Criminal Law Book 1
Criminal Law Book 1
3815
AN ACT REVISING THE PENAL CODE AND OTHER PENAL LAWS
(December 8, 1930)
Preliminary Article — This law shall be known as "The Revised Penal
Code."
BOOK ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING THE DATE OF
ENFORCEMENT AND APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS
OF THIS CODE, AND REGARDING THE OFFENSES, THE
PERSONS LIABLE AND THE PENALTIES
Preliminary Title
DATE OF EFFECTIVENESS AND APPLICATION
OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CODE
Article 1. Time when Act takes effect. — This Code shall take effect on
the first day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty-two.
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Title One
FELONIES AND CIRCUMSTANCES
WHICH AFFECT CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Chapter One
FELONIES
Art. 3. Definitions. — Acts and omissions punishable by law are felonies
(delitos).
Felonies are committed not only be means of deceit (dolo) but also by
means of fault (culpa).
There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberate intent and there
is fault when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack
of foresight, or lack of skill.
In the same way, the court shall submit to the Chief Executive, through
the Department of Justice, such statement as may be deemed proper,
without suspending the execution of the sentence, when a strict
enforcement of the provisions of this Code would result in the imposition
of a clearly excessive penalty, taking into consideration the degree of
malice and the injury caused by the offense.
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A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its
execution and accomplishment are present; and it is frustrated when the
offender performs all the acts of execution which would produce the
felony as a consequence but which, nevertheless, do not produce it by
reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony
proposes its execution to some other person or persons.
Art. 9. Grave felonies, less grave felonies and light felonies. — Grave
felonies are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or
penalties which in any of their periods are afflictive, in accordance with
Art. 25 of this Code.
Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which
in their maximum period are correctional, in accordance with the above-
mentioned Art..
Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which a
penalty of arrest menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both; is
provided.
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Chapter Two
JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES
AND CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH EXEMPT FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Art. 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.
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 his relatives by affinity in the same degrees and those
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 revocation was
given by the person attacked, that the one making defense had no
part therein.
4. Any person who, in order to avoid an evil or injury, does not act
which causes damage to another, provided that the following
requisites are present;
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6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior
for some lawful purpose.
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 Art. 80 of
this Code.
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.
Chapter Three
CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MITIGATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Art. 13. Mitigating circumstances. — The following are mitigating
circumstances;
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1. Those mentioned in the preceding chapter, when all the
requisites necessary to justify or to exempt from criminal liability in
the respective cases are not attendant.
Chapter Four
CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH AGGRAVATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Art. 14. Aggravating circumstances. — The following are aggravating
circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public position.
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3. That the act be committed with insult or in disregard of the
respect due the offended party on account of his rank, age, or sex,
or that is be committed in the dwelling of the offended party, if the
latter has not given provocation.
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.
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14. That the craft, fraud or disguise be employed.
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 RA
5438).
Chapter Five
ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES
Art. 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.
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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.
Title Two
PERSONS CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR FELONIES
Art. 16. Who are criminally liable. — The following are criminally liable
for grave and less grave felonies:
1. Principals.
2. Accomplices.
3. Accessories.
2. Accomplices.
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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.
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3. Suspension from the employment of public office during the trial
or in order to institute proceedings.
5. Deprivation of rights and the reparations which the civil laws may
establish in penal form.
Chapter Two
CLASSIFICATION OF PENALTIES
Art. 25. Penalties which may be imposed. — The penalties which may be
imposed according to this Code, and their different classes, are those
included in the following:
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:
Prision correccional,
Arresto mayor,
Suspension,
Destierro.
Light penalties:
Arresto menor,
Public censure.
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Fine, and
Bond to keep the peace.
Accessory Penalties
Chapter Three
DURATION AND EFFECTS OF PENALTIES
Section One. — Duration of Penalties
Art. 27. Reclusion perpetua. — Any person sentenced to any of the
perpetual penalties shall be pardoned after undergoing the penalty for
thirty years, unless such person by reason of his conduct or some other
serious cause shall be considered by the Chief Executive as unworthy of
pardon.
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as an accessory penalty, in which case, its duration shall be that of the
principal penalty.
Bond to keep the peace. — The bond to keep the peace shall be required
to cover such period of time as the court may determine.
