enjoy all
the rights of a child in conflict with the law until he/she is proven to be 18 years old or older.
43
Sec. 6, R.A. 9344
41
13
child and other relevant evidence.44 In case of doubt as to the age of the child, it
shall be resolved in his/her favor.
4) Exemption from criminal liability45
c) Mitigating circumstances46
Have the effect of reducing the penalty because there is a diminution of any of the
elements of dolo or culpa, which makes the act voluntary or because of the lesser perversity of
the offender.
d) Aggravating circumstances47
Serve to increase the penalty without exceeding the maximum provided by law
because of the greater perversity of the offender as shown by the motivating power of the
commission of the crime, the time and place of committing the crime and the means
employed or the personal circumstances of the offender.
Generic
Qualifying
Generally applies to all crimes48
Changes the nature of the felony49
Can be offset by an ordinary mitigating
circumstance.
Cannot be offset by any
mitigating circumstances.
It is not an ingredient of a crime. It only
affects the penalty to be imposed but the
crime remains the same.
The circumstance is actually an ingredient of
the crime. The circumstance affects the
nature of the crime itself such that the
offender shall be liable for a more
serious crime.
No need to allege this circumstance in the
information, as long as it is proven during
trial.
To be appreciated as such, must be
specifically alleged in the complaint or
information.
If it is proved during trial, the same is
considered in imposing the penalty.
If not alleged but proven during the trial, it
will be considered only as generic
44
Sec. 7, ibid.
See Minimum age of criminal responsibility, supra
46
See Reference
47
Ibid.
48
like recidivism
49
as treachery in homicide to murder
45
14
aggravating circumstance. If this happens,
they are susceptible of being offset by an
ordinary mitigating circumstance.50
a) Decree Codifying the Laws on Illegal / Unlawful
Possession, Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or
Disposition, of Firearms, Ammunition or Explosives51
as an aggravating circumstance
The use of an unlicensed firearm to commit murder or homicide is an
aggravating circumstance. Hence, illegal possession or use of unlicensed firearm is no longer
punished as a separate offense.52
Although the circumstance that human life was destroyed with the use of an
unlicensed firearm is not aggravating under Art. 14, RPC, it may still be taken into
consideration to increase the penalty because of the explicit provisions of the Presidential
Decree No. 1866, as amended by R.A. 8294.
R.A. 8294 penalizes simple illegal possession of firearms, provided that the person
arrested committed no other crime. Furthermore, if the person is held liable for murder or
homicide, illegal possession of firearms is an aggravating circumstance, but not a separate
offense.53
Under Sec. 3 thereof, when a person commits any of the crimes defined in the
Revised Penal Code or special laws with the use of explosives like pill box, motolov cocktail
bombs, firebombs or other incendiary devices which result in the death of a person, such use
shall be considered as an aggravating circumstance.
50
When there is more than one qualifying aggravating circumstance present, one of them will be
appreciated as qualifying aggravating while the others will be considered as generic aggravating.
51
P.D. 1866, as amended by R.A. 8294
52
If the illegal possession or use of unlicensed firearm or explosives is in furtherance of, or
incident to, or in connection with the crimes of rebellion, insurrection, or subversion shall be
absorbed as an element of such crimes.
Penalty for mere possession of an unlicensed firearm is based on whether the firearm is lowpowered or high-powered.
Unlicensed firearm shall include: firearms with expired license; or unauthorized use of licensed
firearm in the commission of the crime.
53
Hence, where an accused was convicted of direct assault with multiple attempted homicide for firing an
unlicensed M-14 rifle at several policemen who were about to serve a search warrant, he cannot be held
guilty of the separate offense of illegal possession of firearms. (People vs. Ladjaamlam)
15
b) The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 200254
i) As a qualifying aggravating circumstance
A positive finding for the use of dangerous drugs shall be a qualifying aggravating
circumstance in the commission of a crime by an offender, and the application of the penalty
provided for in the Revised Penal Code shall be applicable.55
ii) Immunity from prosecution and punishment,
coverage
Any person who has violated Sections 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 19, Article II of this
Act, who voluntarily gives information about any violation of Sections 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, and
16, Article II of this Act57 as well as any violation of the offenses mentioned if committed by
a drug syndicate, or any information leading to the whereabouts, identities and arrest of all or
any of the members thereof; and who willingly testifies against such persons as described
above, shall be exempted from prosecution or punishment for the offense with reference to
which his/her information of testimony were given, and may plead or prove the giving of
such information and testimony in bar of such prosecution.
56
Conditions:
1) The information and testimony are necessary for the conviction of the persons
described above;
2) Such information and testimony are not yet in the possession of the State;
3) Such information and testimony can be corroborated on its material points;
4) the informant or witness has not been previously convicted of a crime involving
moral turpitude, except when there is no other direct evidence available for the State other
than the information and testimony of said informant or witness; and
5) The informant or witness shall strictly and faithfully comply without delay, any
condition or undertaking, reduced into writing, lawfully imposed by the State as further
consideration for the grant of immunity from prosecution and punishment.
The immunity may be enjoyed by such informant or witness who does not appear to
be most guilty for the offense with reference to which his/her information or testimony
were given and there is no direct evidence available for the State except for the information
and testimony of the said informant or witness.58
54
R.A. 9165
Sec. 25
56
See Reference
57
ibid.
58
Sec. 33
55
16
iii) Minor offenders
An accused who is over fifteen (15) years of age at the time of the commission of the
offense mentioned in Section 1159 of this Act, but not more than eighteen (18) years of age
at the time when judgment should have been promulgated after having been found guilty of
said offense, may be given the benefits of a suspended sentence.
Conditions:
a) He/she has not been previously convicted of violating any provision of this Act,
or of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, as amended; or of the Revised Penal Code; or of
any special penal laws;
b) He/she has not been previously committed to a Center or to the care of a DOHaccredited physician; and
c) The Board favorably recommends that his/her sentence be suspended.
While under suspended sentence, he/she shall be under the supervision and
rehabilitative surveillance of the Board, under such conditions that the court may impose for
a period ranging from six (6) months to eighteen (18) months.
Upon recommendation of the Board, the court may commit the accused under
suspended sentence to a Center, or to the care of a DOH-accredited physician for at least six
(6) months, with after-care and follow-up program for not more than eighteen (18) months.
In the case of minors under fifteen (15) years of age at the time of the commission of
any offense penalized under this Act, Article 19260 of Presidential Decree No. 603,
otherwise known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code, as amended by Presidential Decree
No. 1179 shall apply, without prejudice to the application of the provisions of this Section.61
iv) Application/Non application of RPC provisions
cf. Art. 10,62 RPC
The provisions of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, shall not apply to the
provisions of this Act, except in the case of minor offenders. Where the offender is a minor,
the penalty for acts punishable by life imprisonment to death provided herein shall be
reclusion perpetua to death.63
59
See Reference
Ibid.
61
Sec. 66
62
See Reference
63
Sec. 98
60
17
e) Alternative Circumstances64
Those which must be taken into consideration as aggravating or mitigating according
to the nature and effects of the crime and other conditions attending its commission.
f) Absolutory Cause
A circumstance which is present prior to or simultaneously with the offense, by
reason of which, the accused who acts with criminal intent, freedom, and intelligence, does
not incur criminal liability for an act, which constituted a crime.
It is present "where the act committed is a crime but for reasons of public policy and
sentiment there is no penalty imposed.”65
64
65
See Reference
I Reyes, The Revised Penal Code, 13th ed., 1993, pp. 231-232.
Article 247 is an example of an absolutory cause (see Reference)
18
4. Persons Criminally Liable/Degree of Participation
a) Decree Penalizing Obstruction of Apprehension and Prosecution of
Criminal Offenders66
i) Punishable acts
Any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the
apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by
committing any of the following acts:
(a) preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal proceeding or from reporting
the commission of any offense or the identity of any offender/s by means of bribery,
misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force or threats;
(b) altering, destroying, suppressing or concealing any paper, record, document, or
object, with intent to impair its verity, authenticity, legibility, availability, or admissibility as
evidence in any investigation of or official proceedings in, criminal cases, or to be used in the
investigation of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;
(c) harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has
reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal
laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction;
(d) publicly using a fictitious name for the purpose of concealing a crime, evading
prosecution or the execution of a judgment, or concealing his true name and other personal
circumstances for the same purpose or purposes;
(e) delaying the prosecution of criminal cases by obstructing the service of process or
court orders or disturbing proceedings in the fiscal's offices, in Tanodbayan, or in the courts;
(f) making, presenting or using any record, document, paper or object with
knowledge of its falsity and with intent to affect the course or outcome of the investigation
of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;
(g) soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to accept any benefit in consideration of
abstaining from, discounting, or impeding the prosecution of a criminal offender;
(h) threatening directly or indirectly another with the infliction of any wrong upon
his person, honor or property or that of any immediate member or members of his family in
order to prevent such person from appearing in the investigation of, or official proceedings
in, criminal cases, or imposing a condition, whether lawful or unlawful, in order to prevent a
person from appearing in the investigation of or in official proceedings in, criminal cases;
(i) giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law
enforcement agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the life or
66
P.D. 1829
19
property of the victim; or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence by
investigating authorities for purposes of background information and not for publication
and publishing or disseminating the same to mislead the investigator or to the court.
If any of the acts mentioned herein is penalized by any other law with a higher
penalty, the higher penalty shall be imposed.67
ii) Compare with Article 20,68 RPC
The penalties prescribed for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are
such with respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted
brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees, except accessories
falling within the provisions of paragraph 169 of Article 19, RPC.
67
Sec. 1, id.
Accessories who are exempt from criminal liability
Basis: Ties of blood and the preservation of the cleanliness of one’s name which compels one to conceal
crimes committed by relatives so near as those mentioned.
Nephew and Niece not included
Accessory not exempt when helped a relative-principal by profiting from the effects of the crime, or
assisted the offender to profit from the effects of the crime.
Only accessories covered by par 2 and 3 are exempted.
Public officer who helped his guilty brother escape does not incur criminal liability as ties of blood
constitutes a more powerful incentive than the call of duty.
69
See Reference
68
20
5. Penalties
Penalty is the punishment imposed by lawful authority upon a person who commits
an unlawful, deliberate or negligent act.70
a) General Principles - Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in
the Philippines71
The imposition of death penalty has been prohibited. Pursuant to Section 2 of R.A.
9346, the property penalty to be imposed on appellant is reclusion perpetua. R.A. 9346 should
be applied even if the crime was committed prior to the enactment of the law in view of the
principle in criminal law that favorabilia sunt amplianda adiosa restrigenda. Penal laws which are
favorable to the accused are given retroactive effect.72
b) Purposes
1. Deterrence - to prevent crimes
2. Retribution - to punish them for what they did
3. Rehabilitation - to get them whipped back into shape
4. Safety - to protect the public from dangerous criminals.
70
People vs. Moran, 44 Phil. 431
R.A. 9346
72
PP v. Canuto, G.R. No. 166544, 27 July 2007, 528 SCRA 366, 377.
71
21
c) Classification
Scale
Principal Penalties
Capital punishment:
Death.
Afflictive penalties:
Reclusion perpetua,
Reclusion temporal,
Perpetual or temporary absolute
disqualification,
Perpetual or temporary special
disqualification,
Prision mayor.
Correctional penalties:
Accessory 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,
Prision correccional,
Arresto mayor,
Suspension,
Destierro.
Payment of costs.73
Light penalties:
Arresto menor,
Public censure
Penalties common to the three preceding
classes:
Fine, and
Bond to keep the peace
73
Art. 25
22
d) Duration and Effects
Duration
Reclusion perpetua
Twenty (20) years and one day to forty (40)
years.
Reclusion temporal
Twelve (12) years and one day to twenty (20)
years.
Prision mayor and temporary disqualification
Six (6) years and one day to twelve (12) years,
except when the penalty of disqualification is
imposed as an accessory penalty, in which
case, its duration shall be that of the
principal penalty.
Prision correccional, suspension, and destierro
Six (6) months and one day to six (6) years,
except when suspension is imposed as an
accessory penalty, in which case, its duration
shall be that of the principal penalty.
Arresto mayor
One (1) month and one day to six (6)
months.
Arresto menor
One (1) day to thirty (30) days.
Bond to keep the peace
Required to cover such period of time as the
court may determine.74
74
Art. 27, ibid. as amended by Sec. 21, R. A. 7659.
23
Effects
The penalties of perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification for public office
shall produce the following effects:
1. The deprivation of the public offices and employments which the offender may
have held even if conferred by popular election.
2. The deprivation of the right to vote in any election for any popular elective office
or to be elected to such office.
3. The disqualification for the offices or public employments and for the exercise of
any of the rights mentioned.
In case of temporary disqualification, such disqualification as is comprised in
paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article shall last during the term of the sentence.
75
held.
4. The loss of all rights to retirement pay or other pension for any office formerly
The penalties of perpetual or temporary special disqualification for public office,
profession or calling shall produce the following effects:
1. The deprivation of the office, employment, profession or calling affected;
2. The disqualification for holding similar offices or employments either perpetually
or during the term of the sentence, according to the extent of such disqualification.76
The perpetual or temporary special disqualification for the exercise of the right of
suffrage shall deprive the offender perpetually or during the term of the sentence, according
to the nature of said penalty, of the right to vote in any popular election for any public office
or to be elected to such office. Moreover, the offender shall not be permitted to hold any
public office during the period of his disqualification.77
The suspension from public office, profession or calling, and the exercise of the right
of suffrage shall disqualify the offender from holding such office or exercising such
profession or calling or right of suffrage during the term of the sentence.
The person suspended from holding public office shall not hold another having
similar functions during the period of his suspension.78
Civil interdiction shall deprive the offender during the time of his sentence of the
rights of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the person or property of any ward,
75
Art. 30
Art. 31
77
Art. 32.
78
Art. 33
76
24
of marital authority, of the right to manage his property and of the right to dispose of such
property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos79.
A pardon shall not work the restoration of the right to hold public office, or the
right of suffrage, unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of the pardon80.
A pardon shall in no case exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil indemnity
imposed upon him by the sentence.
Costs shall include fees and indemnities in the course of the judicial proceedings,
whether they be fixed or unalterable amounts previously determined by law or regulations in
force, or amounts not subject to schedule81.
In case the property of the offender should not be sufficient for the payment of all
his pecuniary liabilities, the same shall be met in the following order:82
1. The reparation of the damage caused.
2. Indemnification of consequential damages.
3. The fine.
4. The costs of the proceedings.
If the convict has no property with which to meet the fine mentioned, he shall be
subject to a subsidiary personal liability at the rate of one day for each eight pesos, subject to
the following rules:
1. If the principal penalty imposed be prision correccional or arresto and fine, he shall
remain under confinement until his fine referred in the preceding paragraph is satisfied, but
his subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed one-third of the term of the sentence, and in
no case shall it continue for more than one year, and no fraction or part of a day shall be
counted against the prisoner.
2. When the principal penalty imposed be only a fine, the subsidiary imprisonment
shall not exceed six months, if the culprit shall have been prosecuted for a grave or less
grave felony, and shall not exceed fifteen days, if for a light felony.
3. When the principal penalty imposed is higher than prision correccional no subsidiary
imprisonment shall be imposed upon the culprit.
4. If the principal penalty imposed is not to be executed by confinement in a penal
institution, but such penalty is of fixed duration, the convict, during the period of time
established in the preceding rules, shall continue to suffer the same deprivation as those of
which the principal penalty consists.
79
Art. 34
Art. 36
81
Art. 37
82
Art. 38
80
25
5. The subsidiary personal liability which the convict may have suffered by reason of
his insolvency shall not relieve him from the fine in case his financial circumstances should
improve83
e) Application
i) Indeterminate Sentence Law84
Governs whether the crime is punishable under the Revised Penal Code or a special
Law. It is not limited to violations of the Revised Penal Code.
It applies only when the penalty served is imprisonment. If not by imprisonment,
then it does not apply.
a) Application on the imposed sentence
Courts are required to fix a minimum and a maximum of the sentence that they are
to impose upon an offender when found guilty of the crime charged. So, whenever the
Indeterminate Sentence Law is applicable, there is always a minimum and maximum of the
sentence that the convict shall serve. If the crime is punished by the Revised Penal Code,
the law provides that the maximum shall be arrived at by considering the mitigating and
aggravating circumstances in the commission of the crime according to the proper rules of
the Revised Penal Code. To fix the maximum, consider the mitigating and aggravating
circumstances according to the rules found in Article 64.85
b) Coverage
It applies to
1. Crimes punished by the Revised Penal Code
2. Special Laws86
83
Art. 39, as amended by R.A. 5465, April 21, 1969.
R.A. 4103, as amended.
ISL should not be applied when it is unfavorable to the accused.
ISL does not apply to non-divisible penalties.
Rule under Art 64 shall apply in determining the maximum but not in determining the minimum.
85
This means –
1. Penalties prescribed by the law for the crime committed shall be imposed in the medium period if no
mitigating or aggravating circumstance;
2. If there is aggravating circumstance, no mitigating, penalty shall be imposed in the maximum;
3. If there is mitigating circumstance, no aggravating, penalty shall be in the minimum;
4. If there are several mitigating and aggravating circumstances, they shall offset against each other.
Whatever remains, apply the rules.
5. If there are two or more mitigating circumstance and no aggravating circumstance, penalty next
lower in degree shall be the one imposed.
86
The Indeterminate Sentence Law shall not apply to:
1. Persons convicted of offense punishable with death penalty or life imprisonment;
84
26
c) Conditions of parole
The prisoner could be released on parole after serving the minimum sentence and
could be re-arrested to serve the maximum.
ii) Three-fold Rule
The maximum duration of the convict’s sentence shall not be more than three (3)
times the length of time corresponding to the most severe of the penalties imposed upon
him and shall not exceed forty (40) years. No other penalty shall be inflicted after the sum of
those imposed equals the said maximum period.87 The “most severe penalties” include equal
penalties. However, the 3-fold rule applies only when the convict has to serve at least 4
sentences.88
iii) Subsidiary Imprisonment
It is imposed when the person has no property with which to meet the fine
mentioned in Article 38, par. 3 at the rate of one day for each P8.00.89
However, in order that subsidiary imprisonment may be enforced, it must be
expressly stated in the judgment that in case of failure to pay the fine, the accused must
suffer subsidiary imprisonment. In absence of such express statement, the subsidiary
imprisonment cannot be imposed. The reason is because subsidiary imprisonment is a
substitute principal penalty, not an accessory penalty.90
It is the personal penalty prescribed by law in substitution of the payment of fine
embodied in the decision when the same cannot be satisfied because of the culprit’s
insolvency.91
2. Persons convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason;
3. Persons convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition, espionage;
4. Persons convicted of piracy;
5. Persons who are habitual delinquents;
6. Persons who shall have escaped from confinement or evaded sentence;
7. Those who have been granted conditional pardon by the Chief Executive and shall have violated the
term thereto;
8. Those whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed one (1) year, but not to those
already sentenced by final judgment at the time of the approval of Indeterminate Sentence Law.
9. Those sentenced to destiero or suspension (this are not punishable by imprisonment)
87
pars. 4 and 5, Art. 70
88
It should be noted however, that the duration of the convict’s sentence refers to several penalties for
different offenses, not yet served.
89
Art. 39
90
Ramos v. Gonong, 72 SCRA 59
91
People vs. Jarumayan, 52 O.G. 248
There is no subsidiary penalty if:
a. The principal penalty is higher than prision correccional;
b. It is not of fixed duration;
27
f) Execution and Service
i) Probation Law92
a) Definition of terms
Probation
A disposition under which a defendant, after
conviction and sentence, is released subject
to conditions imposed by the court and to
the supervision of a probation officer.
Probationer
A person placed on probation.
Probation Officer
One who investigates for the court a referral
for probation or supervises a probationer or
both.93
b) Purpose
To establish a more enlightened and humane correctional systems that will promote
the reformation of offenders and thereby reduce the incidence of recidivism.94
c) Grant of probation, manner and conditions
The court may, after it shall have convicted and sentenced a defendant and upon
application at any time of said defendant, suspend the execution of said sentence and place
the defendant on probation for such period and upon such terms and conditions as it may
deem best.
Probation may be granted whether the sentence imposes a term of imprisonment or
a fine only. An application for probation shall be filed with the trial court, with notice to the
appellate court if an appeal has been taken from the sentence of conviction. The filing of the
application shall be deemed a waiver of the right to appeal, or the automatic withdrawal of a
pending appeal.
An order granting or denying probation shall not be appealable.95
c. The subsidiary penalty, though properly imposable is not expressly stated in the judgment;
d. The penalty is not FIDS (Fine; Imprisonment and fine; destierro and fine; suspension and fine); or
e. The penalty does not include fine
92
P.D. 968, as amended
93
Sec. 3
94
WHEREAS clause
95
Sec. 4.
28
The probation law imposes two kinds of conditions
Mandatory conditions
Discretionary conditions:
1) The convict must report to the Probation
Officer (PO) designated in the court order
approving his application for Probation within
72 hours from receipt of Notice of such order
approving his application; and
The trial court, which approved the
application for probation, may impose
any condition which may be constructive
to the correction of the offender,
provided the same would not violate the
constitutional rights of the offender and
2) The convict, as a probationer, must report subject to this two (2) restrictions:
to the PO at least once a month during the
period of probation unless sooner required by (1) the conditions imposed should not be
the PO.
unduly restrictive of the probationer; and
These conditions being mandatory, the (2) such condition should not be
moment any of these is violate, the probation is incompatible with the freedom of
cancelled.
conscience of the probationer.
d) Criteria of placing an offender on probation
The court shall consider all information relative to the character, antecedents,
environment, mental and physical condition of the offender, and available institutional and
community resources. Probation shall be denied if the court finds that:
a) the offender is in need of correctional treatment that can be provided most
effectively by his commitment to an institution; or
b) there is undue risk that during the period of probation the offender will commit
another crime; or
c) probation will depreciate the seriousness of the offense committed.
e) Disqualified offenders
Those:
a) sentenced to serve a maximum term of imprisonment of more than six (6) years;
b) convicted of any offense against the security of the State;
c) who have previously been convicted by final judgment of an offense punished by
imprisonment of not less than one month and one day and/or a fine of not less than Two
Hundred Pesos;
d) who have been once on probation under the provisions of this Decree; and
29
e) who are already serving sentence at the time the substantive provisions of this
Decree became applicable.96
f) Period of probation
a) Sentenced to a term of imprisonment of Not to exceed two (2) years.
not more than one (1) year
In all other cases, said period shall not
exceed six (6) years.
b) Sentence imposes a fine only and the Not less than nor more than twice the total
of
days
of
subsidiary
offender is made to serve subsidiary number
97
imprisonment.
imprisonment in case of insolvency.
g) Arrest of probationer
At any time during probation, the court may issue a warrant for the arrest of a
probationer for violation of any of the conditions of probation. The probationer, once
arrested and detained, shall immediately be brought before the court for a hearing, which
may be informal and summary, of the violation charged. The defendant may be admitted to
bail pending such hearing. In such a case, the provisions regarding release on bail of persons
charged with a crime shall be applicable to probationers arrested under this provision. If the
violation is established, the court may revoke or continue his probation and modify the
conditions thereof. If revoked, the court shall order the probationer to serve the sentence
originally imposed. An order revoking the grant of probation or modifying the terms and
conditions thereof shall not be appealable.98
h) Termination of probation; exceptions
After the period of probation and upon consideration of the report and
recommendation of the probation officer, the court may order the final discharge of the
probationer upon finding that he has fulfilled the terms and conditions of his probation and
thereupon the case is deemed terminated.
The final discharge of the probationer shall operate to restore to him all civil rights
lost or suspend as a result of his conviction and to fully discharge his liability for any fine
imposed as to the offense for which probation was granted.
96
Sec. 9.
computed at the rate established in Art. 39 of the Revised Penal Code (Sec. 14)
98
Sec. 15.
97
30
The probationer and the probation officer shall each be furnished with a copy of
such order.99
i) The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of
2002100
Any person convicted for drug trafficking or pushing under this Act, regardless of
the penalty imposed by the Court, cannot avail of the privilege granted by the Probation Law
or Presidential Decree No. 968, as amended.101
ii) Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006;102 also
refer to Child and Youth Welfare Code103
a) Definition of child in conflict with the
law104
b) Exemption from criminal liability105
c) Juvenile justice and welfare system
A system dealing with children at risk and children in conflict with the law, which
provides child-appropriate proceedings, including programs and services for prevention,
diversion, rehabilitation, re-integration and aftercare to ensure their normal growth and
development.
g) Distinguished from preventive imprisonment
Preventive imprisonment is the incarceration undergone by a person accused of a
crime which is not bailable, or even if bailable, cannot afford to post the bond. During the
trial of his case, he is detained in jail. He is known as detention prisoner.106
99
Sec. 16
R.A. 9165
101
Sec. 24, id.
102
R.A. 9344
103
P.D. 603, as amended
104
supra
105
ibid.
106
Art. 29 of the RPC (period of preventive imprisonment deducted from term of imprisonment) is
applicable to both divisible and indivisible penalties because said article did not make any distinctions.
100
31
6. Modification and Extinction of Criminal Liability
a) Prescription of crimes
It is the forfeiture or loss of the right of the State to prosecute the offender or file
criminal action after the lapse of a certain period of time.107
The period of prescription shall commence to run from the day of discovery of the
crime by the offended party, the authorities or their agents.108
The period shall be interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information, and
shall commence to run again when such proceedings terminate without the accused being
convicted or acquitted, or are unjustifiably stopped from any reason not imputable to him.109
Crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua or Twenty (20) years.
reclusion temporal
Crimes punishable by other afflictive penalties
Fifteen (15) years.
Correctional penalty
Ten (10) years.110
Libel or other similar offenses
One (1) year.
Oral defamation and slander by deed
Six (6) months
Light offenses
Two (2) months
107
See Reyes, Revised Penal Code, Book I
Art. 91
109
Ibid.
110
Except those punishable by arresto mayor - five (5) years
108
32
b) Prescription of penalties
The loss or forfeiture of the right of the State to execute the final sentence of
conviction after the lapse of a certain period of time. The penalty, to be subject of
prescription, must have been imposed by final judgment.
Death and reclusion perpetua
Twenty (20) years
Other afflictive penalties
Fifteen (15) years
Correctional penalties
Ten (10) years.111
Light penalties
One (1) year. 112
c) Pardon113 by offended party
Only extinguishes civil liability. However, in cases of adultery, concubinage, rape,
acts of lasciviousness, seduction or abduction when granted before the institution of the
criminal action also extinguishes criminal liability.114
Under R.A. 8353, in the crime of rape, if it is the husband who is the offender, the
subsequent forgiveness by the wife shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty except
when the marriage is void ab initio.115
d) Pardon by the Chief Executive
Extinguishes criminal liability of the offender. It cannot include civil liability which
the offender must pay. It is granted only after conviction and may be extended to any of the
offenders.
e) Amnesty
A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of persons, usually for a
political offense; the act of sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons
who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted.116
111
Except the penalty of arresto mayor – five (5) years.
Art. 92
113
An act of grace which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment which the
law inflicts for the crime he has committed (De Leon vs. Dir. Of Prisons, 31 Phil 60).
114
Art. 344
115
Sec. 2
112
33
Needs concurrence of congress. It looks backward and abolishes and puts into
oblivion the offense itself; it so overlooks and obliterates the offense with which he is
charged that the person released by amnesty stands before the law precisely as though he
had committed no offense.117 Thus, Art. 89 says “xxx by amnesty which completely
extinguishes the penalty and all its effects.”
116
117
Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th Ed.
Barroquinto, et al. Fernandez, et al., 82 Phil. 642
34
Book II
1. Crimes Against National Security
Crimes
Elements
Treason118
a. The offender owes allegiance to the
Government of the Philippines
b. There is a war in which the
Philippines is involved.
c. The offender either –
1. levies war against the govt.119 or
118
Art. 114
Treason: breach of allegiance to the government, committed by a person who owes allegiance to it.
Evident premeditation, superior strength and treachery are circumstances inherent in treason, and are,
therefore, not aggravating.
Treason cannot be committed in times of peace, only in times of war – actual hostilities. But no need
for declaration of war
Levying of war: a) that there be an actual assembling of men; b) for the purpose of executing a
treasonable design by force (deliver the country in whole or in part to the enemy)
Treason cannot be proved by circumstantial evidence or by extra-judicial confession of the accused
Actual hostilities may determine the date of the commencement of war.
No such thing as attempted treason; mere attempt consummates the crime
Giving aid or comfort – material element, enhances forces of the enemy country. Acts which
strengthen or tend to strengthen the enemy in the conduct of war against the traitor’s country or that
which weaken and tend to weaken the power of the same.
Adherence and giving aid or comfort must concur together. But membership in the police force during
the occupation is not treason.
Adherence may be proved by: (1) one witness; (2) from the nature of the act itself; (3) from the
circumstances surrounding the act.
Treason is a continuing crime. Even after the war, offender can be prosecuted.
When killings and other common crimes are charged as overt act of treason, they cannot be regarded
as (1) separate crimes or (2) as complex with treason.
On Citizenship:
a. Filipino citizens can commit treason outside the Philippines. But that of an alien must be
committed in the Philippines.
b. Only Filipino citizens or permanent resident aliens can be held liable
c. Alien: with permanent resident status from the BID – it is neither the length of stay in the
Philippines nor the marriage with a Filipino that matters.
Ways of proving treason:
a. 2 witnesses testifying to same overt act.
Example: X saw arms landed in La Union and loaded into a motor vehicle. At this stage, not
sufficient to convict yet. Y later saw the arms unloaded in a warehouse. Will X + Y be sufficient witnesses
to convict? Answer: No. Because the law requires that 2 witnesses see the same overt act.
b. Confession of the accused in open court.
35
2. adheres to the enemies, giving
them aid and comfort120
Conspiracy to commit treason121
a. In times of war
b. 2 or more persons come to an
agreement to
1. levy war against the govt. or
2. adhere to the enemies and to give
them aid or comfort,
c.
Proposal to commit treason
They decide to commit it.
a. In times of war
b. A person who has decided to levy war
against the government, or to adhere to
the enemies and to give them aid or
comfort, proposes its execution to some
other person/s.
If he has pleaded not guilty already during arraignment, he can still confess in open court by stating the
particular acts constituting treason.
During trial, simply saying “I’m guilty” is not enough.
Withdrawing plea of “not guilty” during arraignment not necessary
If during arraignment he pleads guilty, court will ask if the accused understands is plea. Submission of
affidavit during trial, even if assisted by counsel is not enough.
119
1.breach of allegiance
2.actual assembling of men
3.for the purpose of executing a reasonable design
120
1. breach of allegiance
2.adherence
3. giving aid or comfort to the enemy
121
Art. 115.
Mere agreement and decisions to commit treason is punishable
Mere proposal even without acceptance is punishable too. If the other accepts, it is already conspiracy
36
Misprision of treason122
a. The offender must be owing allegiance
to the government, and not a foreigner
b. He has knowledge of any conspiracy
(to commit treason) against the
government
c. He conceals or does not disclose and
make known the same as soon as
possible to the governor or fiscal of the
province or the mayor or fiscal of the
city in which he resides.
Espionage123
a. Entering, without authority therefor,
warship, fort, or naval or military
establishments or reservation to obtain
any information, plans, photographs or
other data of a confidential nature
relative to the defense of the Philippines.
b. Disclosing to the representative of a
foreign nation the contents of the
articles, data, or information mentioned,
which he had in his possession by reason
of the public office holds.124
122
Art. 116
Offender is punished as an accessory to the crime of treason
This crime does not apply if the crime of treason is already committed
Crime of omission
“To report within a reasonable time” – depends on time, place and circumstance – the RPC did not fix
time.
RPC states 4 individuals, what if you report to some other high-ranking government official? Ex. PNP
Director? Judge Pimentel says any gov’t official of the DILG is OK.
123
Art. 117
Espionage: the offense of gathering, transmitting, or losing information respecting the national defense
with the intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the Philippines or
the advantage of any foreign nation. It is not conditioned on citizenship.
124
Purpose: to gather data
Not necessary that Philippines is at war with the country to which the information was revealed. What
is important is that the information related is connected with the defense system of the Philippines.
Wiretapping is NOT espionage if the purpose is not something connected with the defense
37
Inciting to war or giving motives for a. The offender performs unlawful or
reprisals125
unauthorized acts
b. Such acts provoke or give occasion
for a war involving or liable to involve
the Philippines or expose Filipino
citizens to reprisals on their persons or
property
Violation of neutrality126
a. There is war in which the Philippines
is not involved
b. There is a regulation issued by
competent authority for the purpose of
enforcing neutrality
c. The offender violates such regulation.
Correspondence with hostile country127
a. In times of war in which the
Philippines is involved
b. The offender makes correspondence
with an enemy country or territory
125
Art. 118
Crime is committed in time of peace, intent is immaterial
Inciting to war – offender is any person
Reprisals is not limited to military action, it could be economic reprisals, or denial of entry into their
country. Example. X burns Chinese flag. If China bans the entry of Filipinos into China, that is already
reprisal.
126
Art. 119
Gov’t must have declared the neutrality of the Phil in a war between 2 other countries
It is neutrality of the Phil that is violated
Congress has the right to declare neutrality
127
Art. 120
Circumstances qualifying the offense:
a. notice or information might be useful to the enemy
b. offender intended to aid the enemy
Hostile country exist only during hostilities or after the declaration of war
Correspondence to enemy country – correspondence to officials of enemy country – even if related to
you.
It is not correspondence with private individual in enemy country
If ciphers were used, no need for prohibition
If ciphers were not used, there is a need for prohibition
In any case, it must be correspondence with the enemy country
Doesn’t matter if correspondence contains innocent matters – if prohibited, punishable
38
occupied by enemy troops
c. The correspondence is either –
1. prohibited by the govt., or
carried on in ciphers or conventional
signs, or
2. containing notice or information
which might be useful to the enemy
Flight to enemy’s country128
a. There is a war in which the Philippines
is involved
b. The offender129 must be owing
allegiance to the government
c. The offender attempts to flee or go to
enemy country
d. Which is prohibited by competent
authority
128
Art. 121
Mere attempt consummates the crime
There must be a prohibition. If none, even if went to enemy country – no violation
Alien resident may be guilty here.
129
Filipino or resident alien
39
Piracy130
a. A vessel is on
seas131/Philippine waters
the
high
b. The offenders are not members of its
complement or passengers of the vessel
c. The offenders –
1. attack or seize that vessel132 or
2. seize the whole or part of the
cargo of said vessel, its equipment or
personal belongings of its complement
or passengers
Qualified piracy133
a. Offenders seized a vessel by boarding
or firing upon the same
b. They have abandoned their victims
without means of saving themselves
c. The crime is accompanied by murder,
homicide, physical injuries, or rape.134
130
Art. 122
Two (2) Ways of Committing Piracy:
a. By attacking or seizing a vessel on the high seas or in the Philippine waters (P.D. 532)
b. By seizing the whole or part of the cargo of said vehicles, its equipment or personal belongings of
its complement or passengers
Piracy in high seas – jurisdiction is with any court where offenders are found or arrested
Piracy in internal waters – jurisdiction is only with Philippine courts
For purpose of Anti-Fencing Law, piracy is part of robbery and theft
131
Any waters on the sea coast which are without the boundaries of the low water mark although such
waters may be in the jurisdictional limits of a foreign gov’t
132
if committed by crew or passengers, the crime is not piracy but robbery in the high seas
133
Art. 123
Parricide/infanticide should be included (Judge Pimentel)
Murder/rape/homicide/physical injuries must have been committed on the passengers or
complement
134
The above may result to qualified mutiny
40
a) Anti-Piracy and Anti- Highway Robbery135
i) Definition of terms
Philippine Waters
All bodies of water, such as but not limited
to, seas, gulfs, bays around, between and
connecting each of the Islands of the
Philippine Archipelago, irrespective of its
depth, breadth, length or dimension, and all
other waters belonging to the Philippines by
historic or legal title, including territorial sea,
the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and other
submarine areas over which the Philippines
has sovereignty or jurisdiction.
Vessel
Any vessel or watercraft used for transport
of passengers and cargo from one place to
another through Philippine Waters. It shall
include all kinds and types of vessels or boats
used in fishing.
Philippine Highway
Any road, street, passage, highway and
bridges or other parts thereof, or railway or
railroad within the Philippines used by
persons, or vehicles, or locomotives or trains
for the movement or circulation of persons
or transportation of goods, articles, or
property or both.
Piracy
Any attack upon or seizure of any vessel, or
the taking away of the whole or part thereof
or its cargo, equipment, or the personal
belongings of its complement or passengers,
irrespective of the value thereof, by means of
violence against or intimidation of persons
or force upon things, committed by any
person, including a passenger or member of
the complement of said vessel, in Philippine
waters. The offenders shall be considered as
pirates.
135
P.D. 532
41
Highway Robbery/Brigandage
The seizure of any person for ransom,
extortion or other unlawful purposes, or the
taking away of the property of another by
means of violence against or intimidation of
person or force upon things of other
unlawful means, committed by any person
on any Philippine Highway.
ii) Punishable acts
a. Piracy136
b. Highway Robbery/Brigandage137
c. Aiding pirates or highway robbers/brigands or abetting piracy or highway
robbery/brigandage.138
b) Anti-Hijacking Law139
i) Punishable acts140
a. Any person who compels a change in the course or destination of an aircraft of
Philippine registry, or to seize up or usurp the control thereof, while it is in flight141.
b. Any person who compels an aircraft of foreign registry to land in Philippine
territory or to seize or usurp the control thereof while it is within the said territory.