If the offender be not in prison, the term of the duration of the penalty
consisting of deprivation of liberty shall be computed from the day that
the offender is placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities for the
enforcement of the penalty. The duration of the other penalties shall be
computed only from the day on which the defendant commences to serve
his sentence.
If the detention prisoner does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary
rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, he shall be credited in the
service of his sentence with four-fifths of the time during which he has
undergone preventive imprisonment. (As amended by Republic Act 6127,
June 17, 1970).
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terminated, he shall be released immediately without prejudice to the
continuation of the trial thereof or the proceeding on appeal, if the same
is under review. In case the maximum penalty to which the accused may
be sentenced is destierro, he shall be released after thirty (30) days of
preventive imprisonment. (As amended by E.O. No. 214, July 10, 1988).
4. The loss of all rights to retirement pay or other pension for any
office formerly held.
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Moreover, the offender shall not be permitted to hold any public office
during the period of his disqualification.
The person suspended from holding public office shall not hold another
having similar functions during the period of his suspension.
Art. 35. Effects of bond to keep the peace. — It shall be the duty of any
person sentenced to give bond to keep the peace, to present two
sufficient sureties who shall undertake that such person will not commit
the offense sought to be prevented, and that in case such offense be
committed they will pay the amount determined by the court in the
judgment, or otherwise to deposit such amount in the office of the clerk
of the court to guarantee said undertaking.
Should the person sentenced fail to give the bond as required he shall be
detained for a period which shall in no case exceed six months, is he shall
have been prosecuted for a grave or less grave felony, and shall not exceed
thirty days, if for a light felony.
Art. 36. Pardon; its effect. — 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 pardon.
A pardon shall in no case exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil
indemnity imposed upon him by the sentence.
Art. 37. Cost; What are included. — 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 schedule.
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Art. 38. Pecuniary liabilities; Order of payment. — 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:
3. The fine.
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Art. 40. Death; Its accessory penalties. — The death penalty, when it is
not executed by reason of commutation or pardon shall carry with it that
of perpetual absolute disqualification and that of civil interdiction during
thirty years following the date sentence, unless such accessory penalties
have been expressly remitted in the pardon.
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Chapter Four
APPLICATION OF PENALTIES
Section One. — Rules for the application of penalties
to the persons criminally liable and for the graduation of the same.
Art. 46. Penalty to be imposed upon principals in general. — The penalty
prescribed by law for the commission of a felony shall be imposed upon
the principals in the commission of such felony.
Art. 47. In what cases the death penalty shall not be imposed. — The
death penalty shall be imposed in all cases in which it must be imposed
under existing laws, except in the following cases:
Art. 48. Penalty for complex crimes. — When a single act constitutes two
or more grave or less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary
means for committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime
shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period.
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2. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be lower than
that corresponding to the one which the accused intended to
commit, the penalty for the former shall be imposed in its maximum
period.
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Art. 57. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories of an attempted crime. —
The penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the
attempted felony shall be imposed upon the accessories to the attempt to
commit a felony.
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3. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of one or
two indivisible penalties and the maximum period of another
divisible penalty, the penalty next lower in degree shall be
composed of the medium and minimum periods of the proper
divisible penalty and the maximum periods of the proper divisible
penalty and the maximum period of that immediately following in
said respective graduated scale.
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Secon Reclusion Reclusion Prision Prision Arresto
d Perpetua t Temporal Mayor Correccional Mayor
Case o Death
Third Reclusion Prision Prision Arresto Fine
Case Temporal i Mayor in its correccional i Mayor in it s and Arrest
n its maximum n its maximum o Mayor in
maximum period maximum period its
period to to reclusion period to prision minimum
death temporal in to prision correccional and
its medium mayor in its in its medium
period medium medium periods
period period
Fourt Prision Prision Arresto Fine Fine.
h Mayor in correccional i mayor in its and Arresto
Case its n its maximum Mayor in its
maximum maximum period minimum
period period to prision and medium
to reclusio to prision correccional i periods
n temporal mayor in its n its medium
in its medium period.
medium period.
period.
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3. Aggravating or mitigating circumstances which arise from the
moral attributes of the offender, or from his private relations with
the offended party, or from any other personal cause, shall only
serve to aggravate or mitigate the liability of the principals,
accomplices and accessories as to whom such circumstances are
attendant.
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In all cases in which the law prescribes a penalty composed of two
indivisible penalties, the following rules shall be observed in the
application thereof:
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may deem applicable, according to the number and nature of such
circumstances.