136
The penalty is reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum periods. If physical injuries or other
crimes are committed as a result or on the occasion thereof, the penalty is reclusion perpetua. If rape,
murder or homicide is committed as a result or on the occasion of piracy, or when the offenders
abandoned the victims without means of saving themselves, or when the seizure is accomplished by firing
upon or boarding a vessel, the mandatory penalty is death.
137
The penalty is reclusion temporal in its minimum period. If physical injuries or other crimes are
committed during or on the occasion of the commission of robbery or brigandage, the penalty is reclusion
temporal in its medium and maximum periods. If kidnapping for ransom or extortion, or murder or
homicide, or rape is committed as a result or on the occasion thereof, the penalty is death (Sec. 3)
138
Any person who knowingly and in any manner aids or protects pirates or highway robbers/brigands,
such as giving them information about the movement of police or other peace officers of the government,
or acquires or receives property taken by such pirates or brigands or in any manner derives any benefit
therefrom; or any person who directly or indirectly abets the commission of piracy or highway robbery or
brigandage, shall be considered as an accomplice of the principal offenders and be punished in
accordance with the Rules prescribed by the Revised Penal Code.
It shall be presumed that any person who does any of the acts provided in this Section has performed
knowingly, unless the contrary is proven (Sec. 4)
139
P.D. 6235
140
Sec. 1
141
An aircraft is in flight from the moment all its external doors are closed following embarkation until any
of such doors is opened for disembarkation.
42
c) Human Security Act of 2007142
i) Punishable acts of terrorism
Any person who commits an act punishable under any of the following provisions of
the Revised Penal Code:
a. Piracy in General and Mutiny in the High Seas or in the Philippine Waters143
b. Rebellion or Insurrection144
c. Coup d' Etat,145 including acts committed by private persons
d. Murder146
e. Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention147
f. Crimes Involving Destruction,148 or under
1. The Law on Arson149
1990150
2. Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of
3. Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968151
4. Anti-Hijacking Law152
5. Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of 1974;153 and,
6. Decree Codifying the Laws on Illegal and Unlawful Possession,
Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or Disposition of Firearms,
Ammunitions or Explosives.154
142
R.A. 9372
Art. 122
144
Art. 134
145
Art. 134-a
146
Art. 248
147
Art. 267
148
Art. 324
149
P. D. No. 1613
150
R. A. No. 6969
151
R. A. No. 5207
152
R. A. No. 6235
153
P. D. No. 532
154
P. D. No. 1866, as amended
143
43
thereby sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic
among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand
shall be guilty of the crime of terrorism.155
ii) Who are liable
1. Persons who conspire to commit the crime of terrorism.156
2. Any person who, not being a principal157 or a conspirator,158 cooperates in the
execution of either the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism by previous or
simultaneous acts.159
3. Any person who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime of terrorism
or conspiracy to commit terrorism, and without having participated therein, either as
principal or accomplice,160 takes part subsequent to its commission in any of the following
manner:
crime;
(a) by profiting himself or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the
(b) by concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects, or
instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery;
(c) by harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal or
conspirator of the crime.161
155
The penalty is forty (40) years of imprisonment, without the benefit of parole as provided for under Act
No. 4103, otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended (Sec. 3)
156
Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism
There is conspiracy when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of
the crime of terrorism as defined in Section 3 hereof and decide to commit the same (Sec. 4)
The penalty is forty (40) years of imprisonment.
157
under Art. 17 of the Revised Penal Code
158
as defined in Section 4 thereof
159
Accomplice (Sec.. 5)
The penalty is from seventeen (17) years, four (4) months one day to twenty (20) years of
imprisonment.
160
under Arts. 17 and 18 of the Revised Penal Code (See Reference)
161
Accessory
44
2. Crimes Against the Fundamental Laws of the State
Crimes
Arbitrary detention162
Elements
a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He detains a person163
c. The detention was without legal grounds
162
Art. 124
Classes of Arbitrary Detention:
a. By detaining a person without legal ground
b. Delay in the delivery of detained persons to the proper judicial authorities
Detention: when a person is placed in confinement or there is a restraint on his person.
Though the elements specify that the offender be a public officer or employee, private individuals who
conspire with public officers can also be liable.
Legal grounds for the detention of any person:
a. commission of a crime
b. violent insanity or other ailment requiring compulsory confinement of the patient in a hospital
Without legal grounds:
a. he has not committed any crime or no reasonable ground of suspicion that he has committed a
crime
b. not suffering from violent insanity or any other ailment requiring compulsory confinement in a
hospital
Grounds for warrantless arrest:
a. Crime is about to be, is being, has been committed
b. Officer must have reasonable knowledge that the person probably committed the crime
For escaped prisoner – no need for warrant
163
actual restraint
45
Delay in the delivery of detained a. Offender is a public officer or employee
persons164
b. He has detained a person for some legal ground
c. He fails to deliver such person to the proper
judicial authority within:
1. 12 hours, if detained for crimes/offenses
punishable by light penalties, or their equivalent
2. 18 hours, for crimes/offenses punishable
by correctional penalties, or their equivalent or
3. 36 hours, for crimes/offenses punishable
by capital punishment or
afflictive penalties, or their equivalent
Delaying release165
a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. There is a judicial or executive order for the
release of a prisoner or detention prisoner, or that
there is a proceeding upon a petition for the
liberation of such person
c. Offender without good reason delays:
1. the service of the notice of such order to the
164
Art. 125
Detention is legal in the beginning, but illegality starts from the expiration of the specified periods
without the persons detained having been delivered to the proper judicial authority.
Really means delay in filing necessary information or charging of person detained in court. May be
waived if a preliminary investigation is asked for.
Does not contemplate actual physical delivery but at least there must be a complaint filed. Duty
complied with upon the filing of the complaint with the judicial authority (courts, prosecutors – though
technically not a judicial authority, for purposes of this article, he’s considered as one.)
The filing of the information in court does not cure illegality of detention. Neither does it affect the
legality of the confinement under process issued by the court.
To escape from this, officers usually ask accused to execute a waiver which should be under oath and
with assistance of counsel. Such waiver is not violative of the accused’s constitutional right.
What is length of waiver? Light offense – 5 days. Serious and less serious offenses – 7 to 10 days. (Judge
Pimentel)
Article does not apply when arrest is via a warrant of arrest
If offender is a private person, crime is illegal detention
165
Art.126
Wardens and jailers are the persons most likely to violate this provision
Provision does not include legislation
46
prisoner, or
2. the performance of such judicial or executive
order for the release of the prisoner, or
3. the proceedings upon a petition for the
release of such person
Expulsion166
a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He expels any person from the Philippines, or
compels a person to change his residence
c. He is not authorized to do so by law
Violation of domicile167
a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He is not authorized by judicial order to enter
the dwelling and/or to make a search therein for
papers or other effects
c. He commits any of the following acts:
166
Art. 127
2 acts punishable:
a. by expelling a person from the Philippines
b. by compelling a person to change his residence
The crime of expulsion absorbs that of grave coercion. If done by a private person, will amount to
grave coercion.
Does not include undesirable aliens; destierro; or when sent to prison
If X (Filipino) after he voluntarily left, is refused re-entry – is considered forcing him to change his
address here
Threat to national security is not a ground to expel or change his address.
167
Art. 128
If the offender who enters the dwelling against the will of the owner thereof is a private individual, the
crime committed is trespass to dwelling (Art 280)
When a public officer searched a person “outside his dwelling” without a search warrant and such
person is not legally arrested for an offense, the crime committed by the public officer is grave coercion, if
violence or intimidation is used (Art 286), or unjust vexation, if there is no violence or intimidation (Art
287)
A public officer without a search warrant cannot lawfully enter the dwelling against the will of the
owner, even if he knew that someone in that dwelling is having unlawful possession of opium
“Being authorized by law” – means with search warrant, save himself or do some things good for
humanity
There must be expression that entry is denied or that he is asked to leave
Papers and effects need not be part of a crime.
47
1. entering any dwelling against the will of the
owner thereof;
2. searching papers or other effects found
therein without the previous consent of such
owner;
3. refusing to leave the premises, after having
surreptitiously entered said dwelling and after
having been required to leave the same;
Search
warrants
obtained
maliciously a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He procures a search warrant
and
c. There is no just cause
a. Offender is a public officer or employee
Abuse in the service of those
legally obtained168
b. He has legally procured a search warrant
c. He exceeds his authority or uses unnecessary
severity in executing the same
168
Article 129
Abuse in the service of warrant or exceeding authority or using unnecessary severity in executing a
search warrant legally procured
Search warrant is valid for 10 days from its date
Search warrant is an order in writing issued in the name of the People, signed by the judge and
directed to a public officer, commanding him to search for personal property described therein and bring
it before the court
No just cause – warrant is unjustified
Search – limited to what is described in the warrant, all details must be with particularity
Malicious warrant. Example. X was a respondent of a search warrant for illegal possession of firearms.
A return was made. The gun did not belong to X and the witness had no personal knowledge that there is
a gun in that place.
Abuse. Examples:
a. X owner was handcuffed while search was going-on.
b. Tank was used to ram gate prior to announcement that a search will be made
c. Persons who were not respondents were searched
48
Searching
witnesses169
domicile
without a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He is armed with a search warrant legally
procured
c. He searches the domicile, papers or other
belongings of any person
d. The owner, or any member of his family, or two
witnesses residing in the same locality are not
present
Prohibition, interruption, and
dissolution of peaceful
meetings170
a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He performs any of the ff. acts:
1. prohibiting or interrupting, without legal
ground the holding of a peaceful meeting, or
dissolving the same171
2. hindering any person from joining any
lawful association or from attending any of its
169
Article 130
Order of those who must witness the search:
a. Homeowner
b. Members of the family of sufficient age and discretion
c. Responsible members of the community (can’t be influenced by the searching party)
Validity of the search warrant can be questioned only in 2 courts: where issued or where the case is
pending. Latter is preferred for objective determination.
170
Article 131
Prohibiting or hindering any person from addressing, either alone or together with others, any petition
to the authorities for the correction of abuses or redress of grievances
If the offender is a private individual, the crime is disturbance of public order (Art 153)
Meeting must be peaceful and there is no legal ground for prohibiting, dissolving or interrupting that
meeting
Meeting is subject to regulation
Offender must be a stranger, not a participant, in the peaceful meeting; otherwise, it’s unjust vexation
Interrupting and dissolving a meeting of the municipal council by a public officer is a crime against the
legislative body, not punishable under this article
The person talking on a prohibited subject at a public meeting contrary to agreement that no speaker
should touch on politics may be stopped
But stopping the speaker who was attacking certain churches in public meeting is a violation of this
article
Prohibition must be without lawful cause or without lawful authority
Those holding peaceful meetings must comply with local ordinances. Example: Ordinance requires
permits for meetings in public places. But if police stops a meeting in a private place because there’s no
permit, officer is liable for stopping the meeting.
171
e.g. denial of permit in arbitrary manner
49
meetings
Interruption
worship172
of
religious a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. Religious ceremonies or manifestations of any
religion are about to take place or are going on
c. He prevents or disturbs the same
Offending religious feelings173
a. The acts complained of were performed –
1. in a place devoted to religious feelings,174 or
2. during the celebration of any religious
ceremony
b. The acts must be notoriously offensive to the
feelings of the faithful175
c. Offender is any person
d. There is a deliberate intent to hurt the feelings of
the faithful, directed against religious tenet.
172
Art. 132
Circumstance qualifying the offense: if committed with violence or threats
Reading of Bible and then attacking certain churches in a public plaza is not a ceremony or
manifestation of religion, but only a meeting of a religious sect. But if done in a private home, it’s a
religious service
Religious Worship: people in the act of performing religious rites for a religious ceremony; a
manifestation of religion. Ex. Mass, baptism, marriage
X, a private person, boxed a priest while the priest was giving homily and while the latter was
maligning a relative of X. Is X liable? X may be liable under Art. 133 because X is a private person.
When priest is solemnizing marriage, he is a person in authority, although in other cases, he’s not.
173
Art. 133
If in a place devoted to religious purpose, there is no need for an ongoing religious ceremony
Example of religious ceremony (acts performed outside the church). Processions and special prayers
for burying dead persons but not prayer rallies
Acts must be directed against religious practice or dogma or ritual for the purpose of ridicule, as
mocking or scoffing or attempting to damage an object of religious veneration
There must be deliberate intent to hurt the feelings of the faithful, mere arrogance or rudeness is not
enough
174
for this element, no need of religious ceremony, only the place is material
175
deliberate intent to hurt the feelings
50
Crime
Nature of Crime
Who are Liable
If Element Missing
Prohibition,
Crime against the Public officers, If not by public officer =
Interruption and fundamental law of Outsiders
tumults
Dissolution
of the state
Peaceful Meeting
Interruption
Religious
Worship
Crime against the Public officers, If by insider = unjust
of fundamental law of Outsiders
vexation
the state
If not religious = tumult or
alarms
If not notoriously offensive
= unjust vexation
Offending
the Crime against public Public officers, If not tumults = alarms
Religious Feeling order
private persons, and scandal
outsiders
If meeting illegal at onset =
inciting to sedition or
rebellion
a. Human Security Act of 2007176
(1) Period of detention
The provisions of Article 125177 of the Revised Penal Code to the contrary
notwithstanding, any police or law enforcement personnel, who, having been duly
authorized in writing by the Anti-Terrorism Council has taken custody of a person charged
with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism
shall, without incurring any criminal liability for delay in the delivery of detained persons to
the proper judicial authorities, deliver said charged or suspected person to the proper judicial
authority within a period of three (3) days counted from the moment the said charged or
suspected person has been apprehended or arrested, detained, and taken into custody by the
said police, or law enforcement personnel. The arrest of those suspected of the crime of
terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism must result from the surveillance under Section
7178 and examination of bank deposits under Section 27179 of this Act.
The police or law enforcement personnel concerned shall, before detaining the
person suspected of the crime of terrorism, present him or her before any judge at the
latter's residence or office nearest the place where the arrest took place at any time of the day
176
R.A. 9372
See Reference
178
Ibid.
179
Ibid.
177
51
or night. It shall be the duty of the judge, among other things, to ascertain the identity of the
police or law enforcement personnel and the person or persons they have arrested and
presented before him or her, to inquire of them the reasons why they have arrested the
person and determine by questioning and personal observation whether or not the suspect
has been subjected to any physical, moral or psychological torture by whom and why. The
judge shall then submit a written report of what he/she had observed when the subject was
brought before him to the proper court that has jurisdiction over the case of the person thus
arrested. The judge shall forthwith submit his/her report within three calendar days from the
time the suspect was brought to his/her residence or office.
Immediately after taking custody of a person charged with or suspected of the crime
of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism, the police or law enforcement personnel
shall notify in writing the judge of the court nearest the place of apprehension or arrest:
Provided ,That where the arrest is made during Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or after office
hours, the written notice shall be served at the residence of the judge nearest the place where
the accused was arrested.
The penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall
be imposed upon the police or law enforcement personnel who fails to notify and judge as
Provided in the preceding paragraph180.
In the event of an actual or imminent terrorist attack, suspects may not be detained
for more than three (3) days without the written approval of a municipal, city, provincial or
regional official of a Human Rights Commission or judge of the municipal, regional trial
court, the Sandiganbayan or a justice of the Court of Appeals nearest the place of the arrest. If
the arrest is made during Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or after office hours, the arresting
police or law enforcement personnel shall bring the person thus arrested to the residence of
any of the officials mentioned above that is nearest the place where the accused was arrested.
The approval in writing of any of the said officials shall be secured by the police or law
enforcement personnel concerned within five days after the date of the detention of the
persons concerned. Within three days after the detention the suspects, whose connection
with the terror attack or threat is not established, shall be released immediately181.
b. Anti-Torture Act182
(1) Punishable acts
(a) Physical torture is a form of treatment or punishment inflicted by a person in
authority or agent of a person in authority upon another in his/her custody that causes
severe pain, exhaustion, disability or dysfunction of one or more parts of the body, such as:
(1) Systematic beating, head banging, punching, kicking, striking with
truncheon or rifle butt or other similar objects, and jumping on the stomach;
180
Sec.. 18.
Sec. 19.
182
R.A. 9745
181
52
(2) Food deprivation or forcible feeding with spoiled food, animal or human
excreta and other stuff or substances not normally eaten;
(3) Electric shock;
(4) Cigarette burning; burning by electrically heated rods, hot oil, acid; by the
rubbing of pepper or other chemical substances on mucous membranes, or acids or
spices directly on the wound(s);
(5) The submersion of the head in water or water polluted with excrement,
urine, vomit and/or blood until the brink of suffocation;
(6) Being tied or forced to assume fixed and stressful bodily position;
(7) Rape and sexual abuse, including the insertion of foreign objects into the
sex organ or rectum, or electrical torture of the genitals;
(8) Mutilation or amputation of the essential parts of the body such as the
genitalia, ear, tongue, etc.;
(9) Dental torture or the forced extraction of the teeth;
(10) Pulling out of fingernails;
(11) Harmful exposure to the elements such as sunlight and extreme cold;
(12) The use of plastic bag and other materials placed over the head to the
point of asphyxiation;
(13) The use of psychoactive drugs to change the perception, memory.
alertness or will of a person, such as:
(i) The administration or drugs to induce confession and/or reduce
mental competency; or
(ii) The use of drugs to induce extreme pain or certain symptoms of a
disease; and
(14) Other analogous acts of physical torture; and
(b) "Mental/Psychological Torture" refers to acts committed by a person in authority
or agent of a person in authority which are calculated to affect or confuse the mind
and/or undermine a person's dignity and morale, such as:
53
(1) Blindfolding;
(2) Threatening a person(s) or his/her relative(s) with bodily harm, execution
or other wrongful acts;
(3) Confinement in solitary cells or secret detention places;
(4) Prolonged interrogation;
(5) Preparing a prisoner for a "show trial", public display or public
humiliation of a detainee or prisoner;
(6) Causing unscheduled transfer of a person deprived of liberty from one
place to another, creating the belief that he/she shall be summarily executed;
(7) Maltreating a member/s of a person's family;
(8) Causing the torture sessions to be witnessed by the person's family,
relatives or any third party;
(9) Denial of sleep/rest;
(10) Shame infliction such as stripping the person naked, parading him/her
in public places, shaving the victim's head or putting marks on his/her body against
his/her will;
(11) Deliberately prohibiting the victim to communicate with any member of
his/her family; and
(12) Other analogous acts of mental/psychological torture.183
(2) Who are liable184
Any person who actually participated or induced another in the commission of
torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment or who cooperated
in the execution of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment by previous or simultaneous acts shall be liable as principal
Any superior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior government
official who issued an order to any lower ranking personnel to commit torture for whatever
purpose shall be held equally liable as principals.
The immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of the AFP or the
immediate senior public official of the PNP and other law enforcement agencies shall be
183
184
Sec. 4.
criminally
54
held liable as a principal to the crime of torture or other cruel or inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment for any act or omission, or negligence committed by him/her that
shall have led, assisted, abetted or allowed, whether directly or indirectly, the commission
thereof by his/her subordinates. If he/she has knowledge of or, owing to the circumstances
at the time, should have known that acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment shall be committed, is being committed, or has been committed by
his/her subordinates or by others within his/her area of responsibility and, despite such
knowledge, did not take preventive or corrective action either before, during or immediately
after its commission, when he/she has the authority to prevent or investigate allegations of
torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment but failed to prevent
or investigate allegations of such act, whether deliberately or due to negligence shall also be
liable as principals.
Any public officer or employee shall be liable as an accessory if he/she has
knowledge that torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is
being committed and without having participated therein, either as principal or accomplice,
takes part subsequent to its commission in any of the following manner:
(a) By themselves profiting from or assisting the offender to profit from the effects
of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment;
(b) By concealing the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment and/or destroying the effects or instruments thereof in order to prevent its
discovery; or
(c) By harboring, concealing or assisting m the escape of the principal/s in the act of
torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment: Provided, That the
accessory acts are done with the abuse of the official's public functions.185
185
Sec. 13.
55
2. Crimes Against Public Order
Crimes
Rebellion or insurrection186
Elements
a. There be –
186
Art. 134
Success is immaterial, purpose is always political
Rebellion used where the object of the movement is completely to overthrow and supersede the
existing government
Insurrection refers to a movement which seeks merely to effect some change of minor importance to
prevent the exercise of gov’t authority w/ respect to particular matters or subjects
Actual clash of arms w/ the forces of the gov’t, not necessary to convict the accused who is in
conspiracy w/ others actually taking arms against the gov’t
Purpose of the uprising must be shown but it is not necessary that it be accomplished
A change of government w/o external participation
Rising publicly and taking arms against government – actual participation. If there is no public
uprising, the crime is of direct assault.
Mere giving of aid or comfort is not criminal in the case of rebellion. Merely sympathizing is not
participation, there must be actual participation
Not necessary that there is killing, mere threat of removing Phil is sufficient
Rebellion cannot be complexed with any other crime. However, illegal possession of firearms in
furtherance of rebellion is distinct from the crime of rebellion. Furthermore, it is a continuing crime such
along with the crime of conspiracy or proposal to commit such
A private crime may be committed during rebellion. Examples: killing, possessions of firearms, illegal
association are absorbed. Rape, even if not in furtherance of rebellion cannot be complexed
If killing, robbing were done for private purposes or for profit, without any political motivation, the
crime would be separately be punished and would not be embraced by rebellion (People v. Fernando)
Person deemed leader of rebellion in case he is unknown:
Any person who in fact:
a. directed the others
b. spoke for them
c. signed receipts and other documents issued in their name
d. performed similar acts on behalf of the rebels
Persons liable for rebellion:
i. Any person who:
1. promotes
2. maintains, or
3. heads a rebellion or insurrection; or
ii. Any person who, while holding any public office or employment, takes part therein by:
1. engaging in war against the forces of the government
2. destroying property or committing serious violence
3. exacting contributions or diverting public funds from the lawful purpose for which they have
been appropriated (Note: “diverting public funds” is malversation absorbed in rebellion);
4. Any person merely participating or executing the command of others in rebellion
Serious violence is that inflicted upon civilians, which may result in homicide. It is not limited to
hostilities against the armed force.
Public officer must take active part because mere silence or omission not punishable in rebellion
It is not a defense in rebellion that the accused never took the oath of allegiance to, or that they
never recognized the government
Rebellion cannot be complexed with murder and other common crimes committed in pursuance of
the movement to overthrow the government
56
1. public uprising and
2. taking arms against the government187
b. Purpose of the uprising or movement is either
1. to remove from the allegiance to said
government or its laws –
i. the territory of the Philippines or any part
thereof, or
ii. anybody of land, naval or other armed
forces, or
2. to deprive the chief executive or congress,
wholly or partially, of any of their powers or
prerogatives
Coup d e’tat188
a. Swift attack
b. Accompanied by violence, intimidation, threat,
strategy or stealth
c. Directed against:
1.
2.
3.
4.
duly constituted authorities
any military camp or installation
communication networks or public utilities
other facilities needed for the exercise and
continued possession of power
d. Singly or simultaneously carried out anywhere in
the Philippines
or
e. Committed by any person or persons belonging
to the military or police or holding any public office
or employment; with or without civilian support or
participation
f. Purpose of seizing or diminishing state power
a.
187
188
Killing, robbing etc. for private persons or for profit, without any political motivation, would be
separately punished and would not be absorbed in the rebellion.
force/violence
Art. 134-A
57
Conspiracy to commit rebellion or a. 2 more persons come to an agreement to rise
insurrection189
publicly and take arms against the government
b. For any of the purposes of rebellion
c. They decide to commit it
Proposal to commit rebellion or a. A person who has decided to rise publicly and
insurrection190
take arms the government
b. For any of the purposes of rebellion
c. Proposes its execution to some other person/s
Disloyalty of public officers and a. Failing to resist rebellion by all the means in their
employees191
power
b. Continuing to discharge the duties of their
offices under the control of rebels
c. Accepting appointment to office under rebels
Inciting to rebellion or
insurrection192
a. Offender does not take arms or is not in open
hostility against the government
b. He incites others to the execution of any of the
189
Art. 136
Organizing a group of soldiers, soliciting membership in, and soliciting funds for the organization show
conspiracy to overthrow the gov’t
The mere fact of giving and rendering speeches favoring Communism would not make the accused
guilty of conspiracy if there’s no evidence that the hearers then and there agreed to rise up in arms
against the gov’t
Conspiracy must be immediately prior to rebellion
If it is during the rebellion, then it is already taking part in it.
191
Art. 137
Presupposes existence of rebellion
Must not be in conspiracy with rebels or coup plotters
If there are means to prevent the rebellion but did not resist it, then there’s disloyalty. If there are no
means, no fault
If position is accepted in order to protect the people, not covered by this
The collaborator must not have tried to impose the wishes of the rebels of the people.
192
Art. 138
Intentionally calculated to seduce others to rebellion
There must be uprising to take up arms and rise publicly for the purposes indicated in Art 134
190
58
acts of rebellion
c. The inciting is done by means of speeches,
proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other
representations tending to the same end
Sedition193
a. Offenders rise –
1. Publicly194
2. Tumultuously195
b. They employ force, intimidation, or other means
outside of legal methods
c. Offenders employ any of those means to attain
any of the following objects:
1. to prevent the promulgation or execution of
any law or the holding of any popular election
2. to prevent the national government, or any
provincial or municipal government, or any public
thereof from freely exercising its or his functions,
or prevent the execution of any administrative
order
3. to inflict any act or hate or revenge upon the
person or property of any public officer or
employee
4. to commit for any political or social end, any
act of hate or revenge against private persons or any
193
Art. 139
Sedition: raising of commotion or disturbances in the State. Its ultimate object is a violation of the
public peace or at least such measures that evidently engenders it.
Difference from rebellion – object or purpose of the surprising. For sedition – sufficient that uprising is
tumultuous. In rebellion – there must be taking up of arms against the government.
Sedition – purpose may be either political or social. In rebellion – always political
Tumultuous – caused by more than 3 persons who are armed or provided with means of violence
Preventing public officers from freely exercising their functions
In sedition – offender may be a private or public person (Ex. Soldier)
Public uprising and the object of sedition must concur
Persons liable for sedition:
a. leader of the sedition, and
b. other persons participating in the sedition
194
if no public uprising = tumult and other disturbance of public order
195
vis-à-vis rebellion where there must be a taking of arms
59
social class196
5. to despoil, for any political or social end, any
person, municipality or province, or the
national government of all its property or
any part thereof
Inciting to sedition197
a. Offender does not take a direct part in the crime
of sedition
b. He incites others to the accomplishment of any
of the acts which constitute sedition198
c. The inciting is done by means of speeches,
proclamations, writing, emblems, cartoons, banners,
or other representations tending to the same end.199
196
hence, even private persons may be offended parties
Art. 142
Acts punished:
1. Inciting others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition by means
of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, etc.;
2. Uttering seditious words or speeches which tend to disturb the public peace;
3. Writing, publishing, or circulating scurrilous libels against the government or any of the duly
constituted authorities thereof, which tend to disturb the public peace.
Different acts of inciting to sedition:
a. Inciting others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition by means of
speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems etc.
b. Uttering seditious words or speeches which tend to disturb the public peace or writing,
publishing, or circulating scurrilous [vulgar, mean, libelous] libels against the government or any
of the duly constituted authorities thereof, which tend to disturb the public peace
c. Knowingly concealing such evil practices
When punishable:
a. when they tend to disturb or obstruct any lawful officer in executing the functions of his office;
or
b. when they tend to instigate others to cabal and meet together for unlawful purposes
c. when they suggest or incite rebellious conspiracies or riots; or
d. when they lead or tend to stir up the people against the lawful authorities or to disturb the peace
of the community, the safety and order of the government
198
Art. 134
199
Purpose: cause commotion not exactly against the government; actual disturbance not necessary
197
60
Acts tending to prevent the a. There be a projected or actual meeting of
meeting of congress and similar Congress or any of its committees or
bodies200
subcommittees, constitutional commissions or
committees or division thereof, or of any provincial
board or city or municipal council or board
b. Offender who may be any persons prevents such
meeting by force or fraud
Disturbance of proceedings201
a. There be a meeting of Congress or any of its
committees, constitutional commissions or
committees or divisions thereof, or of any
provincial board or city or municipal council or
board
b. Offender does any of the following acts:
1. he disturbs any of such meetings
2. he behaves while in the presence of any such
bodies in such a manner as to interrupt its
proceedings or to impair the respect due it
Violation
immunity202
of
parliamentary a. Offender is a public officer or employee
b. He arrests or searches any member of Congress
200
Art. 143
Chief of Police and mayor who prevented the meeting of the municipal council are liable under Art 143,
when the defect of the meeting is not manifest and requires an investigation before its existence can be
determined.
201
Art. 144
Complaint must be filed by member of the Legislative body. Accused may also be punished for
contempt
202
Art. 145
Article partly inoperative because of the 1987 Constitution
Acts punishable:
a. By using force, intimidation, threats, or frauds to prevent any member of Congress from –
1. attending the meeting of the assembly or any of its committees, constitutional commissions or
committees or divisions thereof, or from
2. expressing his opinions or
3. casting his vote
b. By arresting or searching any member thereof while Congress is in a regular or special session,
except in case such member has committed a crime punishable under the code by a penalty higher than
prision mayor
61
c. Congress, at the time of arrest or search, is in a
regular or special session
d. The member searched has not committed a
crime punishable under the code by a penalty
higher than prision mayor203
Illegal assemblies204
a. Meeting of the first form
1. Meeting, gathering or group of persons
whether in a fixed place or moving
2. purpose: to commit any of crimes punishable
under the code
3. meeting attended by armed persons
b. Meeting of the second form
1. Meeting, gathering or group of persons
whether in a fixed place or moving
2. Audience whether armed or not, is incited to
the commission of the crime of treason, rebellion
or insurrection, sedition or direct assault.
205
Illegal associations
a. Organized totally or partially for the purpose of
committing any of the crimes in RPC
b. Or for some purpose contrary to public morals
203
1987 constitution: privilege from arrest while congress in session in all offenses punishable by not
more than 6 years imprisonment.
204
Art. 146
Not all the persons present at the meeting of the first form of illegal assembly must be armed
Persons liable for illegal assembly
a. the organizers or leaders of the meeting
b. persons merely present at the meeting (except when presence is out of curiosity – not liable)
Responsibility of persons merely present at the meeting
a. if they are not armed, penalty is arresto mayor
b. if they carry arms, like bolos or knives, or licensed firearms, penalty is prision correccional
Presumptions if person present at the meeting carries an unlicensed firearm:
a. purpose of the meeting is to commit acts punishable under the RPC
b. considered as leader or organizer of the meeting
205
Art. 147
Persons liable:
a. founders, directors and president of the association
b. mere members of the association
62
Direct assault206
1st form:
a. Offender employs force or intimidation.
b. The aim of the offender is to attain any of the
purposes of the crime of rebellion or any of the
objects of the crimes of sedition.207
c. There is no public uprising.
2nd form
a. Offender
1. makes an attack,
2. employs force,
3. makes a serious intimidation, or
4. makes a serious resistance.
b. The person assaulted is a person in authority or
his agent.
c. At the time of the assault the person in authority
206
Art. 148
Direct assault cannot be committed during rebellion.
Always complexed with the material consequence of the act (e.g. direct assault with murder) except if
resulting in a light felony, in which case, the consequence is absorbed
Hitting the policeman on the chest with fist is not direct assault because if done against an agent of a
person in authority, the force employed must be of serious character
The force employed need not be serious when the offended party is a person in authority (ex. Laying of
hands)
The intimidation or resistance must be serious whether the offended party is an agent only or a person
in authority (ex. Pointing a gun)
Even when the person in authority or the agent agrees to fight, still direct assault.
When the person in authority or the agent provoked/attacked first, innocent party is entitled to defend
himself and cannot be held liable for assault or resistance nor for physical injuries, because he acts in
legitimate self-defense
There can be no assault upon or disobedience to one authority by another when they both contend
that they were in the exercise of their respective duties.
When assault is made by reason of the performance of his duty there is no need for actual
performance of his official duty when attacked
Circumstances qualifying the offense (Qualified Assault):
a. when the assault is committed with a weapon
b. when the offender is a public officer or employee
c. when the offender lays hand upon a person in authority
Complex crime of direct assault with homicide or murder, or with serious physical injuries.
207
victim need not be person in authority
63
or his agent
1. is engaged in the actual performance of official
duties,208 or that he is assaulted
2. by reason of the past performance of official
duties.209
a.
Offender knows that the one he is
assaulting is a person in authority or his agent in the
exercise of his duties.210
b. There is no public uprising.
Indirect assault211
a. A person in authority or his agent is the victim
of any of the forms of direct assault defined in Art.
148.
b. A person comes to the aid of such authority or
his agent.
c. Offender makes use of force or intimidation
upon such person coming to the aid of the
authority or his agent.
Disobedience to summons212
a. Refusing without legal excuse to obey summons
b. Refusing to be sworn or placed under affirmation
c. Refusing to answer any legal inquiry to produce
books, records etc.
d. Restraining another from attending as witness in
such body
208
motive is not essential
motive is essential
210
with intention to offend, injure or assault
211
Art. 149
Indirect assault can be committed only when a direct assault is also committed
To be indirect assault, the person who should be aided is the agent (not the person in authority
because it is already direct assault, the person coming to the aid of the person in authority being
considered as an agent and an attack on the latter is already direct assault). Example. Aiding a policeman
under attack.
212
Art. 150
209
64
e. Inducing disobedience to a summons or refusal
to be sworn
Resistance and disobedience to a a. A person in authority or his agent is engaged in
person in authority or the agent of the performance of official duty or gives a lawful
such person213
order to the offender.
b. Offender resists or seriously disobeys such
person in authority or his agent.
c. The act of the offender is not included in the
provisions of Arts. 148, 149 and 150.
d. An agent of a person in authority is engaged in
the performance of official duty gives a lawful order
to the offender.
213
Art. 151, par. 1
Persons in authority/Agents of persons in authority (Art. 152)
Person in Authority – any person directly vested with jurisdiction, whether as an individual or as a
member of some court or governmental corporation, board or commission.
a. Barangay captain
b. Barangay chairman
c. Teachers
d. Professors
e. Persons charged with the supervision of public or duly recognized private schools, colleges and
universities
f. Lawyers in the actual performance of their professional duties or on the occasion of such
performance
Agent of Person in Authority – any person who, by direct provision of law or by election or by
appointment by competent authority, is charged with the maintenance of public order and the protection
and security of life and property.
a. Barrio councilman
b. Barrio policeman
c. Barangay leader
d. municipal treasurer
e. postmaster
f. Sheriff
g. agents of the BIR
h. Malacañang confidential agent
i. Any person who comes to the aid of persons in authority
Sec. 388 of the Local Gov’t Code provides that “for purposes of the RPC, the punong barangay,
sangguniang barangay members and members of the lupong tagapamayapa in each barangay shall be
deemed as persons in authority in their jurisdictions, while other barangay officials and members who
may be designated by law or ordinance and charged with the maintenance of public order, protection and
the security of life, property, or the maintenance of a desirable and balanced environment, and any
barangay member who comes to the aid of persons in authority shall be deemed agent of persons in
authority.
65
Simple disobedience214
a. Offender disobeys such agent of a person in
authority.
b. Such disobedience is not of a serious nature.
Tumults and other disturbances of a. Causing any serious disturbance in a public place,
public order215
office or establishment
b. Interrupting or disturbing public performances,
functions, gatherings or peaceful meetings, if the act
is not included in Art 131 and 132216
c. Making any outcry tending to incite rebellion or
sedition in any meeting, association or public place
d. Displaying placards or emblems which provoke a
disturbance of public order in such place
e. Burying with pomp the body of a person who
has been legally executed.
Unlawful use of
publication
and
utterances217
means of a. Publishing or causing to be published, by means
unlawful of printing, lithography or any other means of
publication as news any false news which may
endanger the public order, or cause damage to the
interest or credit of the State.
b. Encouraging disobedience to the law or to the
constituted authorities or by praising, justifying or
extolling any act punished by law, by the same
means or by words, utterances or speeches
214
Id., par 2
Art. 153
If the act of disturbing or interrupting a meeting or religious ceremony is NOT committed by public
officers, or if committed by public officers they are not participants therein, this article applies. Art 131
and 132 punishes the same acts if committed by public officers who are NOT participants in the meeting
The outcry is merely a public disorder if it is an unconscious outburst which, although rebellious or
seditious in nature, is not intentionally calculated to induce others to commit rebellion or sedition,
otherwise, its inciting to rebellion or sedition.
Tumultuous – if caused by more than 3 persons who are armed or provided with means of violence
(circumstance qualifying the disturbance/interruption) – “tumultuous in character”
216
Public Officers interrupting peaceful meetings or religious worship
217
Art. 154
215
66
c.
Maliciously publishing or causing to be
published any official resolution or document
without proper authority, or before they have been
published officially
d. Printing, publishing or distributing or (causing
the same) books, pamphlets, periodicals or leaflets
which do not bear the real printer’s name or which
are classified as anonymous.
Alarms and scandals218
a. Discharging any firearm, rocket, firecracker, or
other explosive within any town or public place,
calculated to cause alarm or danger
b. Instigating or taking active part in any charivari
or other disorderly meeting offensive to another or
prejudicial to public tranquility
c. Disturbing the public peace while wandering
about at night or while engaged in any other
nocturnal amusement
d. Causing any disturbance or scandal in public
places while intoxicated or otherwise, provided the
act is not covered by Art 153.219
Delivering prisoners from jail220
a. There is a person confined in a jail or penal
establishment.
b. Offender removes therefor such person, or helps
the escape of such person221
218
Art. 155
Tumult
Charivari – mock serenade or discordant noises made with kettles, tin horns etc, designed to deride,
insult or annoy
Firearm must not be pointed at a person, otherwise, it is illegal discharge
What governs is the result, not the intent
220
Art. 156
Prisoner may be detention prisoner or one sentenced by virtue of a final judgment
A policeman assigned to the city jail as guard who while off-duty released a prisoner is liable here
It may be committed through negligence
Circumstances qualifying the offense – is committed by means of violence, intimidation or bribery.
Mitigating circumstance – if it takes place outside the penal establishment by taking the guards by
surprise
221
if the escapee is serving final judgment, he is guilty of evasion of sentence
219
67
c. Offender is a private individual
Evasion of sentence or service222
a. Offender is a convict by final judgment.
b. He is serving his sentence which consists in
deprivation of liberty223
c. He evades the service of his sentence by
escaping during the term if his sentence.224
Evasion of service of sentence on a. Offender is a convict by final judgment who is
the
occasion
of
disorders, confined in a penal institution.
conflagrations, earthquakes or
other calamities225
b. There is disorder, resulting from1. conflagration,
2. earthquake,
3. explosion, or
4. similar catastrophe, or
5. mutiny in which he has not participated.
c. Offender evades the service of his sentence by
leaving the penal institution where he is confined,
on the occasion of such disorder or during the
mutiny.
222
Art. 157
A continuing offense.
Offenders – not minor delinquents nor detention prisoners
If escaped within the 15 day appeal period – no evasion
No applicable to deportation as the sentence
Flimsy excuse for violating destierro – not acceptable
Circumstances qualifying the offense (done thru):
a. unlawful entry (by “scaling”)
b. breaking doors, windows, gates, walls, roofs or floors
c. using picklocks, false keys, disguise, deceit, violence or intimidation
d. connivance with other convicts or employees of the penal institution
223
destierro included
224
fact of return immaterial
225
Art. 158
Penalty: an increase by 1/5 of the time remaining to be served under the original sentence, in no case
to exceed 6 months.
Offender must escape to be entitled to allowance
Mutiny – organized unlawful resistance to a superior officer, a sedition, a revolt
Disarming the guards is not mutiny
68
d. Offender fails to give himself up to the
authorities within 48 hours following the insurance
of a proclamation by the chief executive
announcing the passing away of such calamity.
Violation of conditional pardon226
a. Offender was a convict.
b. He was granted a conditional pardon by the chief
executive.
c. He violated any of the conditions of such pardon.
a. Decree Codifying the Laws on Illegal / Unlawful
Possession, Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or
Disposition, of Firearms, Ammunition or Explosives227
as an element of the crimes of rebellion, insurrection,
sedition, or attempted coup d’etat228
b. Human Security Act of 2007229
(1) Punishable acts of terrorism230
(2) Who are liable231
(3) Absorption principle in relation to complex
crimes
Other crimes committed in the course of acts of terrorism are deemed
absorbed either as a means necessary for their commission or as an unintended
effect of acts of terrorism.
They cannot be charged as separate offenses in themselves.
226
Art. 159
Infringement of conditions/terms of President
Condition extends to special laws – violation of illegal voting
Offender must have been found guilty of the subsequent offense before he can be prosecuted under
this Article. But if under Revised Admin Code, no conviction necessary. President has power to arrest,
reincarnate offender without trial
227
P.D. 1866, as amended by R.A. 8294
228
supra
229
R.A. 9372
230
supra
231
Ibid.
69
4. Crimes Against Public Interest
Crimes
Counterfeiting
government232
great
Elements/How committed
seal
of a. Forging the great seal of the Government
b. Forging the signature of the President
c. Forging the stamp of the President
Using
forged
signature
counterfeit seal or stamp233
or a. The great seal of the republic was counterfeited
or the signature or stamp of the chief executive was
forged by another person.
b. Offender knew of the counterfeiting or forgery.
c. He used the counterfeit seal or forged signature
or stamp.
Making and importing
uttering false coins234
and a. There be false or counterfeited coins235
b. Offender either made, imported or uttered such
coins.
c. In case of uttering such false or counterfeited
coins, he connives with counterfeiters or importers
Multilation of coins – importation
and utterance236
232
Art. 161
When the signature of the President is forged, it is not falsification but forging of signature under this
article
Signature must be forged, others signed it – not the President.
233
Art. 162
Offender is not the forger/not the cause of the counterfeiting
234
Utter – to pass counterfeited coins, deliver or give away
Import – to bring to port the same
Both Philippine and foreign state coins
Applies also to coins withdrawn from circulation
Essence of article: making of coins without authority
235
Need not be legal tender
Counterfeiting – imitation of legal or genuine coin (may contain more silver, different design) such as
to deceive an ordinary person in believing it to be genuine
236
Art. 164
This has been repealed by PD 247.
70
Selling of false or mutilated coin,
without connivance237
1. Possession of coin, counterfeited a. possession
or mutilated by another person, with b. with intent to utter, and
intent to utter the same, knowing that c. knowledge
it is false or mutilated.
2. Actually uttering such false or a. actually uttering, and
mutilated coin, knowing the same to b. knowledge.
be false or mutilated.
Forging treasury or bank notes – Forging or falsity of treasury/bank notes or
importing and uttering238
documents payable to bearer
b. Importing of such notes
Under this P.D., the acts punishable are:
a. willful defacement
b. mutilation
c. tearing
d. burning
e. destruction of Central Bank notes and coins
Mutilation under the Revised Penal Code is true only to coins. It cannot be a crime under the Revised
Penal Code to mutilate paper bills because the idea of mutilation under the code is collecting the precious
metal dust. However, under Presidential Decree No. 247, mutilation is not limited to coins.
Art. 165
Mutilation – to take off part of the metal either by filling it or substituting it for another metal of
inferior quality, to diminish by inferior means (to diminish metal contents).
Foreign notes and coins not included. Must be legal tender.
Must be intention to mutilate.
237
Art. 165
Possession does not require legal tender in foreign coins
Includes constructive possession
238
Art. 166
Forging – by giving a treasury or bank note or document payable to bearer/order an appearance of a
true and genuine document
Falsification – by erasing, substituting, counterfeiting or altering by any means the figures and letters,
words, signs contained therein
e.g. falsifying – lotto or sweepstakes ticket. Attempted estafa through falsification of an obligation or
security of the Phil
PNB checks not included here – it’s falsification of commercial document under Article 172
Obligation or security includes: bonds, certificate of indebtedness, bills, national bank notes, coupons,
treasury notes, certificate of deposits, checks, drafts for money, sweepstakes money
If the falsification is done on a document that is classified as a government security, then the crime is
punished under Article 166. On the other hand, if it is not a government security, then the offender may
either have violated Article 171 or 172.
71
c. Uttering of such false or forged obligations and
notes in connivance with forgers and importers
Counterfeiting, importing, and a. There be an instrument payable to order or other
uttering instruments not payable document of credit not payable to bearer.
to bearer239
b. Offender either forged, imported or uttered such
instruments.
c. That in case of uttering, he connived with the
forger or importer
Illegal possession and use of false
treasury or bank notes and other
instrument of credit240
a. Any treasury or bank note or certificate or other
obligation and security payable to bearer, or any
instrument payable to order or other document of
credit not payable to bearer is forged or falsified by
another person.
b. Offender knows that any of those instruments is
forged or falsified.
c. He performs any of these acts –
1. using any of such forged or falsified
instrument, or
2. possessing with intent to use any of such
forged or falsified instrument.
Forgery241
a. By giving to a treasury or bank note or any
239
Art. 167
Art. 168
Act sought to be punished:
Knowingly possessing with intent to use any of such forged treasury or bank notes
241
Article 169
Forgery under the Revised Penal Code applies to papers, which are in the form of obligations and
securities issued by the Philippine government as its own obligations, which is given the same status as
legal tender. Generally, the word “counterfeiting” is not used when it comes to notes; what is used is
“forgery.” Counterfeiting refers to money, whether coins or bills.
Notice that mere change on a document does not amount to this crime. The essence of forgery is
giving a document the appearance of a true and genuine document. Not any alteration of a letter,
number, figure or design would amount to forgery. At most, it would only be frustrated forgery.
When what is being counterfeited is obligation or securities, which under the Revised Penal Code is
given a status of money or legal tender, the crime committed is forgery.
Distinction between falsification and forgery
240
72
instrument payable to bearer or to order, the
appearance of a true and genuine document
b. By erasing, substituting, counterfeiting, altering
by any means the figures, letters or words, or signs
contained therein.
Falsification
documents242
of
legislative a. A bill, resolution or ordinance enacted or
approved or pending approval by the national
assembly or any provincial board or municipal
council.243
b. Offender alters the same.
c. He has no proper authority therefor.
d. The alteration has changed the meaning of the
document.
Falsification is the commission of any of the eight acts mentioned in Art. 171 on legislative, public or
official, commercial, or private documents, or wireless, or telegraph messages.
The term forgery as used in Art. 169 refers to the falsification and counterfeiting of treasury or bank
notes or any instruments payable to bearer or to order.
242
Art. 170
Accused must not be a public official entrusted with the custody or possession of such document,
otherwise, Art. 171 applies.
The falsification must be committed on a genuine, true and authentic legislative document. If
committed on a simulated, spurious or fabricated legislative document, the crime is not punished under
this article but under Art. 171 or 172.
243
The words "municipal council" should include the city council or municipal board – Reyes
73
Falsification of documents by a. Offender is a public officer, employee, or notary
public officer, employee, or notary public.
or ecclesiastical minister244
b. He takes advantage of his official position.
c. He falsifies a document by committing any of the
following acts:
1. Counterfeiting or imitating any handwriting,
signature or rubric.
Requisites:
i. There be an intent to imitate, or an
attempt to imitate
ii. The two signatures or handwritings, the
genuine and the forged, bear some resemblance to
each other
2. Causing it to appear that persons have
participated in any act or proceeding when they did
not in fact so participate.
3. Attributing to persons who have participated
in an act or proceeding statements other than those
in fact made by them.
Requisites:
i.
Offender caused it to appear in a
document that a person/s participated in an act or a
proceeding; and
ii. Such person/s did not in fact so
participate in the act or proceeding
4. Making untruthful statements in a narration
of facts246
244
Art. 171
For one to be held criminally liable, the untruthful statement must be such as to effect the integrity of
the document or to change the effects which it would otherwise produce.
Legal obligation means that there is a law requiring the disclosure of the truth of the facts narrated. Ex.
Residence certificates
The person making the narration of facts must be aware of the falsity of the facts narrated by him. This
kind of falsification may be committed by omission
There must be a narration of facts, not a conclusion of law. Must be on a material matter
246
74
Requisites:
i.
Offender makes in a document
statements in a narration of facts
ii. He has a legal obligation to disclose the
truth of the facts narrated by him; (required by law
to be done) and
iii. The facts narrated by the offender are
absolutely false; and
iv. The perversion or truth in the narration
of facts was made with the wrongful intent of
injuring a third person
5. Altering true dates247
6. Making any alteration or intercalation in a
genuine document which changes its meaning.
Requisites:
i.
There be an alteration (change) or
intercalation (insertion) on a document
ii. Made on a genuine document
iii. The alteration/intercalation has changed
the meaning of the document
iv. The change made the document speak
something false.
7. Issuing in an authenticated form a document
purporting to be a copy of an original document
when no such original exists, or including in such
copy a statement contrary to, or different from, that
of the genuine original248 or
247
Date must be essential
The document must be material to the right created or to the obligation that is extinguished.
248
if no knowledge, falsification through negligence
The acts of falsification mentioned in this paragraph are committed by a public officer or by a notary
public who takes advantage of his official position as custodian of the document. It can also refer to a
public officer or notary who prepared and retained a copy of the document. The falsification can be done
in two ways. It can be a certification purporting to show that the document issued is a copy of the original
75
8. Intercalating any instrument or note relative
to the issuance thereof in a protocol, registry, or
official book.
Falsification by private individuals a. Offender is a private individual or a public officer
and use of falsified documents
or employee who did not take advantage of his
official position.
b. He committed any of the acts of falsification
enumerated in Art. 171.249
c. The falsification was committed in any public or
official or commercial document.250
Falsification of private document245 a. Offender committed any of the acts of
falsification, except those in paragraph 7 and 8,
enumerated in Art. 171.
b. The falsification was committed in any private
document
c. The falsification caused damage251 to a third party
or at least the falsification was committed with
intent to cause such damage.
Use of falsified document
a. Introducing in a judicial proceeding:
1. Offender knew that a document was falsified
by another person.
2. The false document is embraced in art. 171 or
on record when no such original exists. It can also be in the form of a certification to the effect that the
document on file contains statements or including in the copy issued, entries which are not found on
contrary to, or different from the original genuine document on file.
245
Art. 172
Falsification of Private Documents:
Prejudice to third party is an element of the offense.
Falsification of Public/Official Documents:
Prejudice to third persons is immaterial, what is punished is the violation of public faith and
perversion of truth which the document proclaims.
249
supra
250
Under this paragraph, damage is not essential, it is presumed
If the falsification of public, official or commercial documents, whether they be public official or by
private individuals, it is not necessary that there be present the idea of gain or the intent to injure a third
person. What is punished under the law is the violation of public faith and the perversion of the truth as
solemnly proclaimed by the nature of the document. (Sarep vs. Sandiganbayan)
251
essential element; hence, no crime of estafa thru falsification of private document
76
in any subdivisions nos. 1 and 2 of art. 172.
3. He introduced said document in evidence in
any judicial proceeding.252
b. Use in any other transaction:
1. Offender knew that a document was falsified
by another person.
2. The false document is embraced in art. 171 or
in any of subdivisions nos. 1 and 2 of art. 172.
3. He used such documents253
4. The use of the documents caused damage to
another or at least was used with intent to cause
such damage.
Falsification of wireless, cable,
telegraph,
and
telephone
messages, and use of said falsified
messages254
1. Uttering fictitious, wireless, a. Offender is an officer or employee of the
telegraph or telephone message
government or an officer or employee of a private
corporation, engaged in the service of sending or
receiving wireless, cable or telephone message.
b. Accused commits any of the following acts:
i. uttering fictitious wireless, cable, telegraph,
or telephone message, or
ii. falsifying wireless, cable, telegraph, or
telephone message
252
intent to cause damage not necessary
not in judicial proceedings
The user of the falsified document is deemed the author of falsification, if:
a. the use is so closely connected in time with the falsification
b. the user had the capacity of falsifying the document
254
Art. 173
The public officer, to be liable, must be engaged in the service of sending or receiving wireless, cable
and telegraph or telephone message
253
77
2. Falsifying wireless, telegraph a. Offender is an officer or employee of the
or telephone message
government or an officer or employee of a private
corporation, engaged in the service of sending or
receiving wireless, cable or telephone message.
b. Accused commits any of the following acts:
i. uttering fictitious wireless, cable, telegraph,
or telephone message, or
ii. falsifying wireless, cable, telegraph, or
telephone message
3. Using such falsified message
a. Accused knew that wireless, cable, telegraph, or
telephone message was falsified by any of the
person specified in the first paragraph.255
b. Accused used such falsified dispatch.
c. The use of the falsified dispatch resulted in the
prejudice of a third party, or that the use thereof
was with intent to cause such prejudice.
Falsification
of
medical a. Physician or surgeon who, in connection with the
certificates, certificates of merit or practice of his profession, issued a false certificate257
service and the like256
b. Public officer who issued a false certificate of
merit of service, good conduct or similar
circumstances
c. Private individual who falsified a certificate under
(a) and (b)
Using false certificates258
a. A physician or surgeon has issued a false medical
certificate, or a public officer has issued a false
certificate of merit or service, good conduct, or
similar circumstances, or a private person had
255
supra
Art. 174
257
Such certificate must refer to the illness or injury of a person
258
Art. 175
256
78
falsified any of said certificates.
b. Offender knew that the certificate was false.
c. He used the same.
Manufacturing and possession of a. Making or introducing into the Philippines any
intruments or implements for stamps, dies or marks or other instruments or
falsification259
implements for counterfeiting or falsification
b. Possessing with intent to use the instruments or
implements for counterfeiting or falsification made
in or introduced into the Philippines by another
person
Usurpation of authority or official
functions260
1. By knowingly and falsely
representing oneself to be an officer,
agent or representative of any
department or agency of the
Philippine gov’t or any foreign
gov’t261.
a. Offender knowingly and falsely represents
himself;
b. As an officer, agent or representative of any
department or agency of the Philippine government
or of any foreign government.
259
Art. 176
The implement confiscated need not form a complete set
Constructive possession is also punished
260
Art. 177
In usurpation of authority: The mere act of knowingly and falsely representing oneself is sufficient. Not
necessary that he performs an act pertaining to a public officer.
In usurpation of official functions: It is essential that the offender should have performed an act
pertaining to a person in authority
A public officer may also be an offender
The act performed without being lawfully entitled to do so must pertain:
a. to the gov’t
b. to any person in authority
c. to any public office
If the offender commits the acts of usurpation as contemplated herein, and he does it because he is a
rebel and pursuant to the crime of rebellion or insurrection or sedition, he will not be liable under this
article because what is attributed against him as a crime of usurpation is in fact one of the elements of
committing rebellion.
The elements of false pretense is necessary to commit the crime of usurpation of official function.
261
Foreign government refers to public officers duly authorized to perform governmental duties in the
Philippines. The law cannot refer to other foreign governments as its application may bring us to legal
problems which may infringe on constitutional boundaries.
79
2. By performing an act
pertaining to any person in authority
or public officer of the Phil. gov’t or
foreign gov’t under the pretense of
such official position, and without
being lawfully entitled to do so.
a. Offender performs any act;
b. Pertaining to any person in authority or public
officer of the Philippine government or any foreign
government, or any agency thereof;
c. Under pretense of official position;
d. Without being lawfully entitled to do so.
Using fictitious name262
a. Offender uses a name other than his real name.
b. He uses that fictitious name publicly.
and
c. Purpose of the offender is –
1. to conceal a crime,
2. to evade the execution of a judgment, or
3. to cause damage to public interest.264
concealing true name263
a. Offender conceals –
1. his true name, and
2. all other personal circumstances.
3. that the purpose is only to conceal his
identity.
262
The name of a person is what appears in his birth certificate. The name of a person refers to his first
name, surname, and maternal name. Any other name which a person publicly applies to himself without
authority of law is a fictitious name.
263
Art. 178
What the offender does to violate or commit this act is for him to conceal his true name and other
personal circumstances. His only motive in doing so is to conceal his identity. In concealment of true
name, the deception is done momentarily, just enough to conceal the name of the offender. In the use of
fictitious name, the offender presents himself before the public with another name.
A person under investigation by the police who gives a false name and false personal circumstances,
upon being interrogated, is guilty of this crime
264
ex. Signing fictitious name for a passport
80
Illegal use of uniform or insignia265
a. Offender makes use of insignia, uniform or dress.
b. The insignia, uniform or dress pertains to an
office not held by the offender or to a class of
persons of which he is not a member.
c. Said insignia, uniform or dress is used publicly
and improperly.
False
testimony
defendant266
against
a a. Under oath against the defendant therein.
b. Offender who gives false testimony knows that it
is false.
c. The defendant against whom the false testimony
is given is either acquitted or convicted in a final
judgment.
d. There be a criminal proceeding.
e. Offender testifies falsely
265
Art. 179
The wearing of a uniform, or insignia of a non-existing office or establishment is not a crime. It is
necessary that the uniform or insignia represents an office which carries authority, respect, dignity, or
influence which the public looks up to.
So also, an exact imitation of a uniform or dress is unnecessary; a colorable resemblance calculated to
deceive the common run of people is sufficient.
The wearing of insignia, badge or emblem of rank of the members of the armed forced of the
Philippines or constabulary (now PNP) is punished by Republic Act No. 493.
When the uniform or insignia is used to emphasize the pageantry of a play or drama or in moving
picture films, the crime is not committed.
266
Art. 180
Requires criminal intent, can’t be committed through negligence. Need not impute guilt upon the
accused
The defendant must at least be sentenced to a correctional penalty or a fine or must have been
acquitted
The witness who gave false testimony is liable even if the court did not consider his testimony
False testimony - is the declaration under oath of a witness in a judicial proceeding which is contrary to
what is true, or to deny the same, or to alter essentially the truth.
Nature of the crime of false testimony.
1. It cannot be committed through reckless imprudence because false testimony requires criminal
intent or intent to violate the law is an essential element of the crime.
2. If the false testimony is due to honest mistake or error or there was good faith in making the false
testimony, no crime is committed.
81
False testimony in favor
defendant in a criminal case267
of a. A person gives false testimony;
b. In favor of the defendant;
c. In a criminal case.
False testimony in civil cases268
a. The testimony must be given in a civil case.
b. The testimony must relate to the issues presented
in said case.
c. The testimony must be false.
d. The false testimony must be given by the
defendant knowing the same to be false.
e. The testimony must be malicious and given with
an intent to affect the issues presented in the said
case
False testimony in other cases and An accused made a statement under oath or made
perjury in solemn affirmation269
an affidavit upon a material matter.
267
Art. 181
False testimony by negative statement is in favor of the defendant
False testimony need not in fact benefit the defendant
A statement of a mere opinion is not punishable
Conviction or acquittal is not necessary (final judgment is not necessary). The false testimony need not
influence the acquittal
A defendant who voluntarily goes up on the witness stand and falsely imputes the offense to another
person the commission of the offense is liable under this article. If he merely denies the commission of
the offense, he is not liable.
268
Art. 182
Not applicable when testimony given in a special proceeding (in this case, the crime is perjury)
269
Art. 183
2 ways of committing perjury:
a. by falsely testifying under oath
b. by making a false statement
False testimony vs. Perjury:
When one testifies falsely before the court, the crime committed is false testimony. If one testifies
falsely in a non-judicial proceeding, the crime committed is perjury. In false testimony, it is not required
that the offender asserts a falsehood on a material matter. It is enough that he testifies falsely with
deliberate intent. In perjury, the witness must testify or assert a fact on a material matter with a full
knowledge that the information given is essentially contrary to the truth.
A “competent person authorized to administer an oath” means a person who has a right to inquire into
the questions presented to him upon matters under his jurisdiction
82
a. The statement or affidavit was made before a
competent officer, authorized to receive and
administer oath.
b. In that statement or affidavit, the accused made a
willful and deliberate assertion of a falsehood, and
c. The sworn statement or affidavit containing the
falsity is required by law.
Offering false
evidence270
testimony
in a. Offender offered in evidence a false witness or
false testimony.
There is no perjury if the accused signed and swore the statement before a person not authorized to
administer oath (People vs. Bella David).
There is no perjury through negligence or imprudence since the assertion of falsehood must be willful
and deliberate
Because of the nature of perjury, which is the willful and corrupt assertion of a falsehood, there is no
perjury committed through reckless imprudence or simple negligence under Article 365. Since admittedly
perjury can only be committed by means of dolo, then good faith or lack of malice is a good defense when
one is indicted for the crime of perjury.
Even if there is no law requiring the statement to be made under oath, as long as it is made for a legal
purpose, it is sufficient
If there is no requirement of law to place the statement or testimony under oath, there is no Perjury
considering the phrases “oath in cases in which the law so requires” in Article 183.
The affidavit or sworn statement must be required by law like affidavit of adverse claim to protect one’s
interest on real property; or an affidavit of good moral character to take the bar examination. So if the
affidavit was made but the same is not required by law, even if the allegations are false, the crime of
perjury is not committed. (Diaz vs. People, 191 SCRA 86)
Perjury is an offense which covers false oaths other than those taken in the course of judicial
proceedings
False testimony before the justice of the peace during the P.I. may give rise to the crime of perjury
because false testimony in judicial proceedings contemplates an actual trial where a judgment of
conviction or acquittal is rendered
A person who knowingly and willfully procures another to swear falsely commits subornation of perjury
and the witness suborned does testify under circumstances rendering him guilty of perjury.
The false testimony is not in a judicial proceeding
270
Art. 184
The false witness need not be convicted of false testimony. The mere offer is sufficient.
The offender in this article knows that the witness to be presented is a false witness or that the witness
will lie while testifying. The proceedings are either judicial or official. There is a formal offer of testimonial
evidence in the proceedings. The witness is able to testify and the offender, knowing the testimony is
given by the witness to be false, nevertheless offers the same in evidence. In this case, the person offering
the false testimony must have nothing to do in the making of the false testimony. He knows that the
witness is false and yet he asks him to testify and thereafter offers the testimony in evidence. So if the
offeror, aside from being such, is also the person responsible in inducing or convincing the false witness to
lie, Art. 184 will not apply. The applicable article will be Article 180, 181, 182, or 183 as the case may be.
The offenders in this case will be charged with perjury; the inducer as principal by inducement and the
induced party as the principal by direct participation.
83
b. He knew the witness or the testimony was false.
c. The offer was made in a judicial or official
proceeding.
Machinations in public auction271
a. There be a public auction.
b. Accused solicited any gift or a promise from
any of the bidders.
c. Such gifts or promise was the consideration for
his refraining from taking part in that public
auction.
d. Accused had the intent to cause the reduction of
the price of the thing auctioned.
Monopolies and combinations in
restraint of trade272
1. Combination to prevent free a. Entering into any contract or agreement or
competition in the market
taking part in any conspiracy or combination in the
form of a trust or otherwise;
b. In restraint of trade or commerce or to prevent
by artificial means free competition in the market.
2. By entering into a contract or
agreement or taking part in any
conspiracy or combination in
the form of a trust or
a. By monopolizing any merchandise or object of
trade or commerce, or by combining with any
other person or persons to monopolize said
merchandise or object;
It is for this reason that subornation of perjury is no longer treated as a specific felony with a separate
article of its own. Nevertheless, it is a crime defined and punished under the Revised Penal Code. The
crime committed by one who induces another to testify falsely and the person who agrees and in
conspiracy with the inducer, testifies falsely, is perjury. (People vs. Padol, 66 Phil. 365)
271
Art. 185
272
Art. 186
The purpose is:
a. to make transactions prejudicial to lawful commerce
b. to increase the market price of any merchandise or object of commerce manufactured,
produced, processed, assembled or imported into the Phil
Aggravated if items are:
a. food substance
b. motor fuel or lubricants
c. goods of prime necessity
84
otherwise, in restraint of trade
or commerce or prevent by b. In order to alter the prices thereof by spreading
artificial
means
free false rumors or making use of any other artifice;
competition in the market.273
c. To restrain free competition in the market.
3. Monopoly to restrain free
competition in the market
4. Manufacturer, producer or
processor
or
importer
combining,
conspiring
or
agreeing with any person to
make transactions prejudicial to
lawful commerce or to increase
the market price of the
merchandise.274
a. Manufacturer, producer, processor or importer of
any merchandise or object of commerce;
Importation and disposition of
falsely
marked
articles
or
merchandise made of gold, silver,
or other precious metals or their
alloys275
a. Offender imports, sells or disposes of any of
those articles or merchandise.
b. Combines, conspires or agrees with any person;
c. Purpose is to make transactions prejudicial to
lawful commerce or to increase the market price of
any merchandise or object of commerce
manufactured, produced, processed, assembled or
imported into the Philippines
b. The stamps, brands, or marks or those articles
or merchandise fails to indicate the actual fineness
or quality of said metals or alloys.
273
It is enough that initial steps are taken. It is not necessary that there be actual restraint of trade
Person/s liable:
a. manufacturer
b. producer
c. processor
d. importer
Crime is committed by:
a. combining
b. conspiring
c. agreeing with another person
Also liable as principals:
a. corporation/association
b. agent/representative
c. director/manager – who willingly permitted or failed to prevent commission of above offense
275
Art. 187
To be criminally liable, it is important to establish that the offender knows the fact that the imported
merchandise fails to indicate the actual fineness or quality of the precious metal. If the importer has no
expertise on the matter such that he has no way of knowing how the fraud was committed, the existence
of such fact may be seriously considered as a defense.
What the law punishes herein is the selling of misbranded goods made of gold, silver and other precious
metals. Therefore, it must be shown that the seller knows that the merchandise is misbranded. Hence,
dishonesty is an essential element of the crime.
274
85
c. Offender knows that the said stamp, brand, or
mark fails to indicate the actual fineness or quality
of the metals or alloys.
a. The New Public Bidding Law 276
1) Prohibited acts
(a) Public officers who commit any of the following acts shall suffer the penalty of
imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day, but not more than fifteen (15)
years:
1. Open any sealed Bid, including but not limited to Bids that may have been
submitted through the electronic system and any and all documents required to be
sealed or divulging their contents, prior to the appointed time for the public opening
of Bids or other documents.
2. Delaying, without justifiable cause, the screening for eligibility, opening of
bids, evaluation and post evaluation of bids, and awarding of contracts beyond the
prescribed periods of Bids or other documents.
3. Unduly influencing or exerting undue pressure on any member of the BAC
or any officer or employee of the procuring entity to take a particular bidder.
4. Splitting of contracts which exceed procedural purchase limits and
competitive bidding.
5. When the head of the agency abuses the exercise of his power to reject any
and all bids as mentioned under Section 41277 of this Act with manifest preference to
any bidder who is closely related to him in accordance with Section 47278 of this Act.
276
R.A. 9184
Reservation Clause. - The Head of the Agency reserves the right to reject any and all Bids, declare a
failure of bidding, or not award the contract in the following situations:
a. If there is prima facie evidence of collusion between appropriate public officers or employees of the
Procuring Entity, or between the BAC and any of the bidders, or if the collusion is between or among the
bidders themselves, or between a bidder and a third party, including any act which restricts, suppresses or
nullifies or tends to restrict, suppress or nullify competition;
b. If the BAC is found to have failed in following the prescribed bidding procedures; or
c. For any justifiable and reasonable ground where the award of the contract will not redound to the
benefit of the government as defined in the IRR.
278
Disclosure of Relations. - In addition to the proposed contents of the Invitation to Bid as mentioned
under Section 21 of this Act, all bidding documents shall be accompanied by a sworn affidavit of the
bidder that he or she or any officer of their corporation in not related to the Head of the Procuring Entity
by consanguinity or affinity up to the third civil degree. Failure to comply with the aforementioned
277
86
When any of the foregoing acts is done in collusion with private individuals, the
private individuals shall likewise be liable for the offense.
In addition, the public officer involved shall also suffer the penalty of temporary
disqualification from public office, while the private individual shall be permanently
disqualified from transacting business with the government.
(b) Private individuals who commit any of the following acts, including any public
officer, who conspires with them, shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than
six (6) years and one (1) day but not more than fifteen (15) years:
1. When two or more bidders agree and submit different Bids as if they were
bona fide, when they knew that one or more of them was so much higher than the
other that it could not be honestly accepted and that the contract will surely be
awarded to the pre-arranged lowest Bid.
2. When a bidder maliciously submits different Bids through two or more
persons, corporations, partnerships or any other business entity in which he has
interest of create the appearance of competition that does not in fact exist so as to be
adjudged as the winning bidder.
3. When two or more bidders enter into an agreement which call upon one
to refrain from bidding for Procurement contracts, or which call for withdrawal of
bids already submitted, or which are otherwise intended to secure as undue
advantage to any one of them.
4. When a bidder, by himself or in connivance with others, employ schemes
which tend to restrain the natural rivalry of the parties or operates to stifle or
suppress competition and thus produce a result disadvantageous to the public.
In addition, the persons involved shall also suffer the penalty of temporary or
perpetual disqualification from public office and be permanently disqualified from
transacting business with the government.
(c) Private individuals who commit any of the following acts, and any public officer
conspiring with them, shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than six (6) years
and one (1) day but more than fifteen (15) years:
1. Submit eligibility requirements of whatever kind and nature that contain
false information or falsified documents calculated to influence the outcome of the
eligibility screening process or conceal such information in the eligibility
requirements when the information will lead to a declaration of ineligibility from
participating in public bidding.
provision shall be a ground for the automatic disqualification of the bid in consonance with Section 30 of
this Act.
87
2. Submit Bidding Documents of whatever kind and nature than contain
false information or falsified documents or conceal such information in the Bidding
Documents, in order to influence the outcome of the public bidding.
3. Participate in a public bidding using the name of another or allow another
to use one's name for the purpose of participating in a public bidding.
4. Withdraw a Bid, after it shall have qualified as the Lowest Calculated
Bid/Highest Rated Bid, or to accept and award, without just cause or for the
purpose of forcing the Procuring Entity to award the contract to another bidder.
This shall include the non-submission of requirements such as, but not limited to,
performance security, preparatory to the final award of the contract.
(d) When the bidder is a juridical entity, criminal liability and the accessory penalties
shall be imposed on its directors, officers or employees who actually commit any of the
foregoing acts.279
b. Anti-Alias Law280
1) Punishable acts
No person shall use any name different from the one with which he was registered at
birth in the office of the local civil registry or with which he was baptized for the first time,
or in case of an alien, with which he was registered in the bureau of immigration upon entry;
or such substitute name as may have been authorized by a competent court.281
The act of using an alias name, unless such alias was duly authorized by proper
judicial proceedings and recorded in the civil register.282
2) Exception
As a pseudonym solely for literary, cinema, television, radio or other entertainment
purposes and in athletic events where the use of pseudonym is a normally accepted practice.
279
Sec. 65.
C.A. 142
281
Sec. 1.
282
There must be a "sign or indication that the user intends to be known by this name (the alias) in
addition to his real name from that day forth … [for the use of alias to] fall within the prohibition
contained in C.A. No. 142 as amended (Ursua case)
280
88
5. Crimes Relative to Opium and other Prohibited Drugs
a. The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002283
i) Punishable acts
1. Importation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential
Chemicals.284
2. Sale, Trading, Administration, Dispensation, Delivery, Distribution and
Transportation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential
Chemicals.285
3. Maintenance of a Den, Dive or Resort.286
4. Manufacture of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential
Chemicals.287
5. Illegal Chemical Diversion of Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals288
6. Manufacture or Delivery of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus, and Other
Paraphernalia for Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential
Chemicals.289
7. Possession of Dangerous Drugs290
8. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for
Dangerous Drugs.291
9. Possession of Dangerous Drugs During Parties, Social Gatherings or Meetings292.
10. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for
Dangerous Drugs During Parties, Social Gatherings or Meetings.293
11. Use of Dangerous Drugs.294
283
R.A. 9165
Sec. 4
285
Sec. 5
286
Sec. 6
287
Sec. 8
288
Sec. 9
289
Sec. 10
290
Sec. 11
291
Sec. 12
292
Sec. 13
293
Sec. 14
284
89
12. Cultivation or Culture of Plants Classified as Dangerous Drugs or are Sources
Thereof.295
13. Maintenance and Keeping of Original Records of Transactions on Dangerous
Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals.296
13. Unnecessary Prescription of Dangerous Drugs.297
14. Unlawful Prescription of Dangerous Drugs.298
ii) Who are liable
With respect to No.
1. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall import or bring into the
Philippines any dangerous drug, regardless of the quantity and purity involved, including any
and all species of opium poppy or any part thereof or substances derived therefrom even for
floral, decorative and culinary purposes.
Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall import any controlled precursor
and essential chemical.
Any person, who, unless authorized under this Act, shall import
Philippines any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential
the use of a diplomatic passport, diplomatic facilities or any other means
official status intended to facilitate the unlawful entry of the same.
diplomatic passport shall be confiscated and canceled.
or bring into the
chemical through
involving his/her
In addition, the
Any person, who organizes, manages or acts as a "financier" of any of the illegal
activities prescribed in this Section
Any person, who acts as a "protector/coddler" of any violator of the provisions
under this Section.
2. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall sell, trade, administer, dispense,
deliver, give away to another, distribute dispatch in transit or transport any dangerous drug,
including any and all species of opium poppy regardless of the quantity and purity involved,
or shall act as a broker in any of such transactions.
Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall sell, trade, administer, dispense,
deliver, give away to another, distribute, dispatch in transit or transport any controlled
precursor and essential chemical, or shall act as a broker in such transactions.
294
Sec. 15
Sec. 16
296
Sec. 17
297
Sec. 18
298
Sec. 19
295
90
Drug pushers who use minors or mentally incapacitated individuals as runners,
couriers and messengers, or in any other capacity directly connected to the dangerous drugs
and/or controlled precursors and essential chemical trade.
Any person who organizes, manages or acts as a "financier" of any of the illegal
activities prescribed in this Section.
Any person, who acts as a "protector/coddler" of any violator of the provisions
under this Section.
3. Any person or group of persons who shall maintain a den, dive or resort where
any dangerous drug is used or sold in any form.
Any person or group of persons who shall maintain a den, dive, or resort where any
controlled precursor and essential chemical is used or sold in any form.
Any person who organizes, manages or acts as a "financier" of any of the illegal
activities prescribed in this Section.
Any person, who acts as a "protector/coddler" of any violator of the provisions
under this Section.
4. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall engage in the manufacture of any
dangerous drug.
Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall manufacture any controlled
precursor and essential chemical.
Any person, who organizes, manages or acts as a "financier" of any of the illegal
activities prescribed in this Section.
Any person, who acts as a "protector/coddler" of any violator of the provisions
under this Section.
5. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall illegally divert any controlled
precursor and essential chemical.
6. Any person who shall deliver, possess with intent to deliver, or manufacture with
intent to deliver equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia for dangerous
drugs, knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that it will be
used to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert,
produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain or conceal any
dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical in violation of this Act.