7. Within the limits of each period, the court shall determine the
extent of the penalty according to the number and nature of the
aggravating and mitigating circumstances and the greater and lesser
extent of the evil produced by the crime.
Art. 66. Imposition of fines. — In imposing fines the courts may fix any
amount within the limits established by law; in fixing the amount in each
case attention shall be given, not only to the mitigating and aggravating
circumstances, but more particularly to the wealth or means of the
culprit.
1. Upon a person under fifteen but over nine years of age, who is not
exempted from liability by reason of the court having declared that
he acted with discernment, a discretionary penalty shall be
imposed, but always lower by two degrees at least than that
prescribed by law for the crime which he committed.
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2. Upon a person over fifteen and under eighteen years of age the
penalty next lower than that prescribed by law shall be imposed, but
always in the proper period.
1. Death,
2. Reclusion perpetua,
3. Reclusion temporal,
4. Prision mayor,
5. Prision correccional,
6. Arresto mayor,
7. Arresto menor,
8. Destierro,
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10 Temporal absolute disqualification.
11. Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for,
the right to follow a profession or calling, and
The lower or higher penalty shall be taken from the graduated scale in
which is comprised the given penalty.
The courts, in applying such lower or higher penalty, shall observe the
following graduated scales:
SCALE NO. 1
1. Death,
2. Reclusion perpetua,
3. Reclusion temporal,
4. Prision mayor,
5. Prision correccional,
6. Arresto mayor,
7. Destierro,
8. Arresto menor,
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9. Public censure,
10. Fine.
SCALE NO. 2
1. Perpetual absolute disqualification,
4. Public censure,
5. Fine.
The same rules shall be observed with regard of fines that do not consist
of a fixed amount, but are made proportional.
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Art. 76. Legal period of duration of divisible penalties. — The legal period
of duration of divisible penalties shall be considered as divided into three
parts, forming three periods, the minimum, the medium, and the
maximum in the manner shown in the following table:
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Art. 77. When the penalty is a complex one composed of three distinct
penalties. — In cases in which the law prescribes a penalty composed of
three distinct penalties, each one shall form a period; the lightest of them
shall be the minimum the next the medium, and the most severe the
maximum period.
Whenever the penalty prescribed does not have one of the forms specially
provided for in this Code, the periods shall be distributed, applying by
analogy the prescribed rules.
Chapter Five
EXECUTION AND SERVICE OF PENALTIES
Section One. — General Provisions
Art. 78. When and how a penalty is to be executed. — No penalty shall be
executed except by virtue of a final judgment.
A penalty shall not be executed in any other form than that prescribed by
law, nor with any other circumstances or incidents than those expressly
authorized thereby.
The regulations shall make provision for the separation of the sexes in
different institutions, or at least into different departments and also for
the correction and reform of the convicts.
If at any time the convict shall recover his reason, his sentence shall be
executed, unless the penalty shall have prescribed in accordance with the
provisions of this Code.
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The respective provisions of this section shall also be observed if the
insanity or imbecility occurs while the convict is serving his sentence.
The court, in committing said minor as provided above, shall take into
consideration the religion of such minor, his parents or next of kin, in
order to avoid his commitment to any private institution not under the
control and supervision of the religious sect or denomination to which
they belong.
If the minor has been committed to the custody or care of any of the
institutions mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, with the
approval of the Director of Public Welfare and subject to such conditions
as this official in accordance with law may deem proper to impose, such
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minor may be allowed to stay elsewhere under the care of a responsible
person.
If the minor has behaved properly and has complied with the conditions
imposed upon him during his confinement, in accordance with the
provisions of this article, he shall be returned to the court in order that
the same may order his final release.
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If the person under sentence so desires, he shall be anaesthetized at the
moment of the electrocution.
Art. 85. Provisions relative to the corpse of the person executed and its
burial. — Unless claimed by his family, the corpse of the culprit shall,
upon the completion of the legal proceedings subsequent to the
execution, be turned over to the institute of learning or scientific
research first applying for it, for the purpose of study and investigation,
provided that such institute shall take charge of the decent burial of the
remains. Otherwise, the Director of Prisons shall order the burial of the
body of the culprit at government expense, granting permission to be
present thereat to the members of the family of the culprit and the
friends of the latter. In no case shall the burial of the body of a person
sentenced to death be held with pomp.