Any person, who uses a minor or a mentally incapacitated individual to deliver such
equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia for dangerous drugs.
91
7. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess any dangerous drug in
the quantities mentioned, regardless of the degree of purity thereof:
8. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess or have under his/her
control any equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for
smoking, consuming, administering, injecting, ingesting, or introducing any dangerous drug
into the body:
9. Any person found possessing any dangerous drug during a party, or at a social
gathering or meeting, or in the proximate company of at least two (2) persons.
10. Any person, who shall possess or have under his/her control any equipment,
instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for smoking, consuming,
administering, injecting, ingesting, or introducing any dangerous drug into the body, during
parties, social gatherings or meetings, or in the proximate company of at least two (2)
persons.
11. A person apprehended or arrested, who is found to be positive for use of any
dangerous drug, after a confirmatory test, … subject to the provisions of Article VIII299 of
this Act.
12. Any person, who shall plant, cultivate or culture marijuana, opium poppy or any
other plant regardless of quantity, which is or may hereafter be classified as a dangerous drug
or as a source from which any dangerous drug may be manufactured or derived
Any person, who organizes, manages or acts as a "financier" of any of the illegal
activities prescribed in this Section.
Any person, who acts as a "protector/coddler" of any violator of the provisions
under this Section.
13. Any practitioner, manufacturer, wholesaler, importer, distributor, dealer or
retailer who violates or fails to comply with the maintenance and keeping of the original
records of transactions on any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential
chemical in accordance with Section 40300 of this Act.
14. Any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall make or issue a prescription or
any other writing purporting to be a prescription for any dangerous drug.
299
300
Program for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Drug Dependents
Records Required for Transactions on Dangerous Drug and Precursors and Essential Chemicals
92
iii) Attempt or conspiracy, effect on liability
Any attempt or conspiracy to commit the following unlawful acts shall be penalized
by the same penalty prescribed for the commission of the same as provided under this Act:
(a) Importation of any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential
chemical;
(b) Sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and
transportation of any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical;
(c) Maintenance of a den, dive or resort where any dangerous drug is used in any
form;
(d) Manufacture of any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential
chemical; and
(e) Cultivation or culture of plants which are sources of dangerous drugs.301
(iv) Immunity from prosecution and punishment
Any person who has violated Sections 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 19,302 Article II of this
Act, who voluntarily gives information about any violation of Sections 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, and
16,303 Article II of this Act as well as any violation of the offenses mentioned if committed
by a drug syndicate, or any information leading to the whereabouts, identities and arrest of
all or any of the members thereof; and who willingly testifies against such persons as
described above, shall be exempted from prosecution or punishment for the offense with
reference to which his/her information of testimony were given, and may plead or prove the
giving of such information and testimony in bar of such prosecution.
Conditions:
(1) The information and testimony are necessary for the conviction of the persons
described above;
(2) Such information and testimony are not yet in the possession of the State;
(3) Such information and testimony can be corroborated on its material points;
(4) the informant or witness has not been previously convicted of a crime involving
moral turpitude, except when there is no other direct evidence available for the State other
than the information and testimony of said informant or witness; and
301
Sec. 26.
id.
303
id.
302
93
(5) The informant or witness shall strictly and faithfully comply without delay, any
condition or undertaking, reduced into writing, lawfully imposed by the State as further
consideration for the grant of immunity from prosecution and punishment.
Provided, further, That this immunity may be enjoyed by such informant or witness
who does not appear to be most guilty for the offense with reference to which his/her
information or testimony were given: Provided, finally, That there is no direct evidence
available for the State except for the information and testimony of the said informant or
witness.304
304
Sec. 33
94
6. Crimes Against Public Morals
Crimes
Grave scandal305
Elements/Persons liable
Offender performs an act
a. Highly scandalous as offending against decency or
good customs
b. Highly scandalous conduct does not expressly fall
within any other article of the RPC
c. Committed in a public place or within the public
knowledge or view.306
Immoral doctrines, obscene a. Those who publicly expound or proclaim doctrines
publications and exhibitions307
that are contrary to public morals
b. Authors of obscene literature, published with their
knowledge in any form
c. Editors publishing such obscene literature
d. Owners or operators of establishments selling
obscene literature
305
Art. 200
Grave scandal: consists of acts which are offensive to decency and good customs. They are committed
publicly and thus, give rise to public scandal to persons who have accidentally witnessed the acts
Decency: means properly observing the requirements of modesty, good taste, etc
Customs: refers to established usage, social conventions carried on by tradition and enforced by social
disapproval in case of violation
If the acts complained of are punishable under another provision of the RPC, Art 200 is not applicable
The essence of grave scandal is publicity and that the acts committed are not only contrary to morals
and good customs but must likewise be of such character as to cause public scandal to those witnessing it.
306
The public view is not required, it is sufficient if in public place. For public knowledge, it may occur
even in a private place; the number of people who sees it is not material).
307
Art. 201
Morals: implies conformity to generally accepted standards of goodness or rightness in conduct or
character
Test of obscenity: whether the matter has a tendency to deprave or corrupt the minds of those who are
open to immoral influences. A matter can also be considered obscene if it shocks the ordinary and
common sense of men as indecency.
Mere nudity in paintings and pictures is not obscene
Pictures w/ a slight degree of obscenity having no artistic value and intended for commercial purposes
fall within this article
Publicity is an essential element
95
e. Those who exhibit indecent or immoral plays,
scenes, acts or shows ion theaters, fairs, cinemas or
any other place
f. Those who sell, distribute, or exhibit prints,
engraving, sculptures or literature which are offensive
to morals
Vagrants
a. Those who have no apparent means of subsistence
and who have the physical ability to work yet neglect
to apply themselves to some useful calling
b. Persons found loitering around public and semipublic places without visible means of support
and
c. Persons tramping or wandering around the country
or the streets with no visible means of support
d. Idle or dissolute persons lodging in houses of illfame
e. Ruffians or pimps and those who habitually
associate with prostitutes309
f. Persons found loitering in inhabited or uninhabited
places belonging to others, without any lawful or
justifiable reason provided the act does not fall within
any other article of the RPC.
Prostitutes308
Women who habitually indulge in sexual intercourse
or lascivious conduct for money or profit310
308
Art. 202
may include even the rich
310
if a man indulges in the same conduct: vagrancy
309
96
7. Crimes Committed by Public Officers 311
Crimes
Elements/Persons liable
Knowingly rendering an unjust a. Offender is a judge
judgment312
b. Renders a judgment in the case submitted to him
for judgment
c. Judgment is unjust
d. Knowledge that the decision is unjust
Judgment
rendered
negligence313
through a. Offender is a judge
b. Renders a judgment in a case submitted to him for
decision
c. Judgment is manifestly unjust
d. Due to inexcusable negligence or ignorance
311
Art. 203
Public officer
a. Takes part in the performance of public functions in the Government, or
b. Performs public duties as an employee, agent or subordinate official in the gov’t or any of its
branches.
Public officers: embraces every public servant from the lowest to the highest rank
A government laborer is not a public officer. However, temporary performance by a laborer of public
functions makes him a public officer
Misfeasance: means improper performance of an act which might be properly be performed
Malfeasance: means performance of an act which ought not to be done
Nonfeasance: means omission of an act which ought to be done
312
Art. 204
Judgment: is a final consideration and determination by a court of competent jurisdiction of the issues
submitted to it in an action or proceeding
Unjust judgment: one which is contrary to law, or not supported by the evidence, or both
An unjust judgment may result from:
error (with bad faith)
ill-will or revenge
bribery
There must be evidence that the decision rendered is unjust. It is not presumed
Abuse of discretion or mere error of judgment cannot likewise serve as basis for rendering an unjust
judgment in the absence of proof or even an allegation of bad faith (motive or improper consideration).
313
Art. 205
Manifestly unjust judgment: one that is so contrary to law that even a person having meager
knowledge of the law cannot doubt the injustice
97
Unjust interlocutory order
314
a. Offender is a judge.
b. He performs any of the following acts:
1. knowingly renders
order or decree, or
unjust
interlocutory
2. renders a manifestly unjust interlocutory
order or decree through inexcusable negligence or
ignorance.
Malicious
delay
in
administration or justice315
the a. Offender is a judge.
b. There is a proceeding in his court.
c. He delays the administration of justice.
d. The delay is malicious, that is, the delay is caused
by the judge with deliberate intent to inflict damage
on either party in the case.
Dereliction of duty in
prosecution of offenses316
the a. Offender is a public officer or officer of the law
who has a duty to cause the prosecution of, or to
prosecute offenses.
b. There is dereliction of the duties of his office317
c. Offender acts with malice and deliberate intent to
314
Art. 206
Interlocutory order: one issued by the court deciding a collateral or incidental matter. It is not a final
determination of the issues of the action or proceeding
315
Art. 207
Mere delay without malice is not punishable
316
Art. 208
Prevaricacion: negligence and tolerance in the prosecution of an offense
There must be a duty on the part of the public officer to prosecute or move for the prosecution of the
offender. Note however, that a fiscal is under no compulsion to file an information based upon a
complaint if he is not convinced that the evidence before him does not warrant filing an action in court
The crime must be proved first before an officer can be convicted of dereliction of duty
A public officer who harbors, conceals, or assists in the escape of an offender, when it is his duty to
prosecute him is liable as principal in the crime of dereliction of duty in the prosecution of offenses. He is
not an accessory
Article not applicable to revenue officers
317
that is, knowing the commission of the crime, he does not cause (a) the prosecution of the criminal or
(b) knowing that a crime is about to be committed, he tolerates its commission (if gift/promise is a
consideration for his conduct: direct bribery)
98
favor the violator of the law.
Betrayal of trust by an attorney or a. Causing damage to client319 either
solicitor318
1. by any malicious breach of professional duty,
or
2. by inexcusable negligence or ignorance.
b. Revealing any of the secrets of his client learned
by him in his professional capacity320
c. Undertaking the defense of the opposing party of
the 1st client and/or having received confidential
information from the latter and without the latter’s
consent.321
Direct bribery322
a. Offender be a public officer within the scope of
Art 203.323
318
Art. 209. Not necessarily a public officer although all lawyers are officers of the court.
prejudice is essential
320
damage not necessary
321
id.
322
Art. 210
For purposes of this article, temporary performance of public functions is sufficient to constitute a
person a public officer. A private person may commit this crime only in the case in which custody of
prisoners is entrusted to him
Applicable also to assessors, arbitrators, appraisal and claim commissioners, experts or any other
person performing public duties
Cannot be frustrated, only attempted or consummated.
Bribery exists when the gift is:
a. voluntarily offered by a private person
b. solicited by the public officer and voluntarily delivered by the private person
c. solicited by the public officer but the private person delivers it out of fear of the consequences
should the public officer perform his functions (here the crime by giver is not corruption of public officials
due to involuntariness)
Actual receipt of the gift is not necessary. An accepted offer or promise of a gift is sufficient. However,
if the offer is not accepted, only the person offering the gift is liable for attempted corruption of a public
officer
The gift must have a value or capable of pecuniary estimation. It could be in the form of money,
property or services
If the act required of the public officer amounts to a crime and he commits it, he shall be liable for the
penalty corresponding to the crime
The third type of bribery and prevaricacion are similar offenses, both consisting of omissions to do an
act required to be performed. In direct bribery however, a gift or promise is given in consideration of the
omission. This is not necessary in prevaricacion
323
supra
319
99
b. Offender accepts an offer or promise or receives a
gift or present by himself or through another
c. Such offer or promise be accepted or gift/present
received by the public officer324
1. with a view to committing some crime325 or
2. in consideration of an execution if an act
which does not constitute a crime, but the act must
be unjust,326 or
3. to refrain from doing something which is his
official duty to do.
d. The act which the offender agrees to perform or
which he executes be connected with the
performance of his official duties
Indirect bribery327
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He accepts gifts.
c. Said gifts are offered to him by reason of his
office.
Qualified bribery328
a. Public officer entrusted with law enforcement
324
mere agreement consummates the crime
delivery of consideration is not necessary
326
delivery of consideration is necessary
327
Art. 211
The gift is given in anticipation of future favor from the public officer
There must be clear intention on the part of the public officer to take the gift offered and consider the
property as his own for that moment. Mere physical receipt unaccompanied by any other sign,
circumstance or act to show such acceptance is not sufficient to convict the officer
There is no attempted or frustrated indirect bribery
The principal distinction between direct and indirect bribery is that in the former, the officer agrees to
perform or refrain from doing an act in consideration of the gift or promise. In the latter case, it is not
necessary that the officer do any act. It is sufficient that he accepts the gift offered by reason of his office
Public officers receiving gifts and private persons giving gifts on any occasion, including Christmas are
liable under P.D. 46.
The criminal penalty or imprisonment is distinct from the administrative penalty of suspension from
the service
328
Art. 211-A
325
100
b. Refrains from arresting/prosecuting offender for
crime punishable by reclusion perpetua and/or death329
c. In consideration of any offer, promise or gift
Corruption of public officials330
a. Offender makes offers or promises or gives gifts
or present to a public officer.
b. He offers or promises are made or the gifts or
presents given to a public officer, under
circumstances that will make the public officer liable
for direct bribery or indirect bribery
Frauds against public treasury331
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He should have taken advantage of his office, that
is, he intervened in the transaction in his official
capacity.
c. He entered into an agreement with any interested
party or speculator or made use of any other scheme
with regard to (a) furnishing supplies (b) the making
of contracts, or (c) the adjustment or settlement of
account relating to a public property or funds.
d. Accused had intent to defraud the government.
329
if lower penalty than stated, the crime is direct bribery
Art. 212
The offender is the giver of the gift or the offeror of the promise. The act may or may not be
accomplished
Under P.D. 749, givers of bribes and other gifts as well as accomplices in bribery and other graft cases
are immune from prosecution under the following circumstances:
a. information refers to consummated violations
b. necessity of the information or testimony
c. the information and testimony are not yet in the possession of the State
d. information and testimony can be corroborated on its material points
e. informant has been previously convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude
331
Art. 213, par. 1
Notes:
a. The public officer must act in his official capacity
b. The felony is consummated by merely entering into an agreement with any interested party
or speculator or by merely making use of any scheme to defraud the Government
330
101
Illegal exactions332
a. Offender is a public officer entrusted with the
collection of taxes, licenses, fees and other imposts.
b. He is guilty of any of the following acts or
omissions:
1. demanding, directly or indirectly the payment
of sums different from or larger than those
authorized by law, or
2. failing voluntarily to issue a receipt, as
provided by law, for any sum of money collected by
him officially, or
3. Collecting or receiving, directly or indirectly, by
way of payment or otherwise, things or objects of a
nature different from that provided by law.
Other frauds333
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He takes advantage of his official position.
c. He commits any of the frauds or deceits
enumerated in Arts. 315 and 316.334
Prohibited transactions335
a. Offender is an appointive public officer.
332
Mere demand of a larger or different amount is sufficient to consummate the crime. The essence is the
improper collection (damage to gov’t is not required)
If sums are received without demanding the same, a felony under this article is not committed.
However, if the sum is given as a sort of gift or gratification, the crime is indirect bribery
When there is deceit in demanding larger fees, the crime committed is estafa
May be complexed with malversation
Officers and employees of the BIR or Customs are not covered by the article
The NIRC of Administrative Code is the applicable law
333
Art. 214
RTC has jurisdiction over the offense because the principal penalty is disqualification
334
estafa; swindling
335
Art. 215
Examples of transactions of exchange or speculation are: buying and selling stocks, commodities, land
etc. wherein one hopes to take advantage of an expected rise or fall in price
Purchasing of stocks or shares in a company is simple investment and not a violation of the article.
However, regularly buying securities for resale is speculation
102
b. He becomes interested, directly or indirectly, in
any transaction of exchange or speculation.
c. The transaction takes place within the territory
subject to his jurisdiction.
He becomes interested in the transaction during his
incumbency.
Possession of prohibited interests a. Public officer – in any contract or business in
by a public officer336
which it is his official duty to intervene.
b. Experts, arbitrators and private accountants – in
any contract or transaction connected with the estate
or property in the approval, distribution or
adjudication of which they had acted.
c. Guardians and executors – with respect to
property belonging to their wards or the estate.
Malversation of public funds or a. Offender be a public officer338
property337
336
Art. 216
Actual fraud is not necessary.
Act is punished because of the possibility that fraud may be committed or that the officer may place
his own interest above that of the Government or party which he represents
337
Art. 217
Malversation is otherwise called embezzlement
It can be committed either with malice or through negligence or imprudence
In determining whether the offender is a public officer, what is controlling is the nature of his office
and not the designation
The funds or property must be received in an official capacity. Otherwise, the crime committed is
estafa
When a public officer has official custody or the duty to collect or receive funds due the government,
or the obligation to account for them, his misappropriation of the same constitutes malversation
A public officer who has qualified charge of gov’t property without authority to part with its physical
possession upon order of an immediate superior, he cannot be held liable under this article
Private individuals can also be held liable for malversation under 2 circumstances:
a. when they are in conspiracy with public officers; and
b. when they have charge of national, provincial or municipal funds, revenues or property in
any capacity
In malversation through negligence, the negligence of the accountable public officer must be
positively and clearly shown to be inexcusable, approximating fraud or malice
The measure of negligence to be observed is the standard of care commensurate with the occasion
When malversation is not committed through negligence, lack of criminal intent or good faith is a
defense
103
b. He had the custody or control of funds or
property339
c. Those funds or property were public funds or
property340
d. He:
1. Appropriated the funds or property
2. Took or misappropriated them
3. Consented or, through abandonment or
negligence, permitted any other person to take such
public funds or property.341
Failure of accountable officer to a. Offender is a public officer, whether in the service
render accounts342
or separated therefrom.
b. He must be an accountable officer for public
funds property.
c. He is required by law or regulation to render
accounts to the commission on audit, or to a
provincial auditor.
c. He fails to do so for a period of two months after
such accounts should be rendered.
The failure of a public officer to have any duly forthcoming public funds or property upon demand, by
any authorized officer, shall be prima facie evidence that he has put such missing funds or property to
personal use. However, if at the very moment when the shortage is discovered, the accountable officer is
notified, and he immediately pays the amount from his pocket, the presumption does not arise
Returning the embezzled funds is not exempting, it is only mitigating
There is also no malversation when the accountable officer is obliged to go out of his office and
borrow the amount corresponding to the shortage and later, the missing amount is found in an
unaccustomed place
A person whose negligence made possible the commission of malversation by another can be held
liable as a principal by indispensable cooperation
Demand as well as damage to the government are not necessary elements
338
or private person if entrusted with public funds or connived with public officers
339
If not accountable for the funds, theft or qualified theft
340
Even if private funds if attached, seized, deposited or commingled with public funds
341
It is not necessary that the offender profited thereby. His being remiss in the duty of safekeeping
public funds violates the trust reposed
342
Art. 218
Demand and misappropriation are not necessary
104
Failure of a responsible public a. Offender is a public officer.
officer to render accounts before
leaving the country343
b. He must be an accountable officer for public
funds or property.
c. He must have unlawfully left345 the Philippines
without securing from the Commission on Audit a
certificate showing that his accounts have been
finally settled.
Illegal use of public funds or a. Offender is a public officer.
property344
b. There is public fund or property under his
administration.
c. Such public fund or property has been
appropriated by law or ordinance346
d. He applies the same to a public use other than for
which such fund or property has been appropriated
by law or ordinance
Failure to make delivery of public a. Offender has gov’t funds or property in his
funds or property347
possession
b. He is under obligation to either:
1. make payment from such funds
343
Art. 219
The act of leaving the Philippines must be unauthorized or not permitted by law
344
Art. 220. Technical malversation.
To distinguish this article with Art. 217, just remember that in illegal use of public funds or property,
the offender does not derive any personal gain, the funds are merely devoted to some other public use
Absence of damage is only a mitigating circumstance
345
or be on the point of leaving
346
without this, it is simple malversation even if applied to other public purpose.
347
Art. 221
Penalty is based on value of funds/property to be delivered
Persons who may be held liable under Arts. 217 to 221:
1. Private individual who, in any capacity, have charge of any national, provincial or municipal funds,
revenue, or property
2. Administrator or depositary of funds or property that has been attached, seized or deposited by
public authority, even if owned by a private individual
105
2. to deliver property in his custody or
administration when ordered by competent authority
c. He maliciously fails or refuses to do so
Conniving with or consenting to a. Offender is a public officer (on duty).
evasion348
b. He is charged with the conveyance or custody of a
prisoner, either detention prisoner or prisoner by
final judgment.
c. Such prisoner escaped from his custody
d. He was in connivance with the prisoner in the
latter’s escape
Evasion through negligence349
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He is charged with the conveyance or custody of a
prisoner, either detention prisoner or prisoner by
final judgment.
c. Such prisoner escapes through his negligence.350
Escape of prisoners under the a. Offender is a private person352
custody of a person not a public
officer351
b. The conveyance or custody of a prisoner or
348
Art. 223
Detention prisoner: refers to a person in legal custody, arrested for and charged with some crime or
public offense
The release of a detention prisoner who could not be delivered to judicial authorities within the time
fixed by law is not infidelity in the custody of a prisoner. Neither is mere leniency or laxity in the
performance of duty constitutive of infidelity
There is real and actual evasion of service of sentence when the custodian permits the prisoner to
obtain a relaxation of his imprisonment
349
Art. 224
The article punishes a definite laxity which amounts to deliberate non-performance of a duty
The fact that the public officer recaptured the prisoner who had escaped from his custody does not
afford complete exculpation
The liability of an escaping prisoner:
a. if he is a prisoner by final judgment, he is liable for evasion of service (Art. 157)
b. if he is a detention prisoner, he does not incur criminal liability (unless cooperating with the
offender)
350
Penalty based on nature of imprisonment
106
person under arrest is confined to him.
c. The prisoner or person under arrest escapes.
d. Offender consents to the escape of the prisoner
or person under arrest, or that the escape takes place
through his negligence
Removal,
concealment,
destruction of documents353
or a. Offender be a public officer.
b. He abstracts, destroys or conceals a document or
paper.
c. Said document or paper should have been
entrusted to such public officer by reason of his
office.
d. Damage, whether serious or not, to a third party
or to the public interest should have been caused.
Officer breaking seal354
a. Offender is a public officer.
351
Art. 225
This article is not applicable if a private person made the arrest and he consented to the escape of the
person he arrested
352
must be on duty
353
Art. 226
The document must be complete and one by which a right could be established or an obligation could
be extinguished
Books, periodicals, pamphlets etc. are not documents
“Papers” would include checks, promissory notes and paper money
A post office official who retained the mail without forwarding the letters to their destination is guilty
of infidelity in the custody of papers
Removal of a document or paper must be for an illicit purpose. There is illicit purpose when the
intention of the offender is to:
a. tamper with it
b. to profit by it
c. to commit any act constituting a breach of trust in the official thereof
Removal is consummated upon removal or secreting away of the document from its usual place. It is
immaterial whether or not the illicit purpose of the offender has been accomplished
Infidelity in the custody of documents through destruction or concealment does not require proof of
an illicit purpose
Delivering the document to the wrong party is infidelity in the custody thereof
The damage may either be great or small
The offender must be in custody of such documents
354
Art. 227
It is the breaking of the seals and not the opening of a closed envelope which is punished
Damage or intent to cause damage is not necessary; damage is presumed
107
b. He is charged with the custody of papers or
property.
c. These papers or property are sealed by proper
authority.
He breaks the seals or permits them to be broken.
Opening of closed documents355
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. Any closed papers, documents, or objects are
entrusted to his custody.
c. He opens or permits to be opened said closed
papers, documents or objects.
d. He does not have proper authority.
Revelation of secret by an officer356
1. By reason of his official a. Offender is a public officer.
capacity
b. He knows of a secret by reason of his official
capacity.
c. He reveals such secret without authority or
justifiable reasons.
d. Damage, great or small, be caused to the public
interest.
355
Art. 228
Damage also not necessary
356
Art. 229
Secret must affect public interest
Secrets of a private individual is not included
Espionage for the benefit of another State is not contemplated by the article. If regarding military
secrets or secrets affecting state security, the crime may be espionage
108
2. Delivering wrongfully papers a. Offender is a public officer.
or copies of papers of which he may
have charge357 and which should not b. He has charge of papers.
be published:
c. Those papers should not be published.
d. He delivers those papers or copies thereof to a
third person.
e. The delivery is wrongful.
f. Damage be caused to public interest.
Public officer revealing secrets of a. Offender is a public officer
private individual358
b. He knows of the secret of a private individual by
reason of his office.
c. He reveals such secrets without authority or
justification reason.
Open disobedience359
a. Offender is a judicial or executive officer.
b. There is a judgment, decision or order of superior
authority.
c. Such judgment, decision or order was made
within the scope of the jurisdiction of the superior
authority and issued with all the legal formalities.
d. Offender without any legal justification openly
357
“Charge”: means custody or control. If he is merely entrusted with the papers and not with the custody
thereof, he is not liable under this article
If the papers contain secrets which should not be published, and the public officer having charge
thereof removes and delivers them wrongfully to a third person, the crime is revelation of secrets. On the
other hand, if the papers do not contain secrets, their removal for an illicit purpose is infidelity in the
custody of documents
Damage is essential to the act committed
358
Art. 230
Revelation to one person is sufficient
If the offender is an attorney, he is properly liable under Art 209 (betrayal of trust by an attorney)
Damage to private individual is not necessary
359
Art. 231
Judgment should have been rendered in a hearing and issued within proper jurisdiction with all legal
solemnities required
109
refuses to execute the said judgment, decision or
under which he is duty bound to obey.
Disobedience to order of superior a. Offender is a public officer.
officer when said order was
suspended by inferior officer360
b. An order is issued by his superior for execution.
c. He has for any reason suspended the execution
of such order.
d. His superior disapproves the suspension of the
execution of the order.
e. Offender disobeys his superior despite the
disapproval of the suspension
Refusal of assistance361
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. A competent authority demands from the
offender that he lend his cooperation towards the
administration of justice or other public service.
c. Offender fails to do so maliciously.
Refusal
office362
to
discharge
elective a. Offender is elected by popular election to a public
office.
b. He refuses to be sworn in or discharge the duties
of said office.
c. There is no legal motive for such refusal to be
sworn in or to discharge the duties of said office.
360
Art. 232
A public officer is not liable if the order of the superior is illegal
361
Art. 233
Involves a request from one public officer to another
Damage to the public interest or third party is essential
Demand is necessary
362
Art. 234
Even if the person did not run for the office on his own will as the Constitution provides that every
citizen may be required to render service
110
Maltreatment of prisoners363
a. Offender is a public officer or employee.
b. He has under charge a prisoner or detention
prisoner364
c. He maltreats such prisoner in either of the
following manners:
1. by overdoing himself in the correction or
handling of a prisoner or detention prisoner under
his charge either –
i. by the imposition of punishments not
authorized by the regulations, or
ii. by inflicting such punishments365 in a cruel
and humiliating manner, or
2. by maltreating such prisoner to extort a
confession or to obtain some information from the
prisoner.
Anticipation of duties of a public a. Offender is entitled to hold a public office or
office366
employment, either by election or appointment.
b. The law requires that he should first be sworn in
and/or should first give a bond.
c. He assumes the performance of the duties and
powers of such office.
d. He has not taken his oath of office and./or given
the bond required by law.
Prolonging performance of duties a. Offender is holding a public office.
and powers367
363
Art. 235
The public officer must have actual charge of the prisoner in order to be held liable
To be considered a detention prisoner, the person arrested must be placed in jail even for just a short
while
Offender may also be held liable for physical injuries or damage caused
364
otherwise the crime is physical injuries
365
those authorized
366
Art. 236
367
Art. 237
111
b. The period provided by law, regulations or special
provisions for holding such office has already
expired.
c. He continues to exercise the duties and powers of
such office.
Abandonment
position368
of
office
or a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He formally resigns from his position.
c. His resignation has not yet been accepted.
d. He abandons his office to the detriment of the
public service.
Usurpation of legislative powers369
a. Offender is an executive or judicial officer.
b. He
1. makes general rules or regulations beyond
the scope of his authority or
2. attempts to repeal a law or
3. suspends the execution thereof.
Usurpation
functions370
of
executive a. Offender is a judge.
The article contemplates officers who have been suspended, separated or declared over-aged or
dismissed
368
Art. 238
There is actual abandonment through resignation to evade the discharge of duties
There must be formal or written resignation
The offense is qualified if the purpose behind the abandonment is to evade the discharge of duties
consisting of preventing, prosecuting or punishing any of the crimes against national security. The penalty
is higher.
Dereliction of Duty - public officer does not abandon his office but merely fails to prosecute a violation
of the law.
369
Art. 239
370
Art. 240
Legislative officers are not liable for usurpation of executive functions
112
b. He
1. assumes a power pertaining to the executive
authorities, or
2. obstructs executive authorities in the lawful
exercise of their powers.
Usurpation of judicial functions371
a. Offender is an officer of the executive branch of
the government.
b. He
1. assumes judicial powers, or
2. obstruct the execution of any order decision
rendered by any judge within his jurisdiction.
Disobeying
request
372
disqualification
for a. Offender is a public officer.
b. A proceeding is pending before such public
officer.
c. There is a question brought before the proper
authority regarding his jurisdiction, which is not yet
decided.
d. He has been lawfully required to refrain from
continuing the proceeding.
e. He continues the proceeding.
Addressing orders or requests by a. Offender is an executive officer.
executive officer to any judicial
authority373
b. He addresses any order or suggestion to any
judicial authority.
371
Art. 241
A mayor is guilty under this article when he investigates a case while a justice of the peace is in the
municipality
372
Art. 242
373
Art. 243
Legislative or judicial officers are not liable under this article
113
c. The order or suggestion relates to any case or
business coming within the exclusive jurisdiction of
the courts of justice.
Unlawful appointments374
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He nominates or appoints a person to a public
office.
c. Such person lacks the legal qualification therefor.
d. Offender knows that his nominee or appointee
lacks the qualification at the time he made the
nomination or appointment.
Abuses against chastity375
a. Offender is a public officer.
b. He solicits or makes immoral or indecent advances to a
woman.
c. Such woman must be –
1. interested in matters pending before the offender
for decision, or with respect to which he is required to
submit a report to or consult with a superior officer, or
2. under the custody of the offender who is a warden
or other public officer directly charged with care and
custody of prisoners or person under arrest, or
3. the wife, daughter, sister or relative within the
same degree by affinity of the person in the custody of
the offender.
374
Art. 244
Recommending, knowing that the person recommended is not qualified is not a crime
There must be a law providing for the qualifications of a person to be nominated or appointed to a
public office
375
Art. 245
The mother of the person in the custody of the public officer is not included
Solicit: means to propose earnestly and persistently something unchaste and immoral to a woman
The advances must be immoral or indecent
The crime is consummated by mere proposal
Proof of solicitation is not necessary when there is sexual intercourse
114
a. Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act 376
i) Coverage
Certain acts of public officers and private persons alike which constitute graft or
corrupt practices or which may lead thereto.
ii) Punishable acts
a.
Any public officer who shall perform any of the following acts:
1. Persuading, inducing or influencing another public officer to perform an
act constituting a violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent
authority or an offense in connection with the official duties of the latter, or allowing
himself to be persuaded, induced, or influenced to commit such violation or offense.
2. Directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, share,
percentage, or benefit for himself or for any other person in connection with any
contract or transaction between the government and any other party wherein the
public officer in his official capacity has to intervene under the law.
3. Directly, or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, or other
pecuniary or material benefit, for himself or for another, from any person for whom
the public officer, in any manner of capacity, has secured or obtained, or will secure
or obtain, any Government permit or license, in consideration for the held given or
to be given.
4. Accepting or having any member of his family accept employment in a
private enterprise which has pending official business with him during the pendency
thereof or within one year after its termination.
5. Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or
giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage, or preference in the
discharge of his official, administrative or judicial function through manifest
partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence. This provision shall
apply to officers and employees of offices or government corporations charged with
the grant of licenses or permits or other concessions.
6. Neglecting or refusing, after due demand or request, without sufficient
justification, to act within a reasonable time on any matter pending before him for
the purpose of obtaining directly or indirectly, from any person interested in the
matter some pecuniary or material benefit or advantage, or for the purpose of
favoring his own interest of giving undue advantage in favor of or discriminating
against any other interested party.
376
R.A. 3019, as amended
115
8. Entering, on behalf of the Government, into any contract or transaction
manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the same, whether or not the public
officer profited or will profit thereby.
9. Directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business,
contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or take part in his
official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the constitution or by any law from
having any interest.
10. Directly or indirectly becoming interested, for personal gain, or having a
material interest in any transaction or act requiring the approval of a board, panel, or
group of which he is a member, and which exercises discretion in such approval,
even if he votes against the same or does not participate in the action of the board,
committee, panel or group.
11. Knowingly approving or granting any license, permit, privilege, or benefit
in favor of any person not qualified for or not legally entitled to such license, permit,
privilege, or advantage, or of a mere representative or dummy of one who is not so
qualified or entitled.
12. Divulging valuable information of a confidential character, acquired by
his office or by him on account of his official position to unauthorized persons, or
releasing such information in advance of its authorized release date.
b. Any person having family or close personal relation with any public official who
shall capitalize or exploit or take advantage of such family or close personal relation by
directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any present, gift, or material, or pecuniary
advantage from any person having some business, transaction, application, request, or
contact with the government in which such public official has to intervene.377
c. Any person who shall knowingly induce or cause any public official to commit
any of the offenses under (A).378
d. Spouse or any relative, by consanguinity or affinity, within the 3rd civil degree, of
the president of the Philippines, the vice-president, the president of the Senate, or speaker of
the house of Representatives, who shall intervene, directly or indirectly, in any business
transaction, contract or application with the gov’t.379
377
Sec. 4
ibid.
379
Sec. 5
378
116
iii) Exceptions
1. Any person who, prior to the assumption of office of any of the above officials to
whom he is related, has been already dealing with the gov’t along the same line of business;
2. Any transaction, contract or application already existing or pending at the time of
such assumption of public office;
3. Any application filed by him, the approval of which is not discretionary on the
part of the official(s) concerned but depends upon compliance with requisites provided by
law, or rules or regulations issued pursuant to law;
4. Any act lawfully performed an official capacity or in the exercise of a profession.
5. Any member of congress, during the term for which he has been elected, who
shall acquire or receive any personal pecuniary interest in any specific business enterprise
which shall be directly and particularly favored or benefited by any law or resolution
authored by him previously approved or adopted by Congress during his term.
6. Any public officer who shall fail to file a true, detailed and sworn statement of
assets and liabilities within 30 days after assuming office and thereafter on or before the 15 th
day of April following the close of every calendar year, as well as upon the expiration of his
term of office, or upon his resignation or separation from office.380
7. Unsolicited gifts or presents of small or insignificant value offered or given as a
mere ordinary token of gratitude of friendship according to local customs or usage.381
380
381
Sec. 7
Sec. 14
117
b. Anti-Plunder Act382
i) Definition of terms
Public Officer
Any person holding any public office in the
Government of the Republic of the
Philippines by virtue of an appointment,
election or contract.
Government
Includes the National Government, and any
of
its
subdivisions,
agencies
or
instrumentalities, including governmentowned or -controlled corporations and their
subsidiaries.
Person
Includes any natural or juridical person,
unless the context indicates otherwise.383
ii) Ill-gotten wealth
Any asset, property, business enterprise or material possession of any person within
the purview of Section Two (2)384 hereof, acquired by him directly or indirectly through
dummies, nominees, agents, subordinates and/or business associates by any combination or
series of the following means or similar schemes:
1) Through misappropriation, conversion, misuse, or malversation of public funds or
raids on the public treasury;
2) By receiving, directly or indirectly, any commission, gift, share, percentage,
kickbacks or any other form of pecuniary benefit from any person and/or entity in
connection with any government contract or project or by reason of the office or position of
the public officer concerned;
3) By the illegal or fraudulent conveyance or disposition of assets belonging to the
National Government or any of its subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities or
government-owned or -controlled corporations and their subsidiaries;
4) By obtaining, receiving or accepting directly or indirectly any shares of stock,
equity or any other form of interest or participation including promise of future employment
in any business enterprise or undertaking;
382
R.A. 7080, as amended
Sec. 1 (a-c)
384
infra
383
118
5) By establishing agricultural, industrial or commercial monopolies or other
combinations and/or implementation of decrees and orders intended to benefit particular
persons or special interests; or
6) By taking undue advantage of official position, authority, relationship, connection
or influence to unjustly enrich himself or themselves at the expense and to the damage and
prejudice of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines.385
iii) Plunder
Any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with members of his family,
relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates or other persons,
amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt
criminal acts as described in Section 1 (d)386 hereof in the aggregate amount or total value of
at least Fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00) shall be guilty of the crime of plunder and shall
be punished by reclusion perpetua to death.
Any person who participated with the said public officer in the commission of an
offense contributing to the crime of plunder shall likewise be punished for such offense. In
the imposition of penalties, the degree of participation and the attendance of mitigating and
extenuating circumstances, as provided by the Revised Penal Code, shall be considered by
the court. The court shall declare any and all ill-gotten wealth and their interests and other
incomes and assets including the properties and shares of stocks derived from the deposit or
investment thereof forfeited in favor of the State.387
iv) Series / Combination388
v) Pattern
For purposes of establishing the crime of plunder, it shall not be necessary to prove
each and every criminal act done by the accused in furtherance of the scheme or conspiracy
to amass, accumulate or acquire ill-gotten wealth, it being sufficient to establish beyond
reasonable doubt a pattern of overt or criminal acts indicative of the overall unlawful scheme
or conspiracy.389
385
Sec. 1 (d)
supra
387
Sec. 2, as amended by R.A. 7659.
388
see Plunder, supra
389
Sec. 4.
386
119
c. Human Security Act of 2007390
i) Failure to deliver suspect to proper judicial authority391
The penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall
be imposed upon any police or law enforcement personnel who has apprehended or
arrested, detained and taken custody of a person charged with or suspected of the crime of
terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism and fails to deliver such charged or suspected
person to the proper judicial authority within the period of three days.
ii) Infidelity in the custody of detained persons
Any public officer who has direct custody of a detained person or under the
provisions of this Act and who by his deliberate act, misconduct, or inexcusable negligence
causes or allows the escape of such detained person shall be guilty of an offense and shall
suffer the penalty of:
(a) twelve (12) years and one day to twenty (20) years of imprisonment, if the
detained person has already been convicted and sentenced in a final judgment of a
competent court; and
(b) six years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment, if the detained person
has not been convicted and sentenced in a final judgment of a competent court.392
iii) False prosecution
Upon acquittal, any person who is accused of terrorism shall be entitled to the
payment of damages in the amount of Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) for every
day that he or she has been detained or deprived of liberty or arrested without a warrant as a
result of such an accusation. The amount of damages shall be automatically charged against
the appropriations of the police agency or the Anti-Terrorism Council that brought or
sanctioned the filing of the charges against the accused. It shall also be released within fifteen
(15) days from the date of the acquittal of the accused. The award of damages mentioned
above shall be without prejudice to the right of the acquitted accused to file criminal or
administrative charges against those responsible for charging him with the case of terrorism.
Any officer, employee, personnel, or person who delays the release or refuses to
release the amounts awarded to the individual acquitted of the crime of terrorism shall suffer
the penalty of six (6) months of imprisonment.
If the deductions are less than the amounts due to the detained persons, the amount
needed to complete the compensation shall be taken from the current appropriations for
intelligence, emergency, social or other funds of the Office of the President.
390
R.A. 9372
Sec. 20.
392
Sec. 44.
391
120
In the event that the amount cannot be covered by the current budget of the police
or law enforcement agency concerned, the amount shall be automatically included in the
appropriations of the said agency for the coming year.393
393
Sec. 50
121
8. Crimes Against Persons
Crimes
Parricide394
Elements/Requisites
a. A person is killed.
b. The deceased is killed by the accused.
c. The deceased is the father, mother, or child,
whether legitimate or illegitimate, or a legitimate
other ascendant or other descendant, or the
legitimate spouse of the accused.
Death or physical injuries under a. A legally married person or parent surprises his
exceptional circumstances395
spouse or daughter396 in the act of committing sexual
intercourse with another person
b. He/she kills any or both of them or inflicts upon
any or both of them any serious physical injury in
the act or immediately thereafter
394
Art. 246
The relationship of the offender with the victim is the essential element of the felony
Parents and children are not included in the term “ascendants” or “descendants”
The other ascendant or descendant must be legitimate. On the other hand, the father, mother or child
may be legitimate or illegitimate
The child should not be less than 3 days old. Otherwise, the offense is infanticide
Relationship must be alleged
A stranger who cooperates in committing parricide is liable for murder or homicide
Even if the offender did not know that the person he had killed is his son, he is still liable for parricide
because the law does not require knowledge of the relationship
395
Art. 247
Article does not define or penalize a felony
Not necessary that the parent be legitimate
Article applies only when the daughter is single
Surprise: means to come upon suddenly or unexpectedly
Art 247 is applicable when the accused did not see his spouse in the act sexual intercourse with another
person. However, it is enough that circumstances reasonably show that the carnal act is being committed
or has been committed
Sexual intercourse does not include preparatory acts
Immediately thereafter: means that the discovery, escape, pursuit and the killing must all form parts of
one continuous act
The killing must be the direct by-product of the rage of the accused
No criminal liability is incurred when less serious or slight physical injuries are inflicted. Moreover, in
case third persons caught in the crossfire suffer physical injuries, the accused is not liable. The principle
that one is liable for the consequences of his felonious act is not applicable because he is not committing
a felony
396
the latter must be under 18 and living with them
122
c. He has not promoted or facilitated the
prostitution of his wife or daughter, or that he has
not consented to the infidelity of the other spouse.
Murder397
a. A person was killed.
b. The accused killed him.
c. The killing was attended by any of the following
qualifying circumstances:
1. with treachery, taking advantage of superior
strength, with the aid or armed men, or employing
means to weaken the defense or of means or
persons to insure or afford impunity
2. in consideration of price, reward or promise
3. by means of inundation, fire, poison,
explosion, shipwreck, stranding of vessel, derailment
or assault upon a street car or locomotive, fall of
airship, by means of motor vehicles or with the use
of any other means involving great waste or ruin
4. on occasion of any of the calamities
enumerated in the preceding paragraph, or of an
earthquake, eruption of a volcano, destructive
cyclone, epidemic or any other public calamity
5. with evident premeditation
6. with cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanely
augmenting the suffering of the victim or outraging
or scoffing at his person or corpse,
7. The killing is not parricide or infanticide.
397
Art. 248
The victim must be killed in order to consummate the offense. Otherwise, it would be attempted or
frustrated murder
Murder will exist with only one of the circumstances. The other circumstances are absorbed or
included in one qualifying circumstance. They cannot be considered as generic aggravating circumstances
Any of the qualifying circumstances must be alleged in the information. Otherwise, they will only be
considered as generic aggravating circumstances
Treachery and premeditation are inherent in murder with the use of poison
123
Homicide398
a. A person was killed.
b. The accused killed him without any justifying
circumstances.
c. The accused had the intention to kill, which is
presumed.
d. The killing was not attended by any of the
qualifying circumstances of murder, or by that of
parricide or infanticide.
Death in a tumultous affray399
a. There be several persons.
b. They did not compose groups organized for the
common purpose of assaulting and attacking each
other reciprocally.
c. These several persons quarreled and assaulted one
another in a confused and tumultuous manner.
d. Someone was killed in the course of the affray.
e. It cannot be ascertained who actually killed the
deceased.
f. The person or persons who inflicted serious
physical injuries or who used violence can be
identified.
398
Art. 249
Intent to kill is conclusively presumed when death resulted. Hence, evidence of intent to kill is required
only in attempted or frustrated homicide
There is no crime of frustrated homicide through negligence
When the wounds that caused death were inflicted by 2 different persons, even if they were not in
conspiracy, each one of them is guilty of homicide
In all crimes against persons in which the death of the victim is an element, there must be satisfactory
evidence of (1) the fact of death and (2) the identity of the victim
399
Art. 251
Tumultuous affray exists hen at least 4 persons take part in it
When there are 2 identified groups of men who assaulted each other, there is no tumultuous affray
Persons liable are:
a. person/s who inflicted serious physical injuries
b. if it is not known who inflicted serious physical injuries on the deceased, all persons who used
violence upon the person of the victim
124
Physical injuries inflicted in a a. There is a tumultuous affray as referred to in the
tumultous affray400
preceding article.
b. A participant or some participants thereof suffer
serious physical injuries or physical injuries
of a less serious nature only.
c. The person responsible therefor cannot be
identified.
d. All those who appear to have used violence upon
the person of the offended party are known.
Giving assistance to suicide401
a. Assisting another to commit suicide, whether the
suicide is consummated or not
b. Lending his assistance to another to commit
suicide to the extent of doing the killing himself.
Discharge of firearms402
a. Offender discharges a firearm against or at
another person.
b. Offender has no intention to kill that person.
400
Art. 252
Art. 253
A person who attempts to commit suicide is not criminally liable
A pregnant woman who tried to commit suicide by means of poison but instead of dying, the fetus in
her womb was expelled, is not liable for abortion
Assistance to suicide is different from mercy-killing. Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly putting to
death a person suffering from some incurable disease. In this case, the person does not want to die. A
doctor who resorts to euthanasia may be held liable for murder
Penalty is mitigated if suicide is not successful
402
Art. 254
The offender must shoot at another with any firearm without intention of killing him. If the firearm is
not discharged at a person, the act is not punished under this article
A discharge towards the house of the victim is not discharge of firearm. On the other hand, firing a gun
against the house of the offended party at random, not knowing in what part of the house the people
were, it is only alarm under Art. 155.
Usually, the purpose of the offender is only to intimidate or frighten the offended party
Intent to kill is negated by the fact that the distance between the victim and the offender is 200 yards
A person can be held liable for discharge even if the gun was not pointed at the offended party when it
fired for as long as it was initially aimed at or against the offended party
401
125
Infanticide403
a. A child was killed.
b. The deceased child was less than three (3) days
(72 hours) of age.
c. The accused killed the said child.
Intentional abortion404
a. There is a pregnant woman.
b. Violence is exerted, or drugs or beverages
administered, or that the accused otherwise acts
upon such pregnant woman.
c. As a result of the use of violence or drugs or
beverages upon her, or any other act of the accused,
the fetus dies, either in the womb or after having
been expelled therefrom.
d. The abortion is intended.
Unintentional abortion405
a. There is a pregnant woman.
b. Violence is used upon such pregnant woman
without intending an abortion.
c. The violence is intentionally exerted.
d. As a result of the violence that fetus dies, either in
403
Art. 255
When the offender is the father, mother or legitimate ascendant, he shall suffer the penalty prescribed
for parricide. If the offender is any other person, the penalty is that for murder. In either case, the proper
qualification for the offense is infanticide
When infanticide is committed by the mother or maternal grandmother in order to conceal the
dishonor, such fact is only mitigating
The delinquent mother who claims that she committed the offense to conceal the dishonor must be of
good reputation. Hence, if she is a prostitute, she is not entitled to a lesser penalty because she has no
honor to conceal
There is no infanticide when the child was born dead, or although born alive it could not sustain an
independent life when it was killed
404
Art. 256
405
Art. 257
Unintentional abortion can also be committed through negligence
The accused can only be held liable if he knew that the woman was pregnant
If there is no intention to cause abortion and neither was violence exerted, arts 256 and 257 does not
apply
126
the womb or after having been expelled therefrom.
Abortion practiced
woman herself or
parents406
by
by
the a. There is a pregnant woman who has suffered an
her abortion.
b. The abortion is intended.
c. The abortion is caused by –
1. the pregnant woman herself
2. any other person, with her consent, or
3. any of her parents, with her consent for the
purpose of concealing her dishonor.
Abortion
practiced
by
a a. There is a pregnant woman who has suffered an
physician or midwife and abortion.
dispensing of abortives407
b. The abortion is intended.
c. Offender, who must be a physician or midwife,
causes or assists in causing the abortion.
d. Said physician or midwife takes advantage of his
or her scientific knowledge or skill.
Responsibility of participants in a. Killing one’s adversary in a duel
a duel408
406
Art. 258
Liability of the pregnant woman is mitigated if the purpose is to conceal her dishonor. However, there
is no litigation for the parents of the pregnant women even if their purpose is to conceal their daughter’s
dishonor
In infanticide, parents can avail of the mitigating circumstance of concealing the dishonor of their
daughter. This is not so for Art. 258.
407
Art. 259
It is not necessary that the pharmacist knew that the abortive would be used to cause abortion. What
is punished is the act of dispensing an abortive without the proper prescription. It is not necessary that
the abortive be actually used
If the pharmacist knew that the abortive would be used to cause abortion and abortion results, he is
liable as an accomplice
408
Art. 260
Persons liable:
127
b. Inflicting upon the adversary serious physical
injuries
c. Making a combat although no physical injuries
have been inflicted
Challenging to a duel409
a. Challenging another to a duel
b. Inciting another to give or accept a challenge to a
duel
c. Scoffing at or decrying another publicly for having
refused to accept a challenge to fight a duel
Mutilation410
a. There be a castration i.e. mutilation of organs
necessary for generation
b. Mutilation is caused purposely and deliberately
1. Principals – person who killed or inflicted physical injuries upon his adversary, or both combatants in
any other cases
2. Accomplices – as seconds
Duel: a formal or regular combat previously concerted between 2 parties in the presence of 2 or more
seconds of lawful age on each side, who make the selection of arms and fix all the other conditions of the
fight
If death results, the penalty is the same as that for homicide
409
Art. 261
Persons liable:
1. Challenger
2. Instigators
410
Art. 262
Kinds of Mutilation
Intentionally mutilating another by depriving him, totally or partially, of some essential organ for
reproduction
Intentionally making another mutilation, i.e. lopping, clipping off any part of the body of the
offended party, other than the essential organ for reproduction, to deprive him of that part of the body
In the first kind of mutilation, the castration must be made purposely. Otherwise, it will be considered
as mutilation of the second kind
Mayhem: refers to any other intentional mutilation
128
Serious physical injuries411
a. Injured person becomes insane, imbecile,
impotent or blind
b. Injured person –
1. loses the use of speech or the power to hear or
to smell, loses an eye, a hand, foot, arm or leg
411
Art. 263
How Committed
1. Wounding
2. Beating
3. Assaulting
4. Administering injurious substances
Serious physical injuries is qualified when the crime is committed against the same persons
enumerated in the article on parricide or when it is attended by any of the circumstances defining the
crime of murder. However, serious physical injuries resulting from excessive chastisement by parents is
not qualified serious physical injuries
Serious physical injuries may be committed through reckless imprudence or simple imprudence
There must be no intent to kill
Impotent should include inability to copulate and sterility
Blindness requires loss of vision in both eyes. Mere weakness in vision is not contemplated
Loss of power to hear must involve both ears. Otherwise, it will be considered as serious physical
injuries under par 3
Loss of use of hand or incapacity of usual work in par 2 must be permanent
Par 2 refers to principal members of the body. Par 3 on the other hand, covers any other member which
is not a principal part of the body. In this respect, a front tooth is considered as a member of the body,
other than a principal member
Deformity: means physical ugliness, permanent and definite abnormality. Not curable by natural means
or by nature. It must be conspicuous and visible. Thus, if the scar is usually covered by a dress, it would
not be conspicuous and visible
The loss of 3 incisors is a visible deformity. Loss of one incisor is not. However, loss of one tooth which
impaired appearance is a deformity
Deformity by loss of teeth refers to injury which cannot be impaired by the action of the nature
Loss of both outer ears constitutes deformity and also loss of the power to hear. Meanwhile, loss of the
lobule of the ear is only a deformity
Loss of the index and middle fingers is either a deformity or loss of a member, not a principal one of his
body or use of the same
Loss of the power to hear in the right ear is considered as merely loss of use of some other part of the
body
If the injury would require medical attendance for more than 30 days, the illness of the offended party
may be considered as lasting more than 30 days. The fact that there was medical attendance for that
period of time shows that the injuries were not cured for that length of time
Under par 4, all that is required is illness or incapacity, not medical attendance
In determining incapacity, the injured party must have an avocation at the time of the injury. Work:
includes studies or preparation for a profession
When the category of the offense of serious physical injuries depends on the period of the illness or
incapacity for labor, there must be evidence of the length of that period. Otherwise, the offense will only
be considered as slight physical injuries
There is no incapacity if the injured party could still engage in his work although less effectively than
before
129
2. loses the use of any such member
3. becomes incapacitated for the work in which
he had been habitually engaged
b. Injured person –
1. becomes deformed
2. loses any other member of his body
3. loses the use thereof
4. becomes ill or incapacitated for the
performance of the work in which he had been
habitually engaged in for more than 90 days
c. Injured person becomes ill or incapacitated for
labor for more than 30 days.412
Administering
injurious a. Offender inflicted upon another person any
substances or beverages413
serious physical injury
b. It was done knowingly administering to him any
injurious substances or beverages or by taking
advantage of his weakness of mind of credulity
c. He had no intent to kill.
Less serious physical injuries414
a. Offended party is incapacitated for labor for 10
days or more,415 or needs medical attendance for the
412
but not more than 90 days
Art. 264
It is frustrated murder when there is intent to kill
Administering means introducing into the body the substance, thus throwing of the acid in the face is
not contemplated
414
Art. 265.
Circumstances qualifying the offense:
a. when there is manifest intent to insult or offend the injured person
b. when there are circumstances adding ignominy to the offense
c. when the victim is either the offender’s parents, ascendants, guardians, curators or teachers
d. when the victim is a person of rank or person in authority, provided the crime is not direct
assault
It falls under this article even if there was no incapacity but the medical treatment was for 13 days
413
130
same period of time
b. The physical injuries must not be those described
in the preceding articles
Slight physical injuries416
a. Incapacitated the offended party for labor from 19 days or required medical attendance during the
same period
b. Which did not prevent the offended party from
engaging in his habitual work or which did not
require medical attendance417
c. Ill-treatment of another by deed without causing
any injury418
415
but not more than 30 days
Art. 266
417
ex. Black-eye
418
ex. slapping but without causing dishonor
416
131
a. Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004419
i) Punishable acts
The crime of violence against women and their children is committed through any
of the following acts:
(a) Causing physical harm to the woman or her child;
(b) Threatening to cause the woman or her child physical harm;
(c) Attempting to cause the woman or her child physical harm;
(d) Placing the woman or her child in fear of imminent physical harm;
(e) Attempting to compel or compelling the woman or her child to engage in
conduct which the woman or her child has the right to desist from or desist from conduct
which the woman or her child has the right to engage in, or attempting to restrict or
restricting the woman's or her child's freedom of movement or conduct by force or threat of
force, physical or other harm or threat of physical or other harm, or intimidation directed
against the woman or child.
This shall include, but not limited to, the following acts committed with the purpose
or effect of controlling or restricting the woman's or her child's movement or conduct:
(1) Threatening to deprive or actually depriving the woman or her child of
custody to her/his family;
(2) Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her children of
financial support legally due her or her family, or deliberately providing the woman's
children insufficient financial support;
right;
(3) Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her child of a legal
(4) Preventing the woman in engaging in any legitimate profession,
occupation, business or activity or controlling the victim's own mon4ey or
properties, or solely controlling the conjugal or common money, or properties;
(f) Inflicting or threatening to inflict physical harm on oneself for the purpose of
controlling her actions or decisions;
419
R.A. 9262
132
(g) Causing or attempting to cause the woman or her child to engage in any sexual
activity which does not constitute rape, by force or threat of force, physical harm, or through
intimidation directed against the woman or her child or her/his immediate family;
(h) Engaging in purposeful, knowing, or reckless conduct, personally or through
another that alarms or causes substantial emotional or psychological distress to the woman
or her child. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following acts:
(1) Stalking or following the woman or her child in public or private places;
(2) Peering in the window or lingering outside the residence of the woman or
her child;
(3) Entering or remaining in the dwelling or on the property of the woman or
her child against her/his will;
(4) Destroying the property and personal belongings or inflicting harm to
animals or pets of the woman or her child; and
(5) Engaging in any form of harassment or violence;
(i) Causing mental or emotional anguish, public ridicule or humiliation to the woman
or her child, including, but not limited to, repeated verbal and emotional abuse, and denial of
financial support or custody of minor children of access to the woman's child/children.420
b. Anti-Child Pornography Law421
i) Definition of terms
Child
A person below eighteen (18) years of age or over, but is
unable to fully take care of himself/herself from abuse,
neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a
physical or mental disability or condition.
Also refers to:
(1) a person regardless of age who is presented, depicted or
portrayed as a child as defined herein; and
(2) computer-generated, digitally or manually crafted images
or graphics of a person who is represented or who is made
to appear to be a child as defined herein
420
421
Sec. 5.
R.A. 9775
133
Any representation, whether visual, audio, or written
combination thereof, by electronic, mechanical, digital,
optical, magnetic or any other means, of child engaged or
involved in real or simulated explicit sexual activities.
Child pornography
Explicit Sexual Activity
Includes actual or simulated (1) As to form:
(i) sexual intercourse or lascivious act including, but not
limited to, contact involving genital to genital, oral to genital,
anal to genital, or oral to anal, whether between persons of
the same or opposite sex;
(2) bestiality;
(3) masturbation;
(4) sadistic or masochistic abuse;
(5) lascivious exhibition of the genitals, buttocks, breasts,
pubic area and/or anus; or
(6) use of any object or instrument for lascivious acts
Internet address
A website, bulletin board service, internet chat room or
news group, or any other internet or shared network
protocol address.
Internet cafe or kiosk
An establishment that offers or proposes to offer services to
the public for the use of its computer/s or computer system
for the purpose of accessing the internet, computer games
or related services.
Internet content host
A person who hosts or who proposes to host internet
content in the Philippines.
Internet
(ISP)
Grooming
service
provider A person or entity that supplies or proposes to supply, an
internet carriage service to the public.
The act of preparing a child or someone who the offender
134
believes to be a child for sexual activity or sexual
relationship by communicating any form of child
pornography. It includes online enticement or enticement
through any other means.
Luring
(1) The act of communicating, by means of a computer
system, with a child or someone who the offender believes
to be a child for the purpose of facilitating the commission
of sexual activity or production of any form of child
pornography.
(2) Bestiality
Pandering
The act of offering, advertising, promoting, representing or
distributing through any means any material or purported
material that is intended to cause another to believe that the
material or purported material contains any form of child
pornography, regardless of the actual content of the material
or purported material.
Person
Any natural or juridical entity.422
ii) Unlawful or punishable acts
(a) To hire, employ, use, persuade, induce or coerce a child to perform in the
creation or production of any form of child pornography;
(b) To produce, direct, manufacture or create any form of child pornography;
(c) To publish offer, transmit, sell, distribute, broadcast, advertise, promote, export
or import any form of child pornography;
(d) To possess any form of child pornography with the intent to sell, distribute,
publish, or broadcast: Provided. That possession of three (3) or more articles of child
pornography of the same form shall be prima facie evidence of the intent to sell, distribute,
publish or broadcast;
(e) To knowingly, willfully and intentionally provide a venue for the commission of
prohibited acts as, but not limited to, dens, private rooms, cubicles, cinemas, houses or in
establishments purporting to be a legitimate business;
422
Sec. 3.
135
(f) For film distributors, theaters and telecommunication companies, by themselves
or in cooperation with other entities, to distribute any form of child pornography;
(g) For a parent, legal guardian or person having custody or control of a child to
knowingly permit the child to engage, participate or assist in any form of child pornography;
(h) To engage in the luring or grooming of a child;
(i) To engage in pandering of any form of child pornography;
(j) To willfully access any form of child pornography;
(k) To conspire to commit any of the prohibited acts stated in this section.
Conspiracy to commit any form of child pornography shall be committed when two (2) or
more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of any of the said
prohibited acts and decide to commit it; and
(l) To possess any form of child pornography.423
c. Anti-Hazing Law424
i) Hazing
a) Definition
An initiation rite or practice as a prerequisite for admission into membership in a
fraternity, sorority or organization by placing the recruit, neophyte or applicant in some
embarrassing or humiliating situations such as forcing him to do menial, silly, foolish and
other similar tasks or activities or otherwise subjecting him to physical or psychological
suffering or injury.425
(b) Allowed initiation rites
No hazing or initiation rites in any form or manner by a fraternity, sorority or
organization shall be allowed without prior written notice to the school authorities or head
of organization seven (7) days before the conduct of such initiation. The written notice shall
indicate the period of the initiation activities which shall not exceed three (3) days, shall
include the names of those to be subjected to such activities, and shall further contain an
undertaking that no physical violence be employed by anybody during such initiation rites.426
423
Sec. 4.
R.A. 8049
425
Sec. 1.
426
Sec. 2
424
136
ii) Who are liable
The officers and members of the fraternity, sorority or organization who actually
participated in the infliction of physical harm shall be liable as principals.427
The owner of the place where hazing is conducted shall be liable as an accomplice,
when he has actual knowledge of the hazing conducted therein but failed to take any action
to prevent the same from occurring. If the hazing is held in the home of one of the officers
or members of the fraternity, group, or organization, the parents shall be held liable as
principals when they have actual knowledge of the hazing conducted therein but failed to
take any action to prevent the same from occurring.
The school authorities including faculty members who consent to the hazing or who
have actual knowledge thereof, but failed to take any action to prevent the same from
occurring shall be punished as accomplices for the acts of hazing committed by the
perpetrators.
The officers, former officers, or alumni of the organization, group, fraternity or
sorority who actually planned the hazing although not present when the acts constituting the
hazing were committed shall be liable as principals. A fraternity or sorority's adviser who is
present when the acts constituting the hazing were committed and failed to take action to
prevent the same from occurring shall be liable as principal.
The presence of any person during the hazing is prima facie evidence of participation
therein as principal unless he prevented the commission of the acts punishable herein.
Any person charged under this provision shall not be entitled to the mitigating
circumstance that there was no intention to commit so grave a wrong.
This section shall apply to the president, manager, director or other responsible
officer of a corporation engaged in hazing as a requirement for employment in the manner
provided herein.428
iii) Punishable acts
1. If death, rape, sodomy or mutilation results there from.
2. If in consequence of the hazing the victim shall become insane, imbecile, impotent
or blind.
3. If in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have lost the use of speech or the
power to hear or to smell, or shall have lost an eye, a hand, a foot, an arm or a leg or shall
have lost the use of any such member shall have become incapacitated for the activity or
work in which he was habitually engaged.
427
428
Sec. 4.
Ibid.
137
4. If in consequence of the hazing the victim shall become deformed or shall have
lost any other part of his body, or shall have lost the use thereof, or shall have been ill or
incapacitated for the performance on the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged
for a period of more than ninety (90) days.
5. If in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for
the performance on the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged for a period of
more than thirty (30) days.
6. If in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for
the performance on the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged for a period of
ten (10) days or more, or that the injury sustained shall require medical assistance for the
same period.
7. If in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for
the performance on the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged from one (1) to
nine (9) days, or that the injury sustained shall require medical assistance for the same period.
8. If in consequence of the hazing the victim sustained physical injuries which do
not prevent him from engaging in his habitual activity or work nor require medical
attendance.
The responsible officials of the school or of the police, military or citizen's army
training organization, may impose the appropriate administrative sanctions on the person or
the persons charged under this provision even before their conviction. The maximum
penalty herein provided shall be imposed in any of the following instances:
(a) when the recruitment is accompanied by force, violence, threat, intimidation or
deceit on the person of the recruit who refuses to join;
(b) when the recruit, neophyte or applicant initially consents to join but upon
learning that hazing will be committed on his person, is prevented from quitting;
(c) when the recruit, neophyte or applicant having undergone hazing is prevented
from reporting the unlawful act to his parents or guardians, to the proper school authorities,
or to the police authorities, through force, violence, threat or intimidation;
(d) when the hazing is committed outside of the school or institution; or
(e) when the victim is below twelve (12) years of age at the time of the hazing.429
429
Ibid.
138
d. Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and
Discrimination Act430
i) Coverage
Special protection to children431 from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty exploitation
and discrimination and other conditions, prejudicial to their development; provide sanctions
for their commission and carry out a program for prevention and deterrence of and crisis
intervention in situations of child abuse432, exploitation and discrimination.433
ii) Child prostitution, punishable acts
Children, whether male or female, who for money, profit, or any other consideration
or due to the coercion or influence of any adult, syndicate or group, indulge in sexual
intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be children exploited in prostitution and
other sexual abuse.
The penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua shall be
imposed upon the following:
(a) Those who engage in or promote, facilitate or induce child prostitution which
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Acting as a procurer of a child prostitute;
(2) Inducing a person to be a client of a child prostitute by means of written
or oral advertisements or other similar means;
(3) Taking advantage of influence or relationship to procure a child as
prostitute;
(4) Threatening or using violence towards a child to engage him as a
prostitute; or
430
R.A. 7610, as amended.
refers to person below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are unable to fully take care of
themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a
physical or mental disability or condition;
432
Child abuse" refers to the maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which includes any of
the following:
(1) Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment;
(2) Any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of
a child as a human being;
(3) Unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival, such as food and shelter; or
(4) Failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious impairment of
his growth and development or in his permanent incapacity or death.
433
Sec. 2.
431
139
(5) Giving monetary consideration goods or other pecuniary benefit to a
child with intent to engage such child in prostitution.
(b) Those who commit the act of sexual intercourse of lascivious conduct with a
child exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse;434 and
(c) Those who derive profit or advantage therefrom, whether as manager or owner
of the establishment where the prostitution takes place, or of the sauna, disco, bar, resort,
place of entertainment or establishment serving as a cover or which engages in prostitution
in addition to the activity for which the license has been issued to said establishment.435
iii) Child trafficking, punishable acts
Any person who shall engage in trading and dealing with children including, but not
limited to, the act of buying and selling of a child for money, or for any other consideration,
or barter, shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua. The penalty shall be
imposed in its maximum period when the victim is under twelve (12) years of age.436
434
When the victim is under twelve (12) years of age, the perpetrators shall be prosecuted under Article
335, paragraph 3, for rape and Article 336 of Act No. 3815, as amended, the Revised Penal Code, for rape
or lascivious conduct, as the case may be. The penalty for lascivious conduct when the victim is under
twelve (12) years of age shall be reclusion temporal in its medium period.
435
Sec. 5
436
Sec. 7.
140
e. Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006;437 also refer to Child and
Youth Welfare Code438
i) Punishable acts
In the conduct of the proceedings beginning from the initial contact with the child,
the competent authorities must refrain from branding or labeling children as young
criminals, juvenile delinquents, prostitutes or attaching to them in any manner any other
derogatory names. Likewise, no discriminatory remarks and practices shall be allowed
particularly with respect to the child's class or ethnic origin.439
The following and any other similar acts shall be considered prejudicial and
detrimental to the psychological, emotional, social, spiritual, moral and physical health and
well-being of the child in conflict with the law and therefore, prohibited:
1. Employment of threats of whatever kind and nature;
2. Employment of abusive, coercive and punitive measures such as cursing, beating,
stripping, and solitary confinement;
3. Employment of degrading, inhuman end cruel forms of punishment such as
shaving the heads, pouring irritating, corrosive or harmful substances over the body of the
child in conflict with the law, or forcing him/her to walk around the community wearing
signs which embarrass, humiliate, and degrade his/her personality and dignity; and
4. Compelling the child to perform involuntary servitude in any and all forms under
any and all instances.440
Criminal liability shall attach to any parent who:
1. Conceals or abandons the child with intent to make such child lose his civil status.
2. Abandons the child under such circumstances as to deprive him of the love, care
and protection he needs.
3. Sells or abandons the child to another person for valuable consideration.
4. Neglects the child by not giving him the education which the family's station in life
and financial conditions permit.
5. Fails or refuses, without justifiable grounds, to enroll the child as required by
Article 72.
437
R.A. 9344.
P.D. 603, as amended
439
Sec. 60., R.A. 9344
440
Sec. 61, id.
438
141
6. Causes, abates, or permits the truancy441 of the child from the school where he is
enrolled.
7. It shall be the duty of the teacher in charge to report to the parents the absences
of the child the moment these exceed five (5) schooldays.
8. Improperly exploits the child by using him, directly or indirectly, such as for
purposes of begging and other acts which are inimical to his interest and welfare.
9. Inflicts cruel and unusual punishment upon the child or deliberately subjects him
to indignation and other excessive chastisement that embarrasses or humiliates him.
10. Causes or encourages the child to lead an immoral or dissolute life.
11. Permits the child to possess, handle or carry a deadly weapon, regardless of its
ownership.
12. Allows or requires the child to drive without a license or with a license which the
parent knows to have been illegally procured. If the motor vehicle driven by the child
belongs to the parent,442 it shall be presumed that he permitted or ordered the child to
drive.443
A person whether the parent or guardian of the child or not, who knowingly or
wilfully,
or
1. Aids, causes, abets or connives with the commission by a child of a delinquency,
2. Does any act producing, promoting, or contributing to a child's being or becoming
a juvenile delinquent.444
f. Human Security Act of 2007445
i) Punishable acts of terrorism446
ii) Who are liable447
441
Absence without cause for more than twenty (20) schooldays, not necessarily consecutive.
Include the guardian and the head of the institution or foster home which has custody of the child.
443
Art. 59, P.D. 603
444
Art. 204, id.
445
R.A. 9372
446
supra
447
Ibid.
442
142
9. Crimes Against Personal Liberty and Security
Crimes
Elements
Kidnapping and serious illegal a. Offender is a private individual
detention448
b. He kidnaps or detains another, or in any other
manner deprives the latter of his liberty
c. The act of detention or kidnapping must be
illegal
d. In the commission of the offense, any of the
following circumstances are present:449
1. Kidnapping/detention lasts for more than 3
days
2. It is committed simulating public authority
3. Any serious physical injuries are inflicted
upon the person kidnapped or detained or threats
to kill him are made, or
4. that the person kidnapped or detained is a
minor,450 female or a public officer.
Slight illegal detention451
a. Offender is a private person
b. He kidnaps or detains another or in any other
manner deprives him of his liberty / furnished
place for the perpetuation of the crime
c. The act of detention or kidnapping must be
illegal
448
Art. 267
becomes serious
450
except if parent is the offender
451
Art. 268
Privileged mitigating circumstances:
If the offender:
a. voluntarily releases the person so kidnapped or detained within 3 days from the
commencement of the detention
b. without having attained the purpose intended and
c. before the institution of criminal proceedings against him
449
143
d. The crime is committed without the attendant
of any of the circumstances enumerated in Art
267.452
Unlawful arrest453
a. Offender arrests or detains another person
b. The purpose of the offender is to deliver him to
the proper authorities
c. The arrest or detention is not authorized by law
or there is no reasonable ground therefor.
Kidnapping and failure to return a a. Offender is entrusted with the custody of a
minor454
minor person455
b. He deliberately fails to restore the said minor to
his parents.
Inducing a minor to abandon his a. The minor457 is living in the home of his parents
home456
or guardians or the person entrusted with his
custody;
b. Offender induces a minor to abandon such
home.
Slavery458
a. Offender purchases, sells, kidnaps or detains a
452
supra
Art. 269
Offender is any person, so either a public officer or private individual
Refers to warrantless arrests
In Art 125, the detention is for some legal ground while here, the detention is not authorized by law
In Art 125, the crime pertains to failure to deliver the person to the proper judicial authority within the
prescribed period while here, the arrest is not authorized by law
454
Art. 270
455
whether over or under 7 but less than 18 yrs old
456
Art. 271
Inducement must be actual, committed with criminal intent and determined by a will to cause damage
Minor should not leave his home of his own free will
Mitigating if by father or mother
457
whether over or under 7
458
Art. 272
Qualifying circumstance – if the purpose of the offender is to assign the offended party to some
immoral traffic (prostitution), the penalty is higher
453
144
human being.
b. The purpose of the offender is to enslave such
human being.
Exploition of child labor459
a. Offender retains a minor in his service.
b. It is against the will of the minor.
c. It is under the pretext of reimbursing himself of
a debt incurred by an ascendant, guardian or
person entrusted with the custody of such minor.
Services
rendered
under a. Offender compels a debtor to work for him,
compulsion in payment of debt460 either as household servant or farm laborer.
b. It is against the debtor’s will.
c. The purpose is to require or enforce the
payment of a debt.
Abandonment of person in
danger and abandonment of one’s
own victim461
1. Failing to render assistance to
any person whom the offender finds
in an inhabited place wounded or in
danger of dying, when he can render
such assistance without detriment to
himself, unless such omission shall
constitute a more serious offense
a. Place is not inhabited.
b. The accused found there a person wounded or
in danger of dying.
c. The accused can render assistance without
detriment to himself.
d. The accused fails to render assistance.
2. Failing to help or render
assistance to another whom the
offender has accidentally wounded
or injured
3.
Failing to deliver a child,
459
Art. 273
Art. 274
461
Art. 275
460
145
under 7 whom the offender has
found abandoned, to the authorities
or to his family, or by failing to take
him to a safe place
Abandoning a minor462
a. Offender has the custody of a child.
b. The child is under seven (7) years of age.
c. He abandons such child.
d. He has no intent to kill the child when the latter
is abandoned.
Abandonment of minor by person
entrusted with his custody;
indifference of parents463
1. Delivering a minor to a public
institution or other persons w/o
consent of the one who entrusted
such minor to the care of the
offender or, in the absence of that
one, without the consent of the
proper authorities
a. Offender has charged of the rearing or
education of a minor.
b. He delivers said minor to a public institution or
other persons.
c. The one who entrusted such child to the
offender has not consented to such act, or if the
one who entrusted such child to the offender is
absent; the proper authorities have not consented
to it.
2. Neglecting his464 children by not a. Offender is a parent.
giving them education which their
station in life requires and financial b. He neglects his children by not giving them
condition permits
education.
c. His station in life requires such education and
his financial condition permits it.
462
Art. 276
Conscious, deliberate, permanent, unless punishable by a more serious offense
Qualifying circumstances:
a. when the death of the minor resulted from such abandonment
b. if the life of the minor was in danger because of the abandonment
463
Art. 277
464
offender
146
Exploitation of minors465
1. Causing any boy or girl under
16 to perform any dangerous feat of
balancing, physical strength or
contortion, the offender being any
person.
2. Employing children under 16
who are not the children or
descendants of the offender in
exhibitions of acrobat, gymnast,
rope-walker, diver, or wild-animal
tamer or circus manager or engaged
in a similar calling.
3. Employing any descendant
under 12 in dangerous exhibitions
enumerated in the next preceding
paragraph, the offender being
engaged in any of said callings.
4. Delivering a child under 16
gratuitously to any person following
any of the callings enumerated in par
2 or to any habitual vagrant or
beggar, the offender being an
ascendant, guardian, teacher or
person entrusted in any capacity with
the care of such child.
5. Inducing any child under 16
to abandon the home of its
ascendants; guardians, curators or
teachers to follow any person
engaged in any of the callings
mentioned in par 2 or to accompany
any habitual vagrant or beggar, the
offender being any person.