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Art. 86. Reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prision mayor, prision
correccional and arresto mayor. — The penalties of reclusion perpetua,
reclusion temporal, prision mayor, prision correccional and arresto
mayor, shall be executed and served in the places and penal
establishments provided by the Administrative Code in force or which
may be provided by law in the future.
Title Four
EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Chapter One
TOTAL EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Art. 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. — Criminal
liability is totally extinguished:
1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties and as to
pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the
death of the offender occurs before final judgment.
4. By absolute pardon;
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Art. 90. Prescription of crime. — Crimes punishable by death, reclusion
perpetua or reclusion temporal shall prescribe in twenty years.
The crime of libel or other similar offenses shall prescribe in one year.
The crime of oral defamation and slander by deed shall prescribe in six
months.
When the penalty fixed by law is a compound one, the highest penalty
shall be made the basis of the application of the rules contained in the
first, second and third paragraphs of this article. (As amended by RA
4661, approved June 19, 1966).
The term of prescription shall not run when the offender is absent from
the Philippine Archipelago.
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Art. 93. Computation of the prescription of penalties. — The period of
prescription of penalties shall commence to run from the date when the
culprit should evade the service of his sentence, and it shall be
interrupted if the defendant should give himself up, be captured, should
go to some foreign country with which this Government has no
extradition treaty, or should commit another crime before the expiration
of the period of prescription.
Chapter Two
PARTIAL EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY
1. By conditional pardon;
3. For good conduct allowances which the culprit may earn while he
is serving his sentence.
Art. 97. Allowance for good conduct. — The good conduct of any prisoner
in any penal institution shall entitle him to the following deductions from
the period of his sentence:
3. During the following years until the tenth year, inclusive, of his
imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction of ten days for each
month of good behavior; and
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4. During the eleventh and successive years of his imprisonment, he
shall be allowed a deduction of fifteen days for each month of good
behavior.
Title Five
CIVIL LIABILITY
Chapter One
PERSON CIVILLY LIABLE FOR FELONIES
Art. 100. Civil liability of a person guilty of felony. — Every person
criminally liable for a felony is also civilly liable.
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Second. In cases falling within subdivision 4 of Article 11, the persons for
whose benefit the harm has been prevented shall be civilly liable in
proportion to the benefit which they may have received.
Innkeepers are also subsidiarily liable for the restitution of goods taken by
robbery or theft within their houses from guests lodging therein, or for
the payment of the value thereof, provided that such guests shall have
notified in advance the innkeeper himself, or the person representing
him, of the deposit of such goods within the inn; and shall furthermore
have followed the directions which such innkeeper or his representative
may have given them with respect to the care and vigilance over such
goods. No liability shall attach in case of robbery with violence against or
intimidation of persons unless committed by the innkeeper's employees.
Chapter Two
WHAT CIVIL LIABILITY INCLUDES
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Art. 104. What is included in civil liability. — The civil liability
established in Articles 100, 101, 102, and 103 of this Code includes:
1. Restitution;
This provision is not applicable in cases in which the thing has been
acquired by the third person in the manner and under the requirements
which, by law, bar an action for its recovery.
Art. 109. Share of each person civilly liable. — If there are two or more
persons civilly liable for a felony, the courts shall determine the amount
for which each must respond.
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Art. 110. Several and subsidiary liability of principals, accomplices and
accessories of a felony; Preference in payment. — Notwithstanding the
provisions of the next preceding article, the principals, accomplices, and
accessories, each within their respective class, shall be liable severally (in
solidum) among themselves for their quotas, and subsidiaries for those of
the other persons liable.
The subsidiary liability shall be enforced, first against the property of the
principals; next, against that of the accomplices, and, lastly, against that
of the accessories.
Chapter Three
EXTINCTION AND SURVIVAL OF CIVIL LIABILITY
Art. 112. Extinction of civil liability. — Civil liability established in
Articles 100, 101, 102, and 103 of this Code shall be extinguished in the
same manner as obligations, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil
Law.
.
Art. 113. Obligation to satisfy civil liability. — Except in case of
extinction of his civil liability as provided in the next preceding article
the offender shall continue to be obliged to satisfy the civil liability
resulting from the crime committed by him, notwithstanding the fact that
he has served his sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty or other
rights, or has not been required to serve the same by reason of amnesty,
pardon, commutation of sentence or any other reason.
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