465
Art. 278
Qualifying Circumstance – if the delivery of the child to any person following any of the callings of
acrobat, rope-walker, diver or wild-animal trainer or circus manager or to any habitual vagrant of beggar
is made in consideration of any price, compensation or promise, the penalty is higher.
147
Trespass to dwelling466
a. Offender is a private person.
b. He enters the dwelling of another.
c. Such entrance is against the latter’s will.
Other forms of trespass467
a. Offender enters the closed premises or the
fenced estate of another.
b. The entrance is made while either of them is
uninhabited.
c. The prohibition to enter be manifest.
d. The trespasser has not secured the permission
of the owner or the caretaker thereof.
Grave threats where
attained his purpose468
offender
1. Threatening another with the
infliction upon his person, honor or
property that of his family of any
wrong amounting to a crime and
a. Offender threatens another person with the
infliction upon the latter’s person, honor or
property, or upon that of the latter’s family, of any
wrong.
466
Art. 280
Qualifying circumstance: if the offense is committed by means of violence or intimidation, the penalty
is higher
There must be an opposition to the entry of the accused
Implied prohibition is present considering the situation – late at night and everyone’s asleep or
entrance was made through the window
Prohibition is not necessary when violence or intimidation is employed by the offender
When there is no overt act of the crime intended to be committed, this is the crime
May be committed even by the owner (as against the actual occupant)
Not applicable to:
a. entrance is for the purpose of preventing harm to himself, the occupants or a third person
b. purpose is to render some service to humanity or justice
c. place is a café, tavern etc. while open
Medina case: when the accused entered the dwelling through the window, he had no intent to kill any
person inside, but the intention to kill came to his mind when he was being arrested by the occupants
thereof, the crime of trespass to dwelling is a separate and distinct offense from frustrated homicide
467
Art. 281
468
Art. 282
Aggravating circumstances: if made in writing or thru a middleman
Frustrated – if not received by the person being threatened
Art 284 bond from good behavior may be imposed (only in these offenses)
148
demanding money or imposing any b. Such wrong amounts to a crime.
other condition, even though not
unlawful and the offender469
c. There is a demand for money or that any other
condition is imposed, even though not unlawful.
d. Offender attains his purpose.
2. Making such threat without
the offender attaining his purpose
3. Threatening another with the
infliction upon his person, honor or
property or that of his family of any
wrong amounting to a crime, the
threat not being subject to a
condition470
a. Offender threatens another person with the
infliction upon the latter’s person, honor or
property, or upon that of the latter’s family, of any
wrong.
b. Such wrong amounts to a crime.
c. The threat is not subject to a condition
Light threats471
a. Offender makes a threat to commit a wrong.
b. The wrong does not constitute a crime.
c. There is a demand for money or that other
condition is imposed, even though not unlawful
d. Offender has attained his purpose or, that he
has not attained his purpose.
Bond for good behavior472
Other light threats473
a. Person shall threaten another with a weapon, or
draw weapon in a quarrel unless in self-defense.
b. In the heat of anger, person orally threatens
another with some harm constituting a crime,
without persisting in the idea involved in the
469
Threat is with condition
threat is without condition
471
Art. 283
Only in these offenses
The wrong does not amount to a crime
472
Art. 284
473
Art. 285
470
149
threat. Subsequent acts did not persist.
c. Person orally threatens another with harm not
constituting a felony.
Grave coercions474
a. A person prevented another from doing
something or not to do something against his will,
be it right or wrong;
b. The prevention or compulsion be effected by
violence, of force as would produce intimidation
and control the will.
c. The person that restrained the will and liberty by
another had not the authority of law or the right to
do so, or, in other words, that the restraint shall
not be made under authority of law or in the
exercise of any lawful right.
Light coercions475
a. Offender must be a creditor.
b. He seizes anything belonging to his debtor.
c. The seizure of the thing be accomplished by
means of violence or a display of material force
producing intimidation;
d. The purpose of the offender is to apply the
same to the payment of the debt.
Other similar coercions476
No. 1
a. Offender is any person, agent or officer of any
association or corporation.
b. He or such firm or corporation has employed
laborers or employees.
c. He forces or compels, directly or indirectly, or
knowingly permits to be forced or compelled, any
of his or its laborers or employees to purchase
474
Art. 286
Art. 287
476
Art. 288
475
150
merchandise or commodities of any kind from his
or from said firm or corporation.
No. 2
a. Offender pays the wages due a laborer or
employee employed by him by means of tokens or
objects.
b. Those tokens or objects are other than the legal
tender currency to the Philippines.
c. Such employee or laborer does not expressly
request that he be paid by means of tokens or
objects.
Formation, maintenance, and
prohibition of combination of
capital or labor through violence
or threats477
a. Offender employs violence or threats, in such a
degree as to compel or force the laborers or
employers in the free and legal exercise of their
industry or work
b. The purpose is to organize, maintain or prevent
coalitions of capital or labor, strike of laborers or
lockout of employees.
Discovering
secrets
through a. Offender is a private individual or even a public
seizure of correspondence478
officer not in the exercise of his official function,
b. He seizes the papers or letters of another.
c. The purpose is to discover the secrets of such
another person.
d. Offender is informed of the contents or the
papers or letters seized.
Revealing secrets with abuse of a. Offender is a manager, employee or servant.
office479
477
Art. 289
Art. 290
Not applicable to parents with respect to minor children
Contents need not be secret but purpose prevails
Circumstances qualifying the offense: when the offender reveals contents of such papers or letters of
another to a 3rd person, the penalty is higher
479
Art. 291
478
151
b. He learns the secrets of his principal or master
in such capacity.
c. He reveals such secrets.
Revelation of industrial secrets480
a. Offender is a person in charge, employee or
workman of a manufacturing or industrial
establishment.
b. The manufacturing or industrial establishment
has a secret of the industry which the offender has
learned.
c. Offender reveals such secrets.
d. Prejudice is caused to the owner.
480
Art. 292
152
a. Anti-Wire Tapping Act481
i) Punishable acts
It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the parties to any
private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or cable, or by using any other
device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept, or record such communication or
spoken word by using a device commonly known as a dictaphone or dictagraph or
dictaphone or walkie-talkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise described:
It shall also be unlawful for any person, be he a participant or not in the act or acts
penalized in the next preceding sentence, to knowingly possess any tape record, wire record,
disc record, or any other such record, or copies thereof, of any communication or spoken
word secured either before or after the effective date of this Act in the manner prohibited by
this law; or to replay the same for any other person or persons; or to communicate the
contents thereof, either verbally or in writing, or to furnish transcriptions thereof, whether
complete or partial, to any other person. The use of such record or any copies thereof as
evidence in any civil, criminal investigation or trial of offenses mentioned in section 3 hereof,
shall not be covered by this prohibition482.
Any person who willfully or knowingly does or who shall aid, permit, or cause to be
done any of the acts declared to be unlawful in the preceding section or who violates the
provisions of the following section or of any order issued thereunder, or aids, permits, or
causes such violation shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not
less than six months or more than six years and with the accessory penalty of perpetual
absolute disqualification from public office if the offender be a public official at the time of
the commission of the offense, and, if the offender is an alien he shall be subject to
deportation proceedings483.
ii) Exceptions
Any peace officer, who is authorized by a written order of the Court, to execute any
of the acts declared to be unlawful in the two preceding sections in cases involving the
crimes of treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war, piracy, mutiny in
the high seas, rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion,
sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition, kidnapping as defined by the
Revised Penal Code, and violations of Commonwealth Act No. 616, punishing espionage
and other offenses against national security.
Such written order shall only be issued or granted upon written application and the
examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and the witnesses he may produce
and a showing: (1) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that any of the crimes
481
R.A. 4200
Sec. 1
483
Sec. 2.
482
153
enumerated hereinabove has been committed or is being committed or is about to be
committed.
In cases involving the offenses of rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit
rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, and inciting to
sedition, such authority shall be granted only
(1) upon prior proof that a rebellion or acts of sedition, as the case may be, have
actually been or are being committed;
(2) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that evidence will be obtained
essential to the conviction of any person for, or to the solution of, or to the prevention of,
any of such crimes; and
(3) that there are no other means readily available for obtaining such evidence.484
b. Human Security Act of 2007485
i) Surveillance of suspects and interception and recording of
communications
The provisions of Republic Act No. 4200486 to the contrary notwithstanding, a police
or law enforcement official and the members of his team may, upon a written order of the
Court of Appeals, listen to, intercept and record, with the use of any mode, form, kind or
type of electronic or other surveillance equipment or intercepting and tracking devices, or
with the use of any other suitable ways and means for that purpose, any communication,
message, conversation, discussion, or spoken or written words between members of a
judicially declared and outlawed terrorist organization, association, or group of persons or of
any person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit
terrorism.
Surveillance, interception and recording of communications between lawyers and
clients, doctors and patients, journalists and their sources and confidential business
correspondence shall not be authorized.487
ii) Restriction on travel
In cases where evidence of guilt is not strong, and the person charged with the crime
of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism is entitled to bail and is granted the same, the
court, upon application by the prosecutor, shall limit the right of travel of the accused to
within the municipality or city where he resides or where the case is pending, in the interest
484
Sec. 3
R.A. 9372
486
Anti-Wire Tapping Law
487
Sec. 7
485
154
of national security and public safety, consistent with Article III, Section 6 488 of the
Constitution. Travel outside of said municipality or city, without the authorization of the
court, shall be deemed a violation of the terms and conditions of his bail, which shall then be
forfeited as provided under the Rules of Court.489
He/she may also be placed under house arrest by order of the court at his or her
usual place of residence.
While under house arrest, he or she may not use telephones, cellphones, e-mails,
computers, the internet or other means of communications with people outside the
residence until otherwise ordered by the court.
The restrictions abovementioned shall be terminated upon the acquittal of the
accused or of the dismissal of the case filed against him or earlier upon the discretion of the
court on motion of the prosecutor or of the accused.
iii) Examination of bank deposits and documents
a) Judicial Authorization
The provisions of Republic Act No. 1405 as amended, to the contrary
notwithstanding, the justices of the Court of Appeals designated as a special court to handle
anti-terrorism cases after satisfying themselves of the existence of probable cause in a
hearing called for that purpose that:
(1) a person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or, conspiracy to
commit terrorism,
(2) of a judicially declared and outlawed terrorist organization, association, or group
of persons; and
(3) of a member of such judicially declared and outlawed organization, association, or
group of persons, may authorize in writing any police or law enforcement officer and the
members of his/her team duly authorized in writing by the anti-terrorism council to:
(a) examine, or cause the examination of, the deposits, placements, trust
accounts, assets and records in a bank or financial institution; and
(b) gather or cause the gathering of any relevant information about such
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records from a bank or financial
institution.
488
The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired
except upon lawful order of the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest
of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.
489
Sec. 26
155
The bank or financial institution concerned, shall not refuse to allow such
examination or to provide the desired information, when so, ordered by and served with the
written order of the Court of Appeals.490
b) Application
The written order of the Court of Appeals authorizing the examination of bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records:
(1) of a person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to
commit terrorism;
(2) of any judicially declared and outlawed terrorist organization, association, or
group of persons, or
(3) of any member of such organization, association, or group of persons in a bank
or financial institution, and the gathering of any relevant information about the same from
said bank or financial institution, shall only be granted by the authorizing division of the
Court of Appeals upon an ex parte application to that effect of a police or of a law
enforcement official who has been duly authorized in writing to file such ex parte application
by the Anti-Terrorism Council created in Section 53491 of this Act to file such ex parte
application, and upon examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and, the
witnesses he may produce to establish the facts that will justify the need and urgency of
examining and freezing the bank deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records of
those mentioned under nos. 1 to 3 above.492
iv) Unauthorized revelation of classified materials
The penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall
be imposed upon any person, police or law enforcement agent, judicial officer or civil
servant who, not being authorized by the Court of Appeals to do so, reveals in any manner
or form any classified information under this Act.493
490
Sec. 27
The members of the Council are: (1) the Executive Secretary, who shall be its chairperson; (2) the
Secretary of Justice, who shall be its Vice Chairperson; and (3) the Secretary of Foreign Affairs; (4) the
Secretary of National Defense; (5) the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government; (6) the Secretary of
Finance; and (7) the National Security Advisor, as its other members.
492
Sec. 28
493
Sec. 46
491
156
c. Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003494
I) Punishable acts
It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or juridical, to commit any of the
following acts:
(a) To recruit, transport, transfer; harbor, provide, or receive a person by any means,
including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or
apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
(b) To introduce or match for money, profit, or material, economic or other
consideration, any person or, as provided for under Republic Act No. 6955, any Filipino
woman to a foreign national, for marriage for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering,
selling or trading him/her to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
(c) To offer or contract marriage, real or simulated, for the purpose of acquiring,
buying, offering, selling, or trading them to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced labor or slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
(d) To undertake or organize tours and travel plans consisting of tourism packages or
activities for the purpose of utilizing and offering persons for prostitution, pornography or
sexual exploitation;
(e) To maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;
(f) To adopt or facilitate the adoption of persons for the purpose of prostitution,
pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt
bondage;
(g) To recruit, hire, adopt, transport or abduct a person, by means of threat or use of
force, fraud, deceit, violence, coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of
organs of said person; and
(h) To recruit, transport or adopt a child to engage in armed activities in the
Philippines or abroad.495
The following acts which promote or facilitate trafficking in persons, shall be
unlawful:
(a) To knowingly lease or sublease, use or allow to be used any house, building or
establishment for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
494
495
R.A. 9208
Sec. 4.
157
(b) To produce, print and issue or distribute unissued, tampered or fake counseling
certificates, registration stickers and certificates of any government agency which issues these
certificates and stickers as proof of compliance with government regulatory and predeparture requirements for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
(c) To advertise, publish, print, broadcast or distribute, or cause the advertisement,
publication, printing, broadcasting or distribution by any means, including the use of
information technology and the internet, of any brochure, flyer, or any propaganda material
that promotes trafficking in persons;
(d) To assist in the conduct of misrepresentation or fraud for purposes of facilitating
the acquisition of clearances and necessary exit documents from government agencies that
are mandated to provide pre-departure registration and services for departing persons for the
purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
(e) To facilitate, assist or help in the exit and entry of persons from/to the country at
international and local airports, territorial boundaries and seaports who are in possession of
unissued, tampered or fraudulent travel documents for the purpose of promoting trafficking
in persons;
(f) To confiscate, conceal, or destroy the passport, travel documents, or personal
documents or belongings of trafficked persons in furtherance of trafficking or to prevent
them from leaving the country or seeking redress from the government or appropriate
agencies; and
(g) To knowingly benefit from, financial or otherwise, or make use of, the labor or
services of a person held to a condition of involuntary servitude, forced labor, or slavery.496
The following are considered as qualified trafficking:
(a) When the trafficked person is a child;
(b) When the adoption is effected through Republic Act No. 8043, otherwise known
as the "Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995" and said adoption is for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or
debt bondage;
(c) When the crime is committed by a syndicate, or in large scale. Trafficking is
deemed committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons
conspiring or confederating with one another. It is deemed committed in large scale if
committed against three (3) or more persons, individually or as a group;
(d) When the offender is an ascendant, parent, sibling, guardian or a person who
exercises authority over the trafficked person or when the offense is committed by a public
officer or employee;
496
Sec. 5.
158
(e) When the trafficked person is recruited to engage in prostitution with any
member of the military or law enforcement agencies;
(f) When the offender is a member of the military or law enforcement agencies; and
(g) When by reason or on occasion of the act of trafficking in persons, the offended
party dies, becomes insane, suffers mutilation or is afflicted with Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).497
497
Sec. 6.
159
10. Crimes Against Property
Crimes
Robbery in general498
Elements
There be personal property belonging to another.
There is unlawful taking of that property.
The taking must be with intent to gain, and
There is violence against or intimidation of any
person, or force upon anything.
Robbery with violence against or By reason or on occasion of the robbery, the
intimidation of person499
following are committed:
498
Art. 293
Belonging to another – person from whom property was taken need not be the owner, legal possession
is sufficient
Name of the real owner is not essential so long as the personal property taken does not belong to the
accused except if crime is robbery with homicide
Taking of personal property – must be unlawful; if given in trust – estafa
As to robbery with violence or intimidation – from the moment the offender gains possession of the
thing even if offender has had no opportunity to dispose of the same, the unlawful taking is complete
As to robbery with force upon things – thing must be taken out of the building
Intent to gain – presumed from unlawful taking
Taking must not be under the claim of title or ownership
When there’s no intent to gain but there is violence in the taking – grave coercion
Violence or intimidation must be against the person of the offended party, not upon the thing
General rule: violence or intimidation must be present before the “taking” is complete
Except: when violence results in – homicide, rape, intentional mutilation or any of the serious physical
injuries in par 1 and 2 of art 263, the taking of the property is robbery complexed with any of these crimes
under Art. 294, even if taking is already complete when violence was used by the offender
Use of force upon things – entrance to the building by means described in Arts. 299 and 302 (offender
must enter)
When both violence or intimidation and force upon things concur – it is robbery with violence
499
Art. 294
Special complex crimes (specific penalties prescribed)
a. robbery with homicide – if original design is robbery and homicide is committed – robbery
with homicide even though homicide precedes the robbery by an appreciable time. If
original design is not robbery but robbery was committed after homicide as an afterthought
– 2 separate offenses. Still robbery with homicide – if the person killed was an innocent
bystander and not the person robbed and if death supervened by mere accident.
b. robbery with rape – intent to commit robbery must precede rape. Prosecution of the crime
need not be by offended party – fiscal can sign the information. When rape and homicide coexist, rape should be considered as aggravating only and the crime is still robbery with
homicide
160
1. Homicide
2. Robbery accompanied with rape or intentional
mutilation, SPI – insane, imbecile, impotent or blind
3. SPI – lost the use of speech, hear, smell, eye,
hand, foot, arm, leg, use of any such member,
incapacitated for work habitually engaged in.
4. Violence/intimidation shall have been carried
to a degree clearly unnecessary for the crime or
when in the cause of its execution – SPI/deformity,
or shall have lost any part of the body or the use
thereof or shall have been ill or incapacitated for the
performance of the work for > 90 days; > 30 days
5. Any kind of robbery with less serious physical
injuries or slight physical injuries
Qualified robbery with violence or
intimidation500
Robbery by a band501
a. More than 3 armed malefactors
b. Liability for the acts of the other members of the
band
1. he was a member of the band
c.
robbery with intimidation – acts done by the accused which by their own nature or by
reason of the circumstances inspire fear in the person against whom they are directed
Qualifying circumstances in robbery with violence or intimidation of persons, if any of the offenses
defined in subdivisions 3, 4 and 5 of Art 294 is committed:
a. in an uninhabited place or
b. by a band or
c. by attacking a moving train, street car, motor vehicle or airship, or
d. by entering the passenger’s compartments in a train, or in any manner taking the passengers
thereof by surprise in the respective conveyances, or
e. on a street, road, highway or alley and the intimidation is made with the use of firearms, the
offender shall be punished by the max period of the proper penalties prescribed in art 294
500
Art. 295
Must be alleged in the information
Can’t be offset by generic mitigating
Art. 295 will not apply to: robbery w/ homicide, rape or SPI under par. 1 of Art. 263
501
Art. 296
161
2. he was present at the commission of a
robbery by that band
3. other members of the band committed an
assault
4. he did not attempt to prevent the assault502
Attempted or frustrated robbery
with homicide503
Execution of deeds by means of a. Offender has intent to defraud another.
violence or intimidation504
b. Offender compels him to sign, execute, or deliver
any public instrument or document.
c. The compulsion is by means of violence or
intimidation.
Robbery in an inhabited house or a. Offender entered
public building or edifice devoted
to worship505
1. an inhabited house, or
502
1. Conspiracy to commit robbery with homicide – even if less than 4 armed men
2. Conspiracy to commit robbery only but homicide was committed also on the occasion thereof – all
members of the band are liable for robbery with homicide
3. Conspiracy is presumed when 4 or more armed persons committed robbery
4. Unless the others attempted to prevent the assault – guilty of robbery by band only
503
Art. 297
1. Whether robbery is attempted or frustrated, penalty is the same
2. Where offense committed is attempted or frustrated robbery with serious physical injuries – Article
48 is applicable
504
Art. 298
505
Art. 299
Includes dependencies (stairways, hallways, etc.)
Inhabited house – any shelter, ship or vessel constituting the dwelling of one or more person even
though temporarily absent – dependencies, courts, corals, barns, etc.
Not included – orchard, lands for cultivation.
Important for robbery by use of force upon things, it is necessary that offender enters the building or
where object may be found. NO ENTRY, NO ROBBERY
Entrance is necessary – mere insertion of hand is not enough (whole body); not to get out but to enter –
therefore, evidence to such effect is necessary
P v. Lamahang – intent to rob being present is necessary
Place: house or building; not car
Public building – every building owned, rented or used by the government (though owned by private
persons) though temporarily vacant
Not robbery – passing through open door but getting out of a window
162
2. public buildings, or
3. edifice devoted to religious worship.
b. The entrance was effected by any of the following
means:
1. Through an opening not intended for
entrance or egress.
2. By breaking any wall, roof, or floor or
breaking any door or window.
3. By using false keys, picklocks or similar tools
or.
4. By using any fictitious name or pretending
the exercise of public authority.
c. Once inside the building, the offender took
personal property belonging to another with intent
to gain.
Outside door must be broken, smashed.
Theft – if lock is merely removed or door was merely pushed
False keys – genuine keys stolen from the owner or any keys other than those intended by the owner
for use in the lock
Picklocks – specially made, adopted for commission of robbery
Key – stolen not by force, otherwise, it’s robbery by violence and intimidation against persons
False key – used in opening house and not furniture inside, otherwise, theft (for latter to be robbery.,
must be broken and not just opened)
Gen. Rule: outside door. Exception: inside door in a separate dwelling, e.g. pretending to be police to
be able to enter (not pretending after entrance)
163
Robbery with force upon things506
a. Offender is inside a dwelling house, public
building, or edifice devoted to religious worship,
regardless of the circumstances under which he
entered it
b. Offender takes personal property belonging to
another with intent to gain, under any of the
following circumstances:
1. Breaking of doors, wardrobes, chests, or any
other kind of locked or sealed furniture or
receptacle, or
2. Taking such furniture or objects away to be
broken or forced open outside the place of the
robbery.
Robbery in an uninhabited place
and by a band507
Robbery in an uninhabited place a. Offender entered an uninhabited place or a
or in a private building508
building which was not a dwelling house, not a
506
Art. 299 (b)
Entrance ( no matter how done)
Offender may be servants or guests
Destruction of keyhole of cabinet is robbery here
When sealed box is taken out for the purpose of breaking it, no need to open – already consummated
robbery
Estafa – if box is in the custody of accused
Theft – if box found outside and forced open
507
Art. 300
What is an uninhabited house, public building or building dedicated to religious worship and their
dependencies (Art. 301)
1. Dependencies – are all interior courts, corrals, warehouses, granaries or enclosed places:
a. contiguous to the building
b. having an interior entrance connected therewith
c. which form part of the whole
2. Garage – must have 3 requirements. Exception: orchards/lands
508
Art. 302
Second kind of robbery with force upon things
Uninhabited place – is an uninhabited building (habitable, not any of the 3 places mentioned)
Ex. warehouse, freight car, store. Exception: pigsty
Same manner as Art. 299 except that was entered into was an uninhabited place or a building other
than the 3 mentioned in Art. 299. Exception: does not include use of fictitious name or pretending the
exercise of public authority
Breaking of padlock (but not door) is only theft
164
public building, or not an edifice devoted to religious
worship.
b. Any of the following circumstances was present:
1. Entrance was effected through an opening
not intended for entrance or egress.
2. A wall, roof, floor, or outside door or
window was broken.
3. The entrance was effected through the use of
false keys, picklocks or other similar tools.
4. A door, wardrobe, chest, or any sealed or
closed furniture or receptacle was broken or
5. A closed or sealed receptacle was removed,
even if the same be broken open elsewhere.
c. With intent to gain, the offender took therefrom
personal property belonging to another.
Robbery of cereals, fruits or fire
wood in an uninhabited place or
private building509
Illegal possession of picklocks or a. Offender has in his possession picklocks or similar
similar tools510
tools.
b. Such picklocks or similar tools are specially
adopted to the commission of robbery.
c. Offender does not have lawful cause for such
possession.
False keys – genuine keys stolen from the owner or any other keys other than those intended by the
owner for use in the lock forcibly opened
509
Art. 303
510
Art. 304
Actual use of the same is not necessary
165
False keys511
Picklocks, etc.
a. Genuine key stolen from owner.
b. Any key other than those intended by owner for
use in the lock forcibly opened by the offender
Brigandage512
Brigands – more than three (3) armed persons
forming a band
Aiding and abetting a band of a. There is a band of brigands.
brigands513
b. Offender knows the band to be of brigands.
c. Offender does any of the following acts:
1. he in any manner aids, abets or protects such
band if brigands, or
2. he gives them information of the movements
of the police or other peace officers of the
government or
3. He acquires or receives the property taken by
such brigands.
Theft514
a. Taking of personal property.
511
Art. 305
Possession of false keys here not punishable
If key was entrusted and used to steal, not robbery (not stolen)
512
Art. 306
PD 532 – Brigandage. Seizure of any person for: (a) ransom; (b) extortion or other unlawful purpose; (c)
taking away of property by violence or intimidation or force upon things or other unlawful means
Committed by any person on any Phil hi-way
Presumption of Brigandage:
a. if members of lawless band and possession of unlicensed firearms (any of them)
b. possession of any kind of arms (not just firearms)
513
Art. 307
514
Art. 308
Persons liable:
1. Those who
a) with intent to gain
b) but without violence against or intimidation of persons not force upon things
c) take personal property of another
166
b. Belonging to another.
c. The taking is done with intent to gain.
d. The taking is done without the consent of the
owner.
e. The taking is accomplished without the use of
violence against or intimidation of persons or force
upon things.
Hunting, fishing or gathering a. There is an enclosed estate or a field where
fruits, etc. in enclosed estate515
trespass is forbidden or which belongs to another;
b. Offender enters the same.
d) without the latter’s consent
2. Those who
a) having found lost property
b) fail to deliver the same to local authorities or its owner
3. Those who
a) after having maliciously damaged the property of another
b) remove or make use of the fruits or object of the damage caused by them
4. Those who
a) enter an enclosed estate or a field where
b) trespass is forbidden or which belongs to another and, without the consent of its owner
c) hunts or fish upon the same or gather fruits, cereals or other forest or farm products.
Theft is consummated when offender is able to place the thing taken under his control and in such a
situation as he could disclose of it at once (though no opportunity to dispose) i.e, the control test
P v. Dino – applies only in theft of bulky goods (meaning there has to be capacity to dispose of the
things). Otherwise, P v. Espiritu – full possession is enough
Servant using car without permission deemed qualified theft though use was temporary
Reyes says: there must be some character of permanency in depriving owner of the use of the object
and making himself the owner, therefore must exclude “joyride”
Theft: if after custody (only material possession) of object was given to the accused, it is actually taken
by him (no intent to return) e.g. felonious conversion. But it is estafa if juridical possession is transferred
e.g., by contract of bailment
Includes electricity and gas
a. inspector misreads meter to earn
b. one using a jumper
Selling share of co-partner is not theft
Salary must be delivered first to employee; prior to this, taking of Php is theft
If offender claims property as his own (in good faith) – not theft (though later found to be untrue. If in
bad faith – theft)
Gain is not just Php – satisfaction, use, pleasure desired, any benefit (e.g. joyride)
Actual gain is not necessary (intent to gain necessary)
Allege lack of consent in info is important
515
Art. 308, par. no.3
Fish not in fishpond, otherwise, qualified
167
c. Offender hunts or fishes upon the same or
gathers fruits, cereals or other forest or farm
products, and
d. The hunting or fishing or gathering of products
is without the consent of the owner.
Qualified theft516
a. Committed by domestic servant, or
b. With grave abuse of confidence, or
c. Property stolen is:
1. motor vehicle
2. mail matter
3. large cattle
4. coconut from plantation
5. fish from fishpond or fishery, or
d. On occasion of calamities and civil disturbance.
Theft of property of the national
library and national museum517
516
Art. 310
“grave abuse” – high degree of confidence, e.g. guests
no confidence, not qualified theft
theft – material possession
estafa – juridical possession
qualified: if done by one who has access to place where stolen property is kept e.g., guards, tellers
novation theory applies only if there’s a relation
industrial partner is not liable for QT (estafa)
when accused considered the deed of sale as sham (modus) and he had intent to gain, his absconding
is QT
motor vehicle in kabit system sold to another-theft. Motor vehicle not used as PU in kabit system but
under K of lease-estafa
mail matter – private mail to be QT, Not postmaster – Art. 226
517
Art. 311
168
Occupation of real property or
usurpation of real rights in
property518
a. Offender takes possession of any real property or
usurps any real rights in property.
b. The real property or real rights belong to another.
c. Violence against or intimidation of persons is used
by the offender in occupying real property or
usurpation real rights in property.
d. There is intent to gain.
Altering
boundaries
519
landmarks
or a. There be boundary marks or monuments of
towns, provinces, or estates, or any other marks
intended to designate the boundaries of the same.
b. Offender alters said boundary marks.
Fraudulent insolvency520
a. Offender is a debtor;521
b. He absconds with his property.
c. There be prejudice to his creditors.
Estafa in general522
a. The accused defrauded another
1. by abuse of confidence, or
or means of deceit and
2. Damage or prejudice capable of pecuniary
estimation is caused to the offended party or third
person.
Estafa with unfaithfulness523
a. Offender has an onerous obligation to deliver
something of value.
b. He alters its substance, quantity, or quality.
518
Art. 312
Art. 313
520
Art. 314 - culpable insolvency
521
that is, his obligations was due and payable.
522
Art. 315
523
Art.315, Sub.1, Par. (A)
519
169
c. Damage or prejudice is caused to another.
Estafa with abuse of confidence524
a. Money, goods, or other personal property be
received by the offender in trust, or on commission,
or for administration, or under any other obligation
involving the duty to make delivery of or to return,
the same.
b. There be misappropriation or conversion of such
money or property by the offender, or dental on his
part of such receipt.
524
Art.315, Sub.1, Par. (B)
3 ways of committing:
1. By misappropriating the thing received.
2. By converting the thing received.
3. By denying that the thing was received
Unfaithful or Abuse of Confidence
a. by altering the substance
b. existing obligation to deliver – even if it is not a subject of lawful commerce
c. thing delivered has not been fully or partially paid for – not estafa
d. no agreement as to quality – No estafa if delivery is unsatisfactory
By misappropriating and converting
a. thing is received by offender under transactions transferring juridical possession, not ownership
b. under P.D. 115 (Trust Receipts Law) – failure to turn over to the bank the proceeds of the sale of
the goods covered by TR – Estafa
c. same thing received must be returned otherwise estafa; sale on credit by agency when it was to
be sold for cash – estafa
d. Estafa – not affected by Novation of Contract because it is a public offense
e. Novation must take place before criminal liability was incurred or perhaps prior to the filing of
the criminal information in court by state prosecutors
f. Misappropriating – to take something for one’s own benefit
g. Converting – act of using or disposing of another’s property as if it was one’s own; thing has been
devoted for a purpose or use different from that agreed upon
h. There must be prejudice to another – not necessary that offender should obtain gain
i. Partners – No estafa of money or property received for the partnership when the business is
commercial and profits accrued. But if property is received for specific purpose and is misappropriated –
estafa!
j. Failure to account after the demand is circumstantial evidence of misappropriation
k. Demand is not a condition precedent to existence of estafa when misappropriation may be
established by other proof
l. In theft, upon delivery of the thing to the offender, the owner expects an immediate return of
the ting to him – otherwise, Estafa
m. Servant, domestic or employee who misappropriates a thing he received from his master is NOT
guilty of estafa but of qualified theft
When in the prosecution for malversation the public officer is acquitted, the private individual
allegedly in conspiracy with him may be held liable for estafa
170
c. Such misappropriation or conversion or dental is
to the prejudice of another and
d. There is a demand made by the offended party to
the offender.
Estafa by taking undue advantage a. The paper with the signature of the offended party
of the signature in blank525
be in blank.
b. The offended party should have delivered it to
offender.
c. Above the signature of the offended party a
document is written by the offender without
authority to do so.
c. The document so written creates a liability of, or
causes damage to, the offended party or any third
person
Estafa by means of deceit526
a. There must be a false pretense, fraudulent means
must be made or executed prior to or
b. Such false pretense, fraudulent act or fraudulent
means must be made or executed prior to or
simultaneously with the commission of the fraud.
c. The offended party must have relied on the false
pretense, fraudulent act, or fraudulent means, that is,
he was induced to part with his money or property
because of the false pretense, fraudulent act, or
fraudulent means.
d. As a result thereof, the offended party suffered
damage.
525
Art. 315
False pretenses or fraudulent acts – executed prior to or simultaneously with delivery of the thing by
the complainant
There must be evidence that the pretense of the accused that he possesses power/influence is false
526
171
Estafa by postdating a check or a. Offender postdated a check, or issued a check in
issuing a check in payment of an payment of an obligation.
obligation527
b. Such postdatig or issuing a check was done when
the offender had no funds in the bank or his funds
deposited therein were not sufficient to cover the
amount of the check.
Offense defined in the first par. of a. A person makes or draws and issues any check.
Sec. 1 of B.P. 22528
b. The check is made or drawn and issued to apply
on account or for value.
c. The person who makes or draws and issues the
check knows at the time of issue that he does not
have sufficient funds in or credit with the drawee
bank for the payment of such check in full upon its
presentment.
d. The check is subsequently dishonored by the
drawee bank for insufficiency of funds or credit, or
would have been dishonored for the same reason
had not the drawee, without any valid reason,
ordered the bank to stop payment.
Elements of the offense defined in a. A person has sufficient funds in or credit with the
the 2nd par. of Sec. 1 of B.P. 22
drawee bank when he makes or draws and issues a
check.
b. He fails to keep sufficient funds or to maintain a
credit to cover the full amount of the check if
presented within a period of 90 days from the date
appearing thereon.
527
Good faith is a defense. (P. vs. Villapando, 56 Phil.31)
Dishonor from lack of funds is prima facie evidence of deceit or failure to make good within three days
after notice of.
No funds in the bank or his funds are not sufficient
If check was issued in payment of pre-existing debt – no estafa
Offender must be able to obtain something from the offended party by means of the check he issues
and delivers
If postdating a check issued as mere guarantee/promissory note – no estafa
528
Failure to make good within 5 banking days prima facie evidence of knowledge of lack and
insufficiency of funds
172
c. The check is dishonored by the drawee bank.
By obtaining food or credit at
hotels, inns, restaurants etc.
Estafa by inducing another to a. Offender induced the offended party to sign a
sign any documents529
document.
b. Deceit be employed to make him sign the
document.
c. The offended party personally signed the
document.
d. Prejudice be caused.
Estafa by removing, concealing or a. There be court records, office files, documents or
destroying documents530
any other papers.
b. Offender removed, concealed or destroyed any of
them.
c. Offender had intent to defraud another.
Damage or prejudice capable of a. The offended party being deprived of his money
pecuniary estimation531
or property, as a result of the defraudation.
b. Disturbance in property right, or
c. Temporary prejudice.
529
If offended party willingly signed the document and there was deceit as to the character or contents of
the document – falsification; but where the accused made representation to mislead the complainants as
to the character of the documents - estafa
Estafa:
Private individual was entrusted
Intent to defraud
Infidelity in the custody of documents:
Public officer entrusted
No intent to defraud
530
No intent to defraud – destroying or removal = malicious mischief
531
second element of any form of estafa
173
Swindling by conveying, selling, a. The thing be immovable, such as a parcel of land
encumbering, or mortgaging any or a building.
real property, pretending to be the
owner of the same532
b. Offender who is not the owner of said property
represented that he is the owner thereof.
c. Offender should have executed an act of
ownership533
d. The act be made to the prejudice of the owner or
a third person.
Swindling by disposing of real a. The thing disposed of be real property.
property
as
free
from
encumbrance, although such b. Offender knew that the real property was
encumbrance be not recorded534
encumbered, whether the encumbrance is recorded
or not.
c. There must be express representation by the
offender that the real property is free from
encumbrance.
d. The act of disposing of the real property be made
to the damage of another.
Swindling by wrongfully taking by a. Offender is the owner of personal property.
the owner his personal from its
lawful possessor535
b. Said personal property is in the lawful possession
of another.
c. Offender wrongfully takes it from its lawful
possessor.
d. Prejudice is thereby caused to the possessor or
third person.
Swindling536
by
selling, a. Offender is a surety in a bond given in a criminal
mortgaging or encumbering real or civil action.
532
Art. 316, par.1
selling, leasing, encumbering or mortgaging the real property
534
par. 2.
535
par. 3
536
par. 6
533
174
property or properties with which b. He guaranteed the fulfillment of such obligation
the offender guaranteed the with his real property or properties.
fulfillment of his obligation as
surety537
c. He sells, mortgages, or, in any other manner
encumbers said real property.
d. Such sale, mortage or encumbrance is
1. without express authority from the court, or
2. made before the cancellation of his bond, or
3. before being relieved from the obligation
contracted by him.
Swindling a minor538
a. Offender takes advantage of the inexperience or
emotions or feelings of a minor.
b. He induces such minor
1. to assume an obligation, or
2. to give release, or
3. to execute a transfer of any property right.
c. The consideration is
1. some loan of money
2. credit, or
3. other personal property.
d. The transaction is to the detriment of such minor.
Other deceits539
a. Not mentioned above;
b. Interpretation of dreams, forecast, future-telling
for profit or gain.
537
Art. 316
Art. 317
539
Art. 318
538
175
Selling or pledging personal
property already pledged540
a. Personal property is already pledged under the
terms of the chattel mortgage law.
b. Offender, who is the mortgagee of such property,
sells or pledges the same or any part thereof.
c. There is no consent of the mortgagee written on
the back of the mortgage and noted on the record
thereof in the office of the register of deeds.
Knowingly removing mortgaged Personal property is mortgaged under the chattel
personal property541
mortage law.
Offender knows that such property is so mortaged.
He removes such mortgaged personal to any
province or city other than the one in which it was
located at the time of the execution of the mortgage.
The removal is permanent.
There is no written consent of the mortgagee or his
executors, administration or assigns to such removal.
Arson and other crimes involving
destructions542
Arsons of
values543
property
of
small a. An uninhabited hut, storehouse, barn, shed or any
other property is burned.
b. The value of the property burned does not exceed
25 pesos
c. The burning was done at a time or under
circumstances which clearly exclude all danger of the
fire spreading.
540
Art. 319
Ibid.
542
P.D. 1613 expressly repealed or amended Arts 320-326, but P.D. 1744 revived Art. 320
543
Art. 323
541
176
Crimes involving destruction544
a. Offender causes destruction of the property
b. The destruction was done by means of:
1. explosion
2. discharge of electric current
3. inundation
4. sinking or stranding of a vessel
5. damaging the engine of the vessel
6. taking up rails from the railway track
7. destroying telegraph wires and posts or those
of any other system
8. other similar effective means of destruction.
Burning one’s property as a a. Offender set fire to or destroyed his own property
means to commit arson545
b. The purpose of the offender in doing so was to
commit arson or to cause a great destruction
c. The property belonging to another was burned or
destroyed
Arson
a. The property burned is the exclusive property of
the offender
b. The purpose of the offender in burning it is
1. to defraud or cause damage to another or
2. prejudice is actually caused, or
3. the thing burned is a building in an inhabited
place.
544
545
Art. 325
Art. 325
177
Malicious mischief546
Offender deliberately caused damage to the property
of another.
Such act does not constitute arson or other crimes
involving destruction.
The act damaging another’s property be committed
merely for the sake of damaging it.
Special cases
mischief547
of
malicious Obstruct performance of public functions.
Using poisonous or corrosive substances.
Spreading infection or contagious among cattle.
Damage to property of national museum or library,
archive, registry, waterworks, road, promenade, or
any other thing ised in common by the public.
Other mischief548
Not included in Art. 328.549
a. scattering human excrement
b. killing of cow as an act of revenge
Damage and obstivation to means a. Done by damaging railways, telegraph, telephone
of communication550
lines, electric wires, traction cables, signal system of
railways
546
Art. 326
Malicious mischief – willful damaging of another’s property for the sake of causing damage due to
hate, revenge or other evil motive
No negligence
Example. Killing the cow as revenge
If no malice – only civil liability
Damage is also diminution in value
But after damaging the thing, he used it = theft
Damage is not incident of a crime (breaking windows in robbery)
547
Art. 328
Qualified malicious mischief – no uprising or sedition (#1)
548
Art. 329
549
supra
550
Art. 330
178
b. Removing rails from tracks is destruction551
c. Not applicable when telegraph/phone lines don’t
pertain to railways552
d. People killed as a result:
1. murder – if derailment is means of intent to kill
none – Art 48
e. Circumstance qualifying the offense if the damage
shall result in any derailment of cars, collision or
other accident – a higher penalty shall be imposed
Destroying or damaging statues,
public monuments or paintings553
Exemption from criminal liability in crimes against property554
1. Spouse, ascendants and descendants or relatives by affinity in the same line
2. The widowed spouse with respect to the property w/c belonged to the deceased
spouse before the same passed into the possession of another
3. Brothers and sisters and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, if living together.
Offenses involved in the exemption:
1. Theft
2. Swindling
3. Malicious mischief
551
Art. 324
example: for transmission of electric power/light
553
Art. 331
554
Art. 332
Exemption is based on family relations
Parties to the crime not related to the offended party still remains criminally liable
Persons exempt include:
a. stepfather/mother (ascendants by affinity)
b. adopted children (descendants)
c. concubine/paramour (spouse)
d. common law spouse (property is part of their earnings)
552
179
a. Anti-Fencing Law555 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations
i) Fencing
a) Definition
The act of any person who, with intent to gain for himself or for another, shall buy,
receive, possess, keep, acquire, conceal, sell or dispose of, or shall buy and sell, or in any
other manner deal in any article, item, object or anything of value which he knows, or should
be known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or
theft.556
b) Presumption of fencing
Mere possession of any good, article, item, object, or anything of value which has
been the subject of robbery or thievery shall be prima facie evidence of fencing.557
ii) Exception
a) With clearance or permit to sell
All stores, establishments or entities dealing in the buy and sell of any good, article
item, object of anything of value obtained from an unlicensed dealer or supplier thereof,
shall, before offering the same for sale to the public, secure the necessary clearance or permit
from the station commander of the Integrated National Police in the town or city where
such store, establishment or entity is located. Any person who fails to secure the clearance or
permit required by this section or who violates any of the provisions of the rules and
regulations promulgated thereunder shall upon conviction be punished as a fence.558
555
P.D. No. 1612
Sec. 2.
557
Sec. 5.
558
Sec. 6.
556
180
b. Bouncing Checks Law559 plus Administrative Circular No. 12-2000 Re:
Penalty for Violation of B.P. 22560 and Administrative Circular No. 132001 Re: Clarification of Admin Circular No. 12-2000561
i) Punishable acts
Any person who makes or draws and issues any check to apply on account or for
value, knowing at the time of issue that he does not have sufficient funds in or credit with
the drawee bank for the payment of such check in full upon its presentment, which check is
subsequently dishonored by the drawee bank for insufficiency of funds or credit or would
have been dishonored for the same reason had not the drawer, without any valid reason,
ordered the bank to stop payment.
Any person who, having sufficient funds in or credit with the drawee bank when he
makes or draws and issues a check, shall fail to keep sufficient funds or to maintain a credit
to cover the full amount of the check if presented within a period of ninety (90) days from
the date appearing thereon, for which reason it is dishonored by the drawee bank
Where the check is drawn by a corporation, company or entity, the person or
persons who actually signed the check in behalf of such drawer shall be liable.562
ii) Evidence of knowledge of insufficient funds
The making, drawing and issuance of a check payment of which is refused by the
drawee because of insufficient funds in or credit with such bank, when presented within
ninety (90) days from the date of the check, shall be prima facie evidence of knowledge of
such insufficiency of funds or credit unless such maker or drawer pays the holder thereof the
amount due thereon, or makes arrangements for payment in full by the drawee of such
check within (5) banking days after receiving notice that such check has not been paid by the
drawee.563
iii) Preference of imposition of fine
Where the circumstances of both the offense and the offender clearly indicate good
faith or a clear mistake of fact without taint of negligence, the imposition of a fine alone
should be considered as the more appropriate penalty. The determination of whether the
circumstances warrant the imposition of a fine alone rests solely upon the Judge.564
559
B.P. Blg. 22
see Reference
561
ibid
562
Sec. 1.
563
Sec. 2.
564
Administrative Circular No. 13-2001, February 14, 2001. See Reference
560
181
c. Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972565
i) Definition of terms
Carnapping
The taking, with intent to gain, of a motor
vehicle belonging to another without the
latter's consent, or by means of violence
against or intimidation of persons, or by
using force upon things
Motor vehicle
Any vehicle propelled by any power other
than muscular power using the public
highways, but excepting road rollers, trolley
cars, street-sweepers, sprinklers, lawn
mowers, bulldozers, graders, fork-lifts,
amphibian trucks, and cranes if not used on
public highways, vehicles, which run only on
rails or tracks, and tractors, trailers and
traction engines of all kinds used exclusively
for agricultural purposes. Trailers having any
number of wheels, when propelled or
intended to be propelled by attachment to a
motor vehicle, shall be classified as separate
motor vehicle with no power rating.
Defacing or tampering with a serial number
The erasing, scratching, altering or changing
of the original factory-inscribed serial
number on the motor vehicle engine, engine
block or chassis of any motor vehicle.
Whenever any motor vehicle is found to
have a serial number on its motor engine,
engine block or chassis which is different
from that which is listed in the records of the
Bureau of Customs for motor vehicles
imported into the Philippines, that motor
vehicle shall be considered to have a defaced
or tampered with serial number.
Repainting
Changing the color of a motor vehicle by
means of painting. There is repainting
565
R.A. 6539
182
whenever the new color of a motor vehicle is
different from its color as registered in the
Land Transportation Commission.
Body-building
A job undertaken on a motor vehicle in
order to replace its entire body with a new
body.
Remodeling
The introduction of some changes in the
shape or form of the body of the motor
vehicle.
Dismantling
The tearing apart, piece by piece or part by
part, of a motor vehicle.
Overhauling
The cleaning or repairing of the whole
engine of a motor vehicle by separating the
motor engine and its parts from the body of
the motor vehicle.566
ii) Registration
Within one year after the approval of this Act, every owner or possessor of
unregistered motor vehicle or parts thereof in knock down condition shall register with the
Land Transportation Commission the motor vehicle engine, engine block and chassis in his
name or in the name of the real owner who shall be readily available to answer any claim
over the registered motor vehicle engine, engine block or chassis. Thereafter, all motor
vehicle engines, engine blocks and chassis not registered with the Land Transportation
Commission shall be considered as untaxed importation or coming from an illegal source or
carnapped, and shall be confiscated in favor of the Government.
All owners of motor vehicles in all cities and municipalities are required to register
their cars with the local police without paying any charges.567
566
567
Sec. 2.
Sec. 3.
183
iii) Who are liable
a) Duty of collector of customs
The Collector of Customs of a principal port of entry where an imported motor
vehicle, motor vehicle engine, engine block chassis or body is unloaded, shall, within seven
days after the arrival of the imported motor vehicle or any of its parts enumerated herein,
make a report of the shipment to the Land Transportation Commission, specifying the
make, type and serial numbers, if any, of the motor vehicle engine, engine block and chassis
or body, and stating the names and addresses of the owner or consignee thereof. If the
motor vehicle engine, engine block, chassis or body does not bear any serial number, the
Collector of Customs concerned shall hold the motor vehicle engine, engine block, chassis
or body until it is numbered by the Land Transportation Commission.568
b) Duty of importers, distributors and sellers
Any person engaged in the importation, distribution, and buying and selling of motor
vehicles, motor vehicle engines, engine blocks, chassis or body, shall keep a permanent
record of his stocks, stating therein their type, make and serial numbers, and the names and
addresses of the persons from whom they were acquired and the names and addresses of the
persons to whom they were sold, and shall render an accurate monthly report of his
transactions in motor vehicles to the Land Transportation Commission.569
c) Clearance and permit
Any person who shall undertake to assemble or rebuild or cause the assembly or
rebuilding of a motor vehicle shall first secure a certificate of clearance from the Philippine
Constabulary: Provided, That no such permit shall be issued unless the applicant shall present
a statement under oath containing the type, make and serial numbers of the engine, chassis
and body, if any, and the complete list of the spare parts of the motor vehicle to be
assembled or rebuilt together with the names and addresses of the sources thereof.
In the case of motor vehicle engines to be mounted on motor boats, motor bancas
and other light water vessels, the applicant shall secure a permit from the Philippine Coast
Guard, which office shall in turn furnish the Land Transportation Commission the pertinent
data concerning the motor vehicle engines including their type, make and serial numbers.570
iv) Punishable acts
It shall be unlawful for any person to deface or otherwise tamper with the original or
registered serial number of motor vehicle engines, engine blocks and chassis.571
568
Sec. 7.
Sec. 8.
570
Sec. 10.
571
Sec. 12.
569
184
d. Human Security Act of 2007572
i) Punishable acts of terrorism573
e. Anti-Arson Law574
i) Punishable acts
I. Arson575 - any person who burns or sets fire to the property of another or to his
own property under circumstances which expose to danger the life or property of another.
II. Destructive Arson - if the property burned is any of the following:
1. Any ammunition factory and other establishment where explosives,
inflammable or combustible materials are stored.
2. Any archive, museum, whether public or private, or any edifice devoted to
culture, education or social services.
3. Any church or place of worship or other building where people usually
assemble.
4. Any train, airplane or any aircraft, vessel or watercraft, or conveyance for
transportation of persons or property
5. Any building where evidence is kept for use in any legislative, judicial,
administrative or other official proceedings.
6. Any hospital, hotel, dormitory, lodging house, housing tenement, shopping
center, public or private market, theater or movie house or any similar place or
building.
7. Any building, whether used as a dwelling or not, situated in a populated or
congested area.576
III. Conspiracy to commit Arson577
572
R.A. 9372
supra
574
P.D.1613
575
Sec. 1
576
Sec. 2
577
Sec. 7
573
185
11. Crimes Against Chastity
Crimes
Adultery578
Elements
a. The woman is married579
b. She has sexual intercourse with a man not her husband.
c. As regards the man with whom she has sexual
intercourses, he must know her to be married.
Concubinage580
a. The man must be married.
b. He committed any of the following acts:
1. Keeping a mistress in the conjugal dwelling.
2. Having sexual intercourse under scandalous
circumstances with a woman who is not his wife.
3. Cohabiting with her in any other place.
c. As regards the woman, she must know him to be married.
Acts of lasciviousness581
a. Offender commits any act of lasciviousness or lewdness.
b. Done under any of the following circumstances:
1. by using force or intimidation, or
2. when the offended party is deprived of reason or
otherwise unconscious, or
3. when the offended party is under 12 years of age.
578
Art. 333
Mitigated if wife was abandoned without justification by the offended spouse (man is not entitled to
this mitigating circumstance)
Attempted: caught disrobing a lover
579
even if marriage subsequently declared void
580
Art. 334
“Scandal” consists in any reprehensible word/deed that offends public conscience, redounds to the
detriment of the feelings of honest persons and gives occasions to the neighbor’s spiritual damage and
ruin
581
Art. 336
186
c. Offended party is another person of either sex.
Qualified seduction582
1. Seduction of a virgin over 12 a. Offended party is a virgin, which is presumed if she
and under 18 years of age by certain unmarried and of good reputation.
persons, such as a person in
authority, priest, teachers etc and
b. He must be over 12 and under 18 years of age.
2. Seduction of a sister by her d. Offender has sexual intercourse with her.
brother or descendant by her
ascendant, regardless of her age or e. There is abuse of authority, confidence or relationship
reputation.583
on the part of the offender584
Simple seduction585
a. Offended party is over 12 and under 18 years of age.
b. She must be of good reputation, single or widow.
c. Offender has sexual intercourse with her.
d. It is committed by means of deceit.
Acts of lasciviousness with the a. Offender commits acts of lasciviousness or lewdness.
consent of the offended party586
b. The acts are committed upon a woman who is virgin or
582
Art. 337
Persons liable:
1. Those who abuse their authority:
a. persons in public authority
b. guardian
c. teacher
d. person who, in any capacity, is entrusted with the education or custody of the woman seduced
2. Those who abused the confidence reposed in them:
a. priest
b. house servant
c. domestic
3. Those who abused their relationship:
a. brother who seduced his sister
b. ascendant who seduced his descendant
583
incestuous seduction
584
person entrusted with education or custody of victim; person in public authority, priest; servant
585
Art. 338
Common form is unconditional promise to marry
586
Art. 339
187
single or widow of good reputation, under 18 years of age
but over 12 years, or a sister or descendant regardless of her
reputation or age.
c. Offender accomplishes the acts by abuse of authority,
confidence, relationship, or deceit.
Corruption of minors587
Promoting or facilitating the prostitution or corruption of
persons underage to satisfy the lust of another
White slave trade588
a. Engaging in the business of prostitution
b. Profiting by prostitution
c. Enlisting the servicxe of women for the purpose of
prostitution.
Forcible abduction589
a. The person abducted is any woman, regardless of her age,
civil status, or reputation.
b. The abduction is against her will.
c. The abduction is with lewd designs.
Consented abduction590
a. Offended party must be a virgin.
b. She must be over 12 and under 18 years of age.
c. The taking away of the offended party must be with her
consent, after solicitation or cajolery from the offender.
The taking away of the offended party must be with lewd
designs
587
Art. 340
Art. 341
589
Art. 342
Sexual intercourse is not necessary
Crimes against chastity where age and reputation of victim are immaterial:
rape, acts of lasciviousness, qualified seduction of sister/descendant, forcible abduction
590
Art. 343
588
188
Adultery, concubinage, seduction, abduction rape and acts of lasciviousness591
1. Prosecution of Adultery and concubinage must be prosecuted upon
complaint filed by the offended spouse
2. Seduction, abduction, rape592 or acts of lasciviousness must be
prosecuted upon complaint filed by:
a. offended party
b. her parents
c. grandparents
d. guardians in the order in which they are named above.
Civil liability of persons guilty of rape, seduction or abduction593
1. To idemnify the offended women
2. To acknowledge the offspring, unless the law should prevent him
from doing so
3.
In every case to support the offspring
Liability of ascendants, other persons entrusted with custody of offended party who
by abuse of authority or confidence shall cooperate as accomplies594
591
Art. 344
Marriage of the offender with the offended party extinguishes the criminal action or remit the penalty
already imposed upon him. This applies as well to the accomplices, accessories-after-the-fact. But
marriages must be in good faith. This rule does not apply in case of multiple rape
592
Not included (see Art. 266-C, 2nd par)
593
Art. 345
594
Art. 346, see Reference
189
a. Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009595
i) Punishable acts
(a) To take photo or video coverage of a person or group of persons performing
sexual act or any similar activity or to capture an image of the private area of a person/s such
as the naked or undergarment clad genitals, public area, buttocks or female breast without
the consent of the person/s involved and under circumstances in which the person/s
has/have a reasonable expectation of privacy;
(b) To copy or reproduce, or to cause to be copied or reproduced, such photo or
video or recording of sexual act or any similar activity with or without consideration;
(c) To sell or distribute, or cause to be sold or distributed, such photo or video or
recording of sexual act, whether it be the original copy or reproduction thereof; or
(d) To publish or broadcast, or cause to be published or broadcast, whether in print
or broadcast media, or show or exhibit the photo or video coverage or recordings of such
sexual act or any similar activity through VCD/DVD, internet, cellular phones and other
similar means or device.
The prohibition under paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) shall apply notwithstanding that
consent to record or take photo or video coverage of the same was given by such person/s.
Any person who violates this provision shall be liable for photo or video voyeurism as
defined herein.
b. Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and
Discrimination Act 596
i) Child prostitution and other acts of abuse
a) Punishable acts
(a) Those who engage in or promote, facilitate or induce child prostitution which
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Acting as a procurer of a child prostitute;
(2) Inducing a person to be a client of a child prostitute by means of written
or oral advertisements or other similar means;
(3) Taking advantage of influence or relationship to procure a child as
prostitute;
595
596
R.A. 9995
R.A. 7610, as amended
190
(4) Threatening or using violence towards a child to engage him as a
prostitute; or
(5) Giving monetary consideration goods or other pecuniary benefit to a
child with intent to engage such child in prostitution.
(b) Those who commit the act of sexual intercourse of lascivious conduct with a
child exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse;597 and
(c) Those who derive profit or advantage therefrom, whether as manager or owner
of the establishment where the prostitution takes place, or of the sauna, disco, bar, resort,
place of entertainment or establishment serving as a cover or which engages in prostitution
in addition to the activity for which the license has been issued to said establishment.598
b) Compare prosecution for Acts of Lasciviousness under
Art. 366, RPC and RA 7610, as amended
Under RPC:
Under R.A. 7610:
Acts of lasciviousness must be
prosecuted upon complaint filed by:
1. offended party,
Complaints on cases of unlawful acts
committed against the children as
enumerated herein may be filed by the
following:
2. her parents,
1. Offended party;
3. grandparents,
2. Parents or guardians;
4. guardians599
3. Ascendant or collateral relative within
the third degree of consanguinity;
4. Officer, social worker or representative
of a licensed child-caring institution;
5.
Officer or social worker of the
Department of Social Welfare and
Development;
6. Barangay chairman; or
7. At least three (3) concerned responsible
citizens where the violation occurred.600
597
When the victims is under twelve (12) years of age, the perpetrators shall be prosecuted under Article
335, paragraph 3, for rape and Article 336 of Act No. 3815, as amended, the Revised Penal Code, for rape
or lascivious conduct, as the case may be: Provided, That the penalty for lascivious conduct when the
victim is under twelve (12) years of age shall be reclusion temporal in its medium period.
598
Sec. 5.
599
in the order in which they are named
191
ii) Obscene Publications and indecent shows
a) Punishable acts
Any person who shall hire, employ, use, persuade, induce or coerce a child to
perform in obscene exhibitions and indecent shows, whether live or in video, or model in
obscene publications or pornographic materials or to sell or distribute the said materials shall
suffer the penalty of prision mayor in its medium period.
If the child used as a performer, subject or seller/distributor is below twelve (12)
years of age, the penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period.
Any ascendant, guardian, or person entrusted in any capacity with the care of a child
who shall cause and/or allow such child to be employed or to participate in an obscene play,
scene, act, movie or show or in any other acts covered by this section shall suffer the penalty
of prision mayor in its medium period.601
c. Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003602
i) Punishable acts
It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or juridical, to commit any of the
following acts:
(a) To recruit, transport, transfer; harbor, provide, or receive a person by any means,
including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or
apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
(b) To introduce or match for money, profit, or material, economic or other
consideration, any person or, as provided for under Republic Act No. 6955, any Filipino
woman to a foreign national, for marriage for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering,
selling or trading him/her to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
(c) To offer or contract marriage, real or simulated, for the purpose of acquiring,
buying, offering, selling, or trading them to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced labor or slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
(d) To undertake or organize tours and travel plans consisting of tourism packages or
activities for the purpose of utilizing and offering persons for prostitution, pornography or
sexual exploitation;
(e) To maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;
600
Sec. 27
Sec. 9
602
R.A. 9208
601
192
(f) To adopt or facilitate the adoption of persons for the purpose of prostitution,
pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt
bondage;
(g) To recruit, hire, adopt, transport or abduct a person, by means of threat or use of
force, fraud, deceit, violence, coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of
organs of said person; and
(h) To recruit, transport or adopt a child to engage in armed activities in the
Philippines or abroad.603
The following acts which promote or facilitate trafficking in persons, shall be
unlawful:
(a) To knowingly lease or sublease, use or allow to be used any house, building or
establishment for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
(b) To produce, print and issue or distribute unissued, tampered or fake counseling
certificates, registration stickers and certificates of any government agency which issues these
certificates and stickers as proof of compliance with government regulatory and predeparture requirements for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
(c) To advertise, publish, print, broadcast or distribute, or cause the advertisement,
publication, printing, broadcasting or distribution by any means, including the use of
information technology and the internet, of any brochure, flyer, or any propaganda material
that promotes trafficking in persons;
(d) To assist in the conduct of misrepresentation or fraud for purposes of facilitating
the acquisition of clearances and necessary exit documents from government agencies that
are mandated to provide pre-departure registration and services for departing persons for the
purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
(e) To facilitate, assist or help in the exit and entry of persons from/to the country at
international and local airports, territorial boundaries and seaports who are in possession of
unissued, tampered or fraudulent travel documents for the purpose of promoting trafficking
in persons;
(f) To confiscate, conceal, or destroy the passport, travel documents, or personal
documents or belongings of trafficked persons in furtherance of trafficking or to prevent
them from leaving the country or seeking redress from the government or appropriate
agencies; and
(g) To knowingly benefit from, financial or otherwise, or make use of, the labor or
services of a person held to a condition of involuntary servitude, forced labor, or
slavery.604
603
604
Acts of Trafficking in Persons (Sec. 4)
Acts that Promote Trafficking in Persons (Sec. 5)
193
The following are considered as qualified trafficking:
(a) When the trafficked person is a child;
(b) When the adoption is effected through Republic Act No. 8043, otherwise known
as the "Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995" and said adoption is for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or
debt bondage;
(c) When the crime is committed by a syndicate, or in large scale.605
(d) When the offender is an ascendant, parent, sibling, guardian or a person who
exercises authority over the trafficked person or when the offense is committed by a public
officer or employee;
(e) When the trafficked person is recruited to engage in prostitution with any
member of the military or law enforcement agencies;
(f) When the offender is a member of the military or law enforcement agencies; and
(g) When by reason or on occasion of the act of trafficking in persons, the offended
party dies, becomes insane, suffers mutilation or is afflicted with Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).606
605
Trafficking is deemed committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons
conspiring or confederating with one another.
It is deemed committed in large scale if committed against three (3) or more persons, individually or as
a group;
606
Qualified Trafficking in Persons (Sec. 6)
194
d. Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004607
i) Punishable acts
(a) Causing physical harm to the woman or her child;
(b) Threatening to cause the woman or her child physical harm;
(c) Attempting to cause the woman or her child physical harm;
(d) Placing the woman or her child in fear of imminent physical harm;
(e) Attempting to compel or compelling the woman or her child to engage in
conduct which the woman or her child has the right to desist from or desist from conduct
which the woman or her child has the right to engage in, or attempting to restrict or
restricting the woman's or her child's freedom of movement or conduct by force or threat of
force, physical or other harm or threat of physical or other harm, or intimidation directed
against the woman or child.
This shall include, but not limited to, the following acts committed with the purpose
or effect of controlling or restricting the woman's or her child's movement or conduct:
(1) Threatening to deprive or actually depriving the woman or her child of
custody to her/his family;
(2) Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her children of
financial support legally due her or her family, or deliberately providing the woman's
children insufficient financial support;
right;
(3) Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her child of a legal
(4) Preventing the woman in engaging in any legitimate profession,
occupation, business or activity or controlling the victim's own mon4ey or
properties, or solely controlling the conjugal or common money, or properties;
(f) Inflicting or threatening to inflict physical harm on oneself for the purpose of
controlling her actions or decisions;
(g) Causing or attempting to cause the woman or her child to engage in any sexual
activity which does not constitute rape, by force or threat of force, physical harm, or through
intimidation directed against the woman or her child or her/his immediate family;
607
R.A. 9262
195
(h) Engaging in purposeful, knowing, or reckless conduct, personally or through
another, that alarms or causes substantial emotional or psychological distress to the woman
or her child. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following acts:
(1) Stalking or following the woman or her child in public or private places;
(2) Peering in the window or lingering outside the residence of the woman or
her child;
(3) Entering or remaining in the dwelling or on the property of the woman or
her child against her/his will;
(4) Destroying the property and personal belongings or inflicting harm to
animals or pets of the woman or her child; and
(5) Engaging in any form of harassment or violence;
(i) Causing mental or emotional anguish, public ridicule or humiliation to the woman
or her child, including, but not limited to, repeated verbal and emotional abuse, and denial of
financial support or custody of minor children of access to the woman's child/children.608
e. Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995609
i) Punishable acts
Work, education or training-related sexual harassment is committed by an employee,
manager, supervisor, agent of the employer, teacher, instructor, professor, coach, trainor, or
any other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a
work or training or education environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires any
sexual favor from the other, regardless of whether the demand, request or requirement for
submission is accepted by the object of said act.
(a) In a work-related or employment environment, sexual harassment is committed
when:
(1) The sexual favor is made as a condition in the hiring or in the
employment, re-employment or continued employment of said individual, or in
granting said individual favorable compensation, terms, conditions, promotions, or
privileges; or the refusal to grant the sexual favor results in limiting, segregating or
classifying the employee which in a way would discriminate, deprive or diminish
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect said employee;
(2) The above acts would impair the employee’s rights or privileges under
existing labor laws; or
608
609
Sec. 5
R.A. 7877
196
(3) The above acts would result in an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
environment for the employee.
(b) In an education or training environment, sexual harassment is committed:
(1) Against one who is under the care, custody or supervision of the
offender;
(2) Against one whose education, training, apprenticeship or tutorship is
entrusted to the offender;
(3) When the sexual favor is made a condition to the giving of a passing
grade, or the granting of honors and scholarships, or the payment of a stipend,
allowance or other benefits, privileges, or considerations; or
(4) When the sexual advances result in an intimidating, hostile or offensive
environment for the student, trainee or apprentice.
Any person who directs or induces another to commit any act of sexual harassment
as herein defined, or who cooperates in the commission thereof by another without which it
would not have been committed, shall also be held liable.610
610
Sec. 3
197
12. Crimes Against Civil Status
Crimes
Elements
Simulation of births, substitution a. Child is baptized or registered in the Registry of
of one child for another, and birth as hers
concealment or abandonment of
a legitimate child611
b. Child loses its real status and acquiires a new one
c. Actor’s purpose was to cause the loss of any trace
as to the child’s true filiation.612
Usurpation of civil status613
a. Committed by a person who represents himself as
another and
assumes the filiation or rights
pertaining to such person.
b. There must be criminal intent to enjoy the civil
rights of another by the offender knowing he is not
entitled thereto.
c. Committed by asuming the filiation, or the
parental or conjugal rights of another.
d. Circumstances qualifying the offense: penalty is
heavier when the purpose of the impersonation is to
defraud the offended party or his heirs.
Bigamy614
a. Offender has been legally married.
611
Art. 347
Acts Punished:
1. Simulation of births
2. Substitution of one child for another
3. Concealing or abandoning any legitimate child with the intent to cause such child to lose its civil
status
Requisites:
1. The child must be legitimate
2. The offender conceals or abandons such child
3. The offender has the intent to cause the child to lose its civil status
612
Elements of Simulation of Birth
613
Art. 348
614
Art. 349
The crime does not fall within the category of private crimes that can be prosecuted only at the
instance of the offended party
A simulated marriage is not marriage at all and can be used as a defense for bigamy
198
b. The marriage has not been legally dissolved or, in
case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse
could not yet be presumed dead according to the
civil code.
c. He contracts a second or subsequent marriage.
d. The second or subsequent marriage has all the
essential requisites for validity.
Marriage contracted
provisions of laws615
against a. Offender contracted marriage.
b. He knew at the time that
1. the requirement of the law were not complied
with, or
2. the marriage was in disregard of a legal
impediment.
Premature marriage616
a. A widow who within 301 days from death of
husband, got married or before her delivery, if she
was pregnant at the time of his death
b. A woman whose marriage having been dissolved
or annulled, married before her delivery or within
301 days after the legal separation.
Performance of illegal marriage a. Performance of any illegal marriage ceremony by a
ceremony617
priest or minister of any religious denomination or
sect or by civil authorities
There must be a summary proceeding to declare the absent spouse presumptively dead for purposes
of remarriage
Failure to exercise due diligence to ascertain the whereabouts of the 1st wife is bigamy through reckless
imprudence
A judicial declaration of the nullity of a marriage void ab initio is now required
One convicted for bigamy may be prosecuted for concubinage as both are distinct offenses
One who vouches that there is no legal impediment knowing that one of the parties is already married
is an accomplice
615
Art. 350
Circumstance qualifying the offense: if either of the contracting parties obtains the consent of the
other by means of violence, intimidation or fraud
616
Art. 351
617
Art. 352
199
13. Crimes Against Honor
Crimes
Libel618
Elements
a. There must be an imputation of a crime, or of a
618
Art. 353
Libel is a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or a vice or defect, real or imaginary or any act,
commission, condition, status or circumstances tending to cause the dishonor, discredit or contempt of a
natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead
Kinds of malice: (a) malice in law; (b) malice in fact
Malice is presumed to exist in injurious publications
Publication is the communication of the defamatory matter to some third person/s
Person libeled must be identified. But the publication need not refer by name to the libeled party. If
not named it must be shown that the description of the person referred to in the defamatory publication
was sufficiently clear so that at least a 3rd person would have identified the plaintiff.
There are as many crimes as there are persons defamed.
To presume publication there must be a reasonable probability that the alleged a libelous matter was
thereby exposed to be read or seen by 3rd persons.
Criterion to determine whether statements are defamatory
1) words are calculated to induce the hearers to suppose and understand that the person against
who they are uttered were guilty of certain offenses, or are sufficient to impeach their honesty,
virtue or reputation, or to hole the person up to public ridicule
2 )construed not only as to the expression used but also with respect to the whole scope and
apparent object of the writer.
Requirement of publicity (Art. 354)
Kinds of privileged communication:
a. Absolutely privileged – not actionable even if the actor has acted in bad faith
b. Qualifiedly privileged – those which although containing defamatory imputations could not be
actionable unless made with malice or bad faith
General Rule:
Every defamatory imputation is presumed malicious even if it be true, if no good intention and
justifiable motive for making it is shown.
Exception:
a. Private communication in performance of legal, moral or social duty
b. Fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comments and remarks
Persons responsible for Libel (Art. 360)
a. A person who publishes, exhibits or causes the publication or exhibition of any defamation in
writing or similar means.
b. Author or editor of a book or pamphlet
c. Editor or business manager of a daily newspaper magazine or serial publication
d. Owner of the printing plant which publishes a libelous article with his consent and all other
persons who in any way participate in or have connection with its publication (US v Ortiz)
Venue of criminal and civil action for damages in cases of written defamation:
a. where the libelous article is printed and 1st published or
b. where any of the offended parties actually resides at the time of the commission of the offense
Where one of the offended parties is a public officer:
a. if his office is in the City of Manila
- RTC of Manila or
- city/province where the article is printed and 1st published
b. Otherwise
- RTC of the city/province where he held office at the time of offense or
200
vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act,
omission, condition, status, or circumstances.
b. The imputation must be made publicly.
c. It must be malicious.
d. The imputation must be directed at a natural or
juridical person, or one who is dead.
e. The imputation must tend to cause the dishonor,
discredit or contempt of the person defamed.
Libel by means of writing or Enumerates the means by which libel may be
similar means619
committed:
writing,
printing,
lithography,
engraving, radio phonograph, painting, theatrical or
cinematographic exhibitions or any similar means.
Threatening to publish libel and Clearly, just a case of blackmail.621
offer to prevent such publication
for a compensation620
Prohibited publication of acts a. Offender is a reporter, editor or manager of a
referred to in the course of official newspaper, daily or magazine.
proceedings622
b. He publishes facts connected with the private life
of another.
c. Such facts are offensive to the honor, virtue and
reputation of said person.
- where the article is 1st published
Where one of the offended parties is a private individual:
- RTC of province/city where he actually resides at the time of the crime
- where article was printed or 1st published
619
Art. 355
620
Art. 356
621
any unlawful extortion of money by threats of accusation and exposure
Possible in light threats (Art 283) and in threat to publish (Art 356).
622
Art. 357
Even though made in connection with or under the pretext that it is necessary in the narration of any
judicial or administrative proceedings wherein such facts have been mentioned.
Lacsa found that Marquez was not a proprietary member of PCA thus not qualified to be president. He
wrote to the BOD and to Marquez. He caused to publish the second letter. HELD: Letter is not privileged
communication. To be classified as such, it must be free from malice. Granting that the letter was
privileged communication, written out of a duty of an officer towards the members, such character was
lost when it was published (Lacsa v. IAC)
201
Oral defamation/slander623
a. action of a serious and insulting nature624
b. light insult or defamation – not serious in
nature625
Slander by deed626
a. Offender performs any act not included in any
other crime against honor.
b. Such act is performed in the presence of other
person or persons.
c. Such act casts dishonor, discredit or contempt
upon the offended party.
Incriminating innocent person627
a. Offender performs an act.
b. Such act he directly incriminates or imputes to an
innocent person the commission of a crime.
c. Such act does not constitute perjury.
623
Art. 358
Factors that determine gravity of the offense:
a) expressions used
b) personal relations of the accused and the offended party
c) circumstances surrounding the case
Words uttered in the heat of anger constitute light oral defamation
If the utterances were made publicly and were heard by many people and the accused at the same time
leveled his finger at the complainant, oral defamation is committed
Seriousness depends on the social standing of offended party, the circumstances surrounding the act,
the occasion, etc.
624
grave slander
625
simple slander
626
Art. 359
Libelous remarks (Art. 362)
Libelous remarks or comments on privileged matters if made with malice in fact will not exempt the
author and editor.
This article is a limitation to the defense of privileged communication.
627
Art. 363.
Two (2) Kinds:
a. making a statement which is
i. defamatory or
ii. perjurious
b. planting evidence
This article is limited to planting evidence and the like
202
Intriguing against honor628
Any person who shall make any intrigue which has
for its principal purpose to blemish the honor or
reputation of another person.
a. Administrative Circular 08-2008 Re: Guidelines in the Observance of
a Rule of Preference in the Imposition of Penalties in Libel Cases
i) Preference of imposition of fine
This Administrative Circular does not remove imprisonment as an alternative penalty
for the crime of libel.629
The Judges concerned may, in the exercise of sound discretion, and taking into
consideration the peculiar circumstances of each case, determine whether the imposition of a
fine alone would best serve the interests of justice or whether forbearing to impose
imprisonment would depreciate the seriousness of the offense, work violence on the social
order, or otherwise be contrary to the imperative of justice;
Should only a fine be imposed and the accused be unable to pay the fine, there is no
legal obstacle to the application of the Revised Penal Code provision on subsidiary
imprisonment.
628
Art. 364
Refers to any scheme or plot designed to blemish the reputation of another or of such trickery or
secret plot.
Committed by saying to others an unattributable thing; if said to the person himself it is slander
629
under Art. 355 of the RPC
203
14. Criminal Negligence
Reckless imprudence630
a. Offender does or fails to do an act.
b. The doing of or the failure to do that act is voluntary.
c. Without malice.
d. Material damage results.
e. There is inexcusable lack of precaution on the part of
the offender, taking into consideration
1. his employment or occupation
2. degree of intelligence, physical condition, and
3. other circumstances regarding persons, time and
place.
Simple imprudence631
a. There is lack of precaution on the part of the
offender.
b. The damage impending to be caused in not immediate
or the danger is not clearly manifest.
630
Art. 365
ibid.
Art.64 on mitigating and aggravating circumstances not applicable.
Failure to lend on the spot assistance to victim of his negligence:penalty next higher in degree.
Abandoning usually punishable under Art 275, if charged under Art365 is only qualifying and if not
alleged cannot even be an aggravating circumstance.
Contributory negligence—not a defense, only mitigating
Last clear chance doctrineThe contributory negligence of the injured party will not defeat the action if it be shown that the
accused might, by the exercise of reasonable care and prudence, have avoided the consequences of the
negligence of the injured party
Emergency ruleAn automobile driver, who, by the negligence of another, is suddenly placed in an emergency and
compelled to act instantly to avoid a collision or injury is not guilty of negligence if he makes a choice
which a person of ordinary prudence placed in such a position might make even though he did not make
the wisest choice.
631
204
II. Jurisprudence— Pertinent Supreme Court decisions promulgated up to January 31,
2012.
III. Excluded Topics
A. All Special Penal Laws and Supreme Court Decisions not pertinent to the above
outlined topics are excluded.
B. Penalties of Specific Crimes.
205
REFERENCE
Revised Penal Code
Art. 2. Except as provided in the treaties and laws 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 note of the Philippine Islands or
obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the 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 (Some of these crimes are bribery, fraud against national treasury, malversation of
public funds or property, and illegal use of public funds; e.g., A judge who accepts a bribe while in
Japan.)
5. Should commit any crimes against the national security and the law of nations, defined in
Title One of Book Two of this Code. (These crimes include treason, espionage, piracy, mutiny, and
violation of neutrality)
Art. 10. Offenses not subject to the provisions of this code. --Offenses which are or in the future may be
punishable under special laws are not subject to the provisions of this Code. This Code shall be
supplementary to such laws, unless the latter should specially provide the contrary.
Article 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal liability:
1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the following
circumstances concur;
First. Unlawful aggression;
Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it;
Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.
2. Any one who acts in defense of the person or rights of his spouse, ascendants,
descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters, or of his relatives by
affinity in the same degrees, and those by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree,
provided that the first and second requisites prescribed in the next preceding circumstance
are present, and the further requisite, in case the provocation was given by the person
attacked, that the one making defense had no part therein.
3. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a stranger, provided that the first
and second requisites mentioned in the first circumstance of this article are present and that
the person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment, or other evil motive.
206
4. 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;
First. That the evil sought to be avoided actual exists;
Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;
Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.
5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or
office.
6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior for some lawful
purpose.
Article 12. Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability. - The following are exempt from criminal
liability:
1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid interval.
When the imbecile or an insane person has committed an act which the law defines as a
felony (delito), the court shall order his confinement in one of the hospitals or asylums
established for persons thus afflicted, which he shall not be permitted to leave without first
obtaining the permission of the same court.
2. A person under nine years of age.
3. A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted with discernment,
in which case, such minor shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of
article 80 of this Code.
When such minor is adjudged to be criminally irresponsible, the court, in conformity with
the provisions of this and the preceding paragraph, shall commit him to the care and custody
of his family who shall be charged with his surveillance and education; otherwise, he shall be
committed to the care of some institution or person mentioned in said article 80.
4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere
accident without fault or intention of causing it.
5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of irresistible force.
6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or greater
injury.
7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented by some lawful
insuperable cause.
207
Article 13. Mitigating circumstances. - The following are mitigating circumstances:
1. Those mentioned in the preceding chapter, when all the requisites necessary to justify the
act or to exempt from criminal liability in the respective cases are not attendant.
2. That the offender is under eighteen years of age or over seventy years. In the case of the
minor, he shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of article 80.
3. That the offender had no intention to commit so grave a wrong as that committed.
4. That sufficient provocation or threat on the part of the offended party immediately
preceded the act.
5. That the act was committed in the immediate vindication of a grave offense to the one
committing the felony (delito) his spouse, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural or
adopted brothers or sisters or relatives by affinity within the same degrees.
6. That of having acted upon an impulse so powerful as naturally to have produced passion
or obfuscation.
7. That the offender had voluntarily surrendered himself to a person in authority or his
agents, or that he had voluntarily confessed his guilt before the court prior to the
presentation of the evidence for the prosecution.
8. That the offender is deaf and dumb, blind or otherwise suffering some physical defect
which thus restricts his means of action, defense, or communication with his fellow beings.
9. Such illness of the offender as would diminish the exercise of the will-power of the
offender without however depriving him of consciousness of his acts.
10. And, finally, any other circumstance of a similar nature and analogous to those above
mentioned.
Article 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following are aggravating circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public position.
2. That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to the public authorities.
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.
4. That the act be committed with abuse of confidence or obvious ungratefulness.
5. That the crime be committed in the palace of the Chief Executive, or in his presence, or
where public authorities are engaged in the discharge of their duties, or in a place dedicated
to religious worship.
208
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 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.
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 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.
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.
209
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under fifteen years of age or by
means of motor vehicles, motorized watercraft, airships, or other similar means. (As
amended by Rep. Act No. 5438, approved Sept. 9, 1968.)
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately augmented by
causing other wrong not necessary for its commission.
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 is 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.
Article 17. Principals. - The following are considered principals:
1. Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act;
2. Those who directly force or induce others to commit it;
3. Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without which it
would not have been accomplished.
Article 18. Accomplices. - Accomplices are those persons who, not being included in article 17,
cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.
Art. 19.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 subsequent to
its commission in any of the following manners:
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.
Article 125. Delay in the delivery of detained persons to the proper judicial authorities. - The penalties provided
in the next preceding article shall be imposed upon the public officer or employee who shall detain
any person for some legal ground and shall fail to deliver such person to the proper judicial
authorities within the period of: twelve (12) hours, for crimes or offenses punishable by light
210
penalties, or their equivalent; eighteen (18) hours, for crimes or offenses punishable by correctional
penalties, or their equivalent; and thirty-six (36) hours, for crimes or offenses punishable by afflictive
or capital penalties, or their equivalent.
In every case, the person detained shall be informed of the cause of his detention and shall
be allowed upon his request, to communicate and confer at any time with his attorney or counsel.
Art. 247. Death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances. Any legally married person who,
having surprised his spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill
any of them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any
serious physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro. . .
Art. 346. Liability of ascendants, guardians, teachers, or other persons entrusted with the custody of the offended party.
— The ascendants, guardians, curators, teachers and any person who, by abuse of authority or
confidential relationships, shall cooperate as accomplices in the perpetration of the crimes embraced
in chapters, second, third and fourth, of this title, shall be punished as principals.chan robles virtual
law library
Teachers or other persons in any other capacity entrusted with the education and guidance
of youth, shall also suffer the penalty of temporary special disqualification in its maximum period to
perpetual special disqualification.
Any person falling within the terms of this article, and any other person guilty of corruption
of minors for the benefit of another, shall be punished by special disqualification from filling the
office of guardian.
Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure
Sec. 17. Discharge of accused to be state witness. — When two or more persons are jointly charged with the
commission of any offense, upon motion of the prosecution before resting its case, the court may
direct one or more of the accused to be discharged with their consent so that they may be witnesses
for the state when, after requiring the prosecution to present evidence and the sworn statement of
each proposed state witness at a hearing in support of the discharge, the court is satisfied that:
(a) There is absolute necessity for the testimony of the accused whose discharge is requested;
(b) The is no other direct evidence available for the proper prosecution of the offense committed,
except the testimony of said accused;
(c) The testimony of said accused can be substantially corroborated in its material points;
(d) Said accused does not appear to be the most guilty; and
(e) Said accused has not at any time been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude.
Evidence adduced in support of the discharge shall automatically form part of the trial. If the
court denies the motion for discharge of the accused as state witness, his sworn statement shall be
inadmissible in evidence.
211
The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002
+Section 4. Importation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential
Chemicals.- The penalty of life imprisonment to death and a ranging from Five hundred thousand
pesos (P500,000.00) to Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who,
unless authorized by law, shall import or bring into the Philippines any dangerous drug, regardless of
the quantity and purity involved, including any and all species of opium poppy or any part thereof or
substances derived therefrom even for floral, decorative and culinary purposes. xxx
+Section 5. Sale, Trading, Administration, Dispensation, Delivery, Distribution and Transportation
of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals. - The penalty of life
imprisonment to death and a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) to Ten
million pesos (P10,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law,
shall sell, trade, administer, dispense, deliver, give away to another, distribute dispatch in transit or
transport any dangerous drug, including any and all species of opium poppy regardless of the
quantity and purity involved, or shall act as a broker in any of such transactions. xxx
+Section 6. Maintenance of a Den, Dive or Resort. - The penalty of life imprisonment to death and
a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) to Ten million pesos
(P10,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person or group of persons who shall maintain a den,
dive or resort where any dangerous drug is used or sold in any form. Xxx
Section 7. Employees and Visitors of a Den, Dive or Resort. - The penalty of imprisonment ranging from
twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years and a fine ranging from One hundred thousand
pesos (P100,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) shall be imposed upon:
(a) Any employee of a den, dive or resort, who is aware of the nature of the place as such; and
(b) Any person who, not being included in the provisions of the next preceding, paragraph, is aware
of the nature of the place as such and shall knowingly visit the same
+Section 8. Manufacture of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals. - The
penalty of life imprisonment to death and a fine ranging Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00)
to Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by
law, shall engage in the manufacture of any dangerous drug. Xxx
+Section 10. Manufacture or Delivery of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus, and Other Paraphernalia for
Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals. - The penalty of imprisonment
ranging from twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years and a fine ranging from One
hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) shall be
imposed upon any person who shall deliver, possess with intent to deliver, or manufacture with
intent to deliver equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia for dangerous drugs,
knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that it will be used to plant,
propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test,
analyze, pack, repack, store, contain or conceal any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and
essential chemical in violation of this Act. xx
Section 11. Possession of Dangerous Drugs. - The penalty of life imprisonment to death and a fine
ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) to Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00)
shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess any dangerous drug
in the following quantities, regardless of the degree of purity thereof:
(1) 10 grams or more of opium;
(2) 10 grams or more of morphine;
212
(3) 10 grams or more of heroin;
(4) 10 grams or more of cocaine or cocaine hydrochloride;
(5) 50 grams or more of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu";
(6) 10 grams or more of marijuana resin or marijuana resin oil;
(7) 500 grams or more of marijuana; and
(8) 10 grams or more of other dangerous drugs such as, but not limited to,
methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDA) or "ecstasy", paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA),
trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA), lysergic acid diethylamine (LSD), gamma hydroxyamphetamine
(GHB), and those similarly designed or newly introduced drugs and their derivatives, without having
any therapeutic value or if the quantity possessed is far beyond therapeutic requirements, as
determined and promulgated by the Board in accordance to Section 93, Article XI of this Act. xxx
Section 12. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for Dangerous Drugs. The penalty of imprisonment ranging from six (6) months and one (1) day to four (4) years and a fine
ranging from Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) to Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) shall be
imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess or have under his/her
control any equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for smoking,
consuming, administering, injecting, ingesting, or introducing any dangerous drug into the body:
Provided, That in the case of medical practitioners and various professionals who are required to carry
such equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia in the practice of their profession,
the Board shall prescribe the necessary implementing guidelines thereof.
The possession of such equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for
any of the purposes enumerated in the preceding paragraph shall be prima facie evidence that the
possessor has smoked, consumed, administered to himself/herself, injected, ingested or used a
dangerous drug and shall be presumed to have violated Section 15 of this Act.
+Section 13. Possession of Dangerous Drugs During Parties, Social Gatherings or Meetings. – Any person
found possessing any dangerous drug during a party, or at a social gathering or meeting, or in the
proximate company of at least two (2) persons, shall suffer the maximum penalties provided for in
Section 11 of this Act, regardless of the quantity and purity of such dangerous drugs.
Section 14. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for Dangerous Drugs
During Parties, Social Gatherings or Meetings. - The maximum penalty provided for in Section 12 of this
Act shall be imposed upon any person, who shall possess or have under his/her control any
equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for smoking, consuming,
administering, injecting, ingesting, or introducing any dangerous drug into the body, during parties,
social gatherings or meetings, or in the proximate company of at least two (2) persons.
Section 15. Use of Dangerous Drugs. – A person apprehended or arrested, who is found to be positive
for use of any dangerous drug, after a confirmatory test, shall be imposed a penalty of a minimum of
six (6) months rehabilitation in a government center for the first offense, subject to the provisions of
Article VIII of this Act. If apprehended using any dangerous drug for the second time, he/she shall
suffer the penalty of imprisonment ranging from six (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12) years
and a fine ranging from Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) to Two hundred thousand pesos
(P200,000.00): Provided, That this Section shall not be applicable where the person tested is also found
to have in his/her possession such quantity of any dangerous drug provided for under Section 11 of
this Act, in which case the provisions stated therein shall apply.
+ Section 16. Cultivation or Culture of Plants Classified as Dangerous Drugs or are Sources Thereof. - The
penalty of life imprisonment to death and a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) to Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who shall
plant, cultivate or culture marijuana, opium poppy or any other plant regardless of quantity, which is
213
or may hereafter be classified as a dangerous drug or as a source from which any dangerous drug may
be manufactured or derived: Provided, That in the case of medical laboratories and medical research
centers which cultivate or culture marijuana, opium poppy and other plants, or materials of such
dangerous drugs for medical experiments and research purposes, or for the creation of new types of
medicine, the Board shall prescribe the necessary implementing guidelines for the proper cultivation,
culture, handling, experimentation and disposal of such plants and materials.
Section 19. Unlawful Prescription of Dangerous Drugs. – The penalty of life imprisonment to death and a
fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) to Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00)
shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall make or issue a prescription
or any other writing purporting to be a prescription for any dangerous drug.
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A WITNESS PROTECTION, SECURITY AND BENEFIT
PROGRAM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
(Republic Act No. 6981)
Section 1. Name of Act. - This Act shall be known as the "Witness Protection, Security and
Benefit Act".
Section 2. Implementation of Program. - The Department of Justice, hereinafter referred to as
the Department, through its Secretary, shall formulate and implement a "Witness Protection,
Security and Benefit Program", hereinafter referred to as the Program, pursuant to and consistent
with the provisions of this Act.
The Department may call upon any department, bureau, office or any other executive agency to
assist in the implementation of the Program and the latter offices shall be under legal duty and
obligation to render such assistance.
Section 3. Admission into the Program. - Any person who has witnessed or has knowledge or
information on the commission of a crime and has testified or is testifying or about to testify
before any judicial or quasi-judicial body, or before any investigating authority, may be admitted
into the Program:
Provided, That:
a) the offense in which his testimony will be used is a grave felony as defined under the
Revised Penal Code, or its equivalent under special laws;lawphi1Ÿ
b) his testimony can be substantially corroborated in its material points;
c) he or any member of his family within the second civil degree of consanguinity or
affinity is subjected to threats to his life or bodily injury or there is a likelihood that he
will be killed, forced, intimidated, harassed or corrupted to prevent him from testifying,
or to testify falsely, or evasively, because or on account of his testimony; and
214
d) he is not a law enforcement officer, even if he would be testifying against the other law
enforcement officers. In such a case, only the immediate members of his family may
avail themselves of the protection provided for under this Act.
If the Department, after examination of said applicant and other relevant facts, is convinced that
the requirements of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations have been complied with,
it shall admit said applicant to the Program, require said witness to execute a sworn statement
detailing his knowledge or information on the commission of the crime, and thereafter issue the
proper certification. For purposes of this Act, any such person admitted to the Program shall be
known as the Witness.
Section 4. Witness in Legislative Investigations. - In case of legislative investigations in aid of
legislation, a witness, with his express consent, may be admitted into the Program upon the
recommendation of the legislative committee where his testimony is needed when in its judgment
there is pressing necessity therefor: Provided, That such recommendation is approved by the
President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be.
Section 5. Memorandum of Agreement With the Person to be Protected. - Before a person is
provided protection under this Act, he shall first execute a memorandum of agreement which
shall set forth his responsibilities including:
a) to testify before and provide information to all appropriate law enforcement officials
concerning all appropriate proceedings in connection with or arising from the activities
involved in the offense charged;
b) to avoid the commission of the crime;lawphi1Ÿ
c) to take all necessary precautions to avoid detection by others of the facts concerning
the protection provided him under this Act;
d) to comply with legal obligations and civil judgments against him;
e) to cooperate with respect to all reasonable requests of officers and employees of the
Government who are providing protection under this Act; and
f) to regularly inform the appropriate program official of his current activities and
address.1awphi1©
Section 6. Breach of the Memorandum of Agreement. - Substantial breach of the memorandum
of agreement shall be a ground for the termination of the protection provided under this Act:
Provided, however, That before terminating such protection, the Secretary of Justice shall send
notice to the person involved of the termination of the protection provided under this Act, stating
therein the reason for such termination.
Section 7. Confidentiality of Proceedings. - All proceedings involving application for admission
into the Program and the action taken thereon shall be confidential in nature. No information or
documents given or submitted in support thereof shall be released except upon written order of
the Department or the proper court.
215
Any person who violates the confidentiality of said proceedings shall upon conviction be
punished with imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6) years and
deprivation of the right to hold a public office or employment for a period of five (5) years.
Section 8. Rights and Benefits. - The witness shall have the following rights and benefits:
(a) To have a secure housing facility until he has testified or until the threat, intimidation
or harassment disappears or is reduced to a manageable or tolerable level. When the
circumstances warrant, the Witness shall be entitled to relocation and/or change of personal
identity at the expense of the Program. This right may be extended to any member of the family
of the Witness within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity.
(b) The Department shall, whenever practicable, assist the Witness in obtaining a means
of livelihood. The Witness relocated pursuant to this Act shall be entitled to a financial assistance
from the Program for his support and that of his family in such amount and for such duration as
the Department shall determine.
(c) In no case shall the Witness be removed from or demoted in work because or on
account of his absences due to his attendance before any judicial or quasi-judicial body or
investigating authority, including legislative investigations in aid of legislation, in going thereto
and in coming therefrom: Provided, That his employer is notified through a certification issued by
the Department, within a period of thirty (30) days from the date when the Witness last reported
for work: Provided, further, That in the case of prolonged transfer or permanent relocation, the
employer shall have the option to remove the Witness from employment after securing clearance
from the Department upon the recommendation of the Department of Labor and Employment.
Any Witness who failed to report for work because of witness duty shall be paid his
equivalent salaries or wages corresponding to the number of days of absence occasioned by the
Program. For purposes of this Act, any fraction of a day shall constitute a full day salary or wage.
This provision shall be applicable to both government and private employees.
(d) To be provided with reasonable travelling expenses and subsistence allowance by the
Program in such amount as the Department may determine for his attendance in the court, body
or authority where his testimony is required, as well as conferences and interviews with
prosecutors or investigating officers.
(e) To be provided with free medical treatment, hospitalization and medicines for any
injury or illness incurred or suffered by him because of witness duty in any private or public
hospital, clinic, or at any such institution at the expense of the Program.
(f) If a Witness is killed, because of his participation in the Program, his heirs shall be
entitled to a burial benefit of not less than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) from the Program
exclusive of any other similar benefits he may be entitled to under other existing laws.
(g) In case of death or permanent incapacity, his minor or dependent children shall be
entitled to free education, from primary to college level in any state, or private school, college or
university as may be determined by the Department, as long as they shall have qualified thereto.
Section 9. Speedy Hearing or Trial. - In any case where a Witness admitted into the Program
shall testify, the judicial or quasi-judicial body, or investigating authority shall assure a speedy
216
hearing or trial and shall endeavor to finish said proceeding within three (3) months from the
filing of the case.
Section 10. State Witness. - Any person who has participated in the commission of a crime and
desires to be a witness for the State, can apply and, if qualified as determined in this Act and by
the Department, shall be admitted into the Program whenever the following circumstances are
present:
(a) the offense in which his testimony will be used is a grave felony as defined under the
Revised Penal Code or its equivalent under special laws;
(b) there is absolute necessity for his testimony;
(c) there is no other direct evidence available for the proper prosecution of the offense
committed:
(d) his testimony can be substantially corroborated on its material points;
(e) he does not appear to be most guilty; and
(f) he has not at any time been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.
An accused discharged from an information or criminal complaint by the court in order
that he may be a State Witness pursuant to Section 9 and 10 of Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of
Court may upon his petition be admitted to the Program if he complies with the other
requirements of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall prevent the discharge of an accused, so that he
can be used as a State Witness under Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of Court.
Section 11. Sworn Statement. - Before any person is admitted into the Program pursuant to the
next preceding Section he shall execute a sworn statement describing in detail the manner in
which the offense was committed and his participation therein. If after said examination of said
person, his sworn statement and other relevant facts, the Department is satisfied that the
requirements of this Act and its implementing rules are complied with, it may admit such person
into the Program and issue the corresponding certification.
If his application for admission is denied, said sworn statement and any other testimony given in
support of said application shall not be admissible in evidence, except for impeachment purposes.
Section 12. Effect of Admission of a State Witness into the Program. - The certification of
admission into the Program by the Department shall be given full faith and credit by the
provincial or city prosecutor who is required not to include the Witness in the criminal complaint
or information and if included therein, to petition the court for his discharge in order that he can
utilized as a State Witness. The Court shall order the discharge and exclusion of the said accused
from the information.
Admission into the Program shall entitle such State Witness to immunity from criminal
prosecution for the offense or offenses in which his testimony will be given or used and all the
rights and benefits provided under Section 8 hereof.
217
Section 13. Failure or Refusal of the Witness to Testify. - Any Witness registered in the
Program who fails or refuses to testify or to continue to testify without just cause when lawfully
obliged to do so, shall be prosecuted for contempt. If he testifies falsely or evasively, he shall be
liable to prosecution for perjury. If a State Witness fails or refuses to testify, or testifies falsely or
evasively, or violates any condition accompanying such immunity without just cause, as
determined in a hearing by the proper court, his immunity shall be removed and he shall be
subject to contempt or criminal prosecution. Moreover, the enjoyment of all rights and benefits
under this Act shall be deemed terminated.
The Witness may, however, purge himself of the contumacious acts by testifying at any
appropriate stage of the proceedings.
Section 14. Compelled Testimony. - Any Witness admitted into the Program pursuant to Sections
3 and 10 of this Act cannot refuse to testify or give evidence or produce books, documents,
records or writings necessary for the prosecution of the offense or offenses for which he has been
admitted into the Program on the ground of the constitutional right against self-incrimination but
he shall enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution and cannot be subjected to any penalty or
forfeiture for any transaction, matter or thing concerning his compelled testimony or books,
documents, records and writings produced.
In case of refusal of said Witness to testify or give evidence or produce books,
documents, records, or writings, on the ground of the right against self-incrimination, and the
state prosecutor or investigator believes that such evidence is absolutely necessary for a
successful prosecution of the offense or offenses charged or under investigation, he, with the prior
approval of the department, shall file a petition with the appropriate court for the issuance of an
order requiring said Witness to testify, give evidence or produce the books, documents, records,
and writings described, and the court shall issue the proper order.
The court, upon motion of the state prosecutor or investigator, shall order the arrest and
detention of the Witness in any jail contiguous to the place of trial or investigation until such time
that the Witness is willing to give such testimony or produce such documentary evidence.
Section 15. Perjury or Contempt. - No Witness shall be exempt from prosecution for perjury or
contempt committed while giving testimony or producing evidence under compulsion pursuant to
this Act. The penalty next higher in degree shall be imposed in case of conviction for perjury. The
procedure prescribed under Rule 71 of the Rules of Court shall be followed in contempt
proceedings but the penalty to be imposed shall not be less than one (1) month but not more than
one (1) year imprisonment.
Section 16. Credibility of Witness. - In all criminal cases, the fact of the entitlement of the
Witness to the protection and benefits provided for in this Act shall not be admissible in evidence
to diminish or affect his credibility.
Section 17. Penalty for Harassment of Witness. - Any person who harasses a Witness and
thereby hinders, delays, prevents or dissuades a Witness from:
(a) attending or testifying before any judicial or quasi-judicial body or investigating
authority;
218
(b) reporting to a law enforcement officer or judge the commission or possible
commission of an offense, or a violation of conditions or probation, parole, or release pending
judicial proceedings;
(c) seeking the arrest of another person in connection with the offense;
(d) causing a criminal prosecution, or a proceeding for the revocation of a parole or
probation; or
(e) performing and enjoying the rights and benefits under this Act or attempts to do so,
shall be fined not more than Three thousand pesos (P3,000.00) or suffer imprisonment of not less
than six (6) months but not more than one (1) year, or both, and he shall also suffer the penalty of
perpetual disqualification from holding public office in case of a public officer.
Section 18. Rules and Regulations. - The Department shall promulgate such rules and
regulations as may be necessary to implement the intent and purposes of this Act. Said rules and
regulations shall be published in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Section 19. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive issuances, rules and regulations
inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 20. Funding. - The amount of Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) is hereby authorized
to be appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated to carry
into effect the purpose of this Act.
Expenses incurred in the implementation of the Program may be recovered as part of the
cost or indemnity imposed upon the accused.
Furthermore, other funding schemes or sources, subject to the limitations of the law, shall
be allowed in furtherance hereof.
Section 21. Separability Clause. - The declaration of unconstitutionality or invalidity of any
provision of this Act shall not affect the other provisions hereof.
Section 22. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its publication
in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Presidential Decree No. 603,
The Child and Youth Welfare Code, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1179
Art. 192. Suspension of Sentence and Commitment of Youthful Offender. If after hearing the
evidence in the proper proceedings, the court should find that the youthful offender has committed
the acts charged against him, the court shall determine the imposable penalty, including any civil
liability chargeable against him. However, instead of pronouncing judgment of conviction, the court,
upon application of the youthful offender if it finds that the best interest of the public as well as that
of the offender will be served thereby, may suspend all further proceedings and commit such minor
to the custody of care of the Department of Social Welfare, or to any training institution operated by
the government or any other responsible person until he shall have reached twenty-one years of age,
or for a shorter period as the court may deem proper, after considering the reports and
recommendations of the Department of Social Welfare or the government training institution or
219
responsible person under whose care he has been committed. Upon receipt of the application of the
youthful offender for suspension of his sentence, the court may require the Department of Social
Welfare to prepare and submit to the court a social case study report over the offender and his
family. The youthful offender shall be subject to visitation and supervision by a representative of the
Department of Social Welfare or government training institution as the court may designate subject
to such conditions as it may prescribe.The benefits of this article shall not apply to a youthful
offender who has once enjoyed suspension of sentence under its provisions or to one who is
convicted of an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment.
Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (R.A. 9344)
Section 20. Children Below the Age of Criminal Responsibility. - If it has been determined that the child
taken into custody is fifteen (15) years old or below, the authority which will have an initial contact
with the child has the duty to immediately release the child to the custody of his/her parents or
guardian, or in the absence thereof, the child's nearest relative. Said authority shall give notice to the
local social welfare and development officer who will determine the appropriate programs in
consultation with the child and to the person having custody over the child. If the parents, guardians
or nearest relatives cannot be located, or if they refuse to take custody, the child may be released to
any of the following: a duly registered nongovernmental or religious organization; a barangay official
or a member of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC); a local social welfare
and development officer; or when and where appropriate, the DSWD. If the child referred to herein
has been found by the Local Social Welfare and Development Office to be abandoned, neglected or
abused by his parents, or in the event that the parents will not comply with the prevention program,
the proper petition for involuntary commitment shall be filed by the DSWD or the Local Social
Welfare and Development Office pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 603, otherwise ,known as
"The Child and Youth Welfare Code".
SEC. 64. Children in Conflict with the Law Fifteen (15) Years Old and Below. - Upon
effectivity of this Act, cases of children fifteen (15) years old and below at the time of the
commission of the crime shall immediately be dismissed and the child shall be referred to the
appropriate local social welfare and development officer. Such officer, upon thorough assessment of
the child, shall determine whether to release the child to the custody of his/her parents, or refer the
child to prevention programs as provided under this Act. Those with suspended sentences and
undergoing rehabilitation at the youth rehabilitation center shall likewise be released, unless it is
contrary to the best interest of the child.
Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines (R.A. 9346)
SECTION 1. The imposition of the penalty of death is hereby prohibited. Accordingly, Republic
Act No. Eight Thousand One Hundred Seventy-Seven (R.A. No. 8177), otherwise known as the Act
Designating Death by Lethal Injection is hereby repealed. Republic Act No. Seven Thousand Six
Hundred Fifty-Nine (R.A. No. 7659), otherwise known as the Death Penalty Law, and all other laws,
executive orders and decrees, insofar as they impose the death penalty are hereby repealed or
amended accordingly.
SEC. 2. In lieu of the death penalty, the following shall be imposed.
(a) the penalty of reclusion perpetua, when the law violated makes use of the nomenclature of the
penalties of the Revised Penal Code; or
(b) the penalty of life imprisonment, when the law violated does not make use of the nomenclature
of the penalties of the Revised Penal Code.
220
SEC. 3. Person convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua, or whose sentences will be
reduced to reclusion perpetua, by reason of this Act, shall not be eligible for parole under Act No. 4180,
otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended.
SEC. 4. The Board of Pardons and Parole shall cause the publication at least one a week for three
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation of the names of persons convicted of
offenses punished with reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment by reason of this Act who are being
considered or recommend for commutation or pardon; Provided, however, That nothing herein shall
limit the power of the President to grant executive clemency under Section 19, Article VII of the
Constitutions.
Human Security Act of 2007 (R.A. 9372)
SEC. 7. Surveillance of Suspects and Interception and Recording of Communications. -The provisions of
Republic Act No. 4200 (Anti-Wire Tapping Law) to the contrary notwithstanding, a police or law
enforcement official and the members of his team may, upon a written order of the Court of
Appeals, listen to, intercept and record, with the use of any mode, form, kind or type of electronic or
other surveillance equipment or intercepting and tracking devices, or with the use of any other
suitable ways and means for that purpose, any communication, message, conversation, discussion, or
spoken or written words between members of a judicially declared and outlawed terrorist
organization, association, or group of persons or of any person charged with or suspected of the
crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Provided, That surveillance, interception and recording of communications between lawyers and
clients, doctors and patients, journalists and their sources and confidential business correspondence
shall not be authorized.
SEC. 19. Period of Detention in the Event of an Actual or Imminent Terrorist Attack. - In the
event of an actual or imminent terrorist attack, suspects may not be detained for more than three
days without the written approval of a municipal, city, provincial or regional official of a Human
Rights Commission or judge of the municipal, regional trial court, the Sandiganbayan or a justice of
the Court of Appeals nearest the place of the arrest. If the arrest is made during Saturdays, Sundays,
holidays or after office hours, the arresting police or law enforcement personnel shall bring the
person thus arrested to the residence of any of the officials mentioned above that is nearest the place
where the accused was arrested. The approval in writing of any of the said officials shall be secured
by the police or law enforcement personnel concerned within five days after the date of the detention
of the persons concerned: Provided, however, That within three days after the detention the suspects,
whose connection with the terror attack or threat is not established, shall be released immediately.
SEC. 27. Judicial Authorization Required to Examine Bank Deposits, Accounts, and Records. - The provisions
of Republic Act No. 1405 as amended, to the contrary notwithstanding, the justices of the Court of
Appeals designated as a special court to handle anti-terrorism cases after satisfying themselves of the
existence of probable cause in a hearing called for that purpose that: (1) a person charged with or
suspected of the crime of terrorism or, conspiracy to commit terrorism, (2) of a judicially declared
and outlawed terrorist organization, association, or group of persons; and (3) of a member of such
judicially declared and outlawed organization, association, or group of persons, may authorize in
writing any police or law enforcement officer and the members of his/her team duly authorized in
writing by the anti-terrorism council to: (a) examine, or cause the examination of, the deposits,
placements, trust accounts, assets and records in a bank or financial institution; and (b) gather or
cause the gathering of any relevant information about such deposits, placements, trust accounts,
assets, and records from a bank or financial institution. The bank or financial institution concerned,
shall not refuse to allow such examination or to provide the desired information, when so, ordered
by and served with the written order of the Court of Appeals.
221
Bouncing Checks Law (B.P. 22)
ADMINISTRATIVE CIRCULAR NO. 12-2000 February 21, 2001
RE : PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF B.P. BLG. 22
Section 1 of B.P. Blg. 22 (An Act Penalizing the Making or Drawing and Issuance of a
Check Without Sufficient Funds for Credit and for Other Purposes) imposes the penalty of
imprisonment of not less than thirty (30) days but not more than one (1) year or a fine of not less
than but not more than double the amount of the check, which fine shall in no case exceed
P200,000, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.
In its decision in Eduardo Vaca, v. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 131714, 16 November 1998; 298
SCRA 656, 664) the Supreme Court (Second Division) per Mr. Justice V. Mendoza, modified the
sentence imposed for violation of B.P. Blg. 22 by deleting the penalty of imprisonment and imposing
only the penalty of fine in an amount double the amount of the check. In justification thereof, the
Court said:
Petitioners are first-time offenders. They are Filipino entrepreneurs who presumably contribute to the national
economy. Apparently, they brought this appeal, believing in all good faith, although mistakenly that they had not
committed a violation of B.P. Blg. 22. Otherwise, they could simply have accepted the judgment of the trial court and
applied for probation to evade a prison term. It would best serve the ends of criminal justice if in fixing the penalty
within the range of discretion allowed by Section 1, par. 1, the same philosophy underlying the Indeterminate Sentence
Law is observed, namely, that of redeeming valuable human material and preventing unnecessary deprivation f personal
liberty and economic usefulness with due regard to the protection of the social order. In this case, we believe that a fine in
an amount equal to double the amount of the check involved is an appropriate penalty to impose on each of the
petitioners.
In the recent case of Rosa Lim v. People of the Philippines (G. R. No. 130038, 18 September
2000), the Supreme Court en banc, applying Vaca also deleted the penalty of imprisonment and
sentenced the drawer of the bounced check to the maximum of the fine allowed by B.P. Blg. 22, i.e.,
P200,000, and concluded that “such would best serve the ends of criminal justice.”
All courts and judges concerned should henceforth take note of the foregoing policy of the
Supreme Court on the matter of the imposition of penalties for violations of B.P. Blg. 22. The Court
Administrator shall cause the immediate dissemination of this Administrative Circular to all courts
and judges concerned.
This Administrative Circular, referred to and approved by the Supreme Court en banc, shall
take effect upon its issuance.
222
ADMINISTRATIVE CIRCULAR NO. 13-2001 February 14, 2001.
TO : ALL JUDGES
SUBJECT : CLARIFICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE CIRCULAR NO. 12-2000 ON THE
PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 22, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
THE BOUNCING CHECK LAW.
Clarification has been sought by concerned Judges and other parties regarding the operation
of Administrative Circular 12-2000 issued on 21 November 2000. In particular, queries have been made
regarding the authority of Judges to:
1. Impose the penalty of imprisonment for violations of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22; and
2. Impose subsidiary imprisonment in the event that the accused who is found guilty of
violating the provisions of B.P. Blg. 22, is unable to pay the fine which he is sentenced to pay
considering that Administrative Circular No. 12-2000 adopted the rulings in Eduardo Vaca v. Court of
Appeals (G.R. No. 131714, 16 November 1998, 298 SCRA 656) and Rosa Lim v. People of the Philippines
(G.R. No. 130038, 18 September 2000) as a policy of the Supreme Court on the matter of the
imposition of penalties for violations of B.P. Blg. 22, without mentioning whether subsidiary
imprisonment could be resorted to in case of the accused's inability to pay the fine.
The clear tenor and intention of Administrative Circular No. 12-2000 is not to remove
imprisonment as an alternative penalty, but to lay down a rule of preference in the application of the
penalties provided for in B.P. Blg. 22. The pursuit of this purpose clearly does not foreclose the
possibility of imprisonment for violations of B.P. Blg. 22. Neither does it defeat the legislative intent
behind the law.
Thus, Administrative Circular No. 12-2000 establishes a rule of preference in the application of
the penal provisions of B.P. Blg. 22 such that where the circumstances of both the offense and the
offender clearly indicate good faith or a clear mistake of fact without taint of negligence, the
imposition of a fine alone should be considered as the more appropriate penalty. Needless to say, the
determination of whether the circumstances warrant the imposition of a fine alone rests solely upon
the Judge. Should the Judge decide that imprisonment is the more appropriate penalty, Administrative
Circular No. 12-2000 ought not be deemed a hindrance.
It is, therefore, understood that:
1. Administrative Circular 12-2000 does not remove imprisonment as an alternative penalty for
violations of B.P. Blg. 22;
2. The Judges concerned may, in the exercise of sound discretion, and taking into
consideration the peculiar circumstances of each case, determine whether the imposition of a fine
alone would best serve the interests of justice or whether forbearing to impose imprisonment would
depreciate the seriousness of the offense, work violence on the social order, or otherwise be contrary
to the imperatives of justice;
3. Should only a fine be imposed and the accused be unable to pay the fine, there is no legal
obstacle to the application of the Revised Penal Code provisions on subsidiary imprisonment.
The issuance of this Administrative Circular was authorized by the Court En Banc in A.M.
No. 00-11-01-SC at its session of 13 February 2001.
223
224