Atty.

Cornelio Erwin Grino III

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 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

 What is Criminal Law?

 It is that branch of public law which defines criminal
offenses and prescribes specific punishment for them. It is
a branch of public law because it treats of acts or omissions
of the citizens which are deemed primarily as wrongs
against the State more than against the offended party.

 What is a Crime?
 Crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of
public law forbidding or commanding it.
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 Sources of Criminal Law:

 The Revised Penal Code

 Special Laws passed by Congress or Legislatures
 Presidential decrees during Martial Law.

 Court decisions are not sources of criminal law,

because they merely explain the meaning of, and
apply, the law as enacted by the legislative branch of
the government.

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 No Common Law Crimes in the Philippines.
 The so-called common law crimes, known in the
United States and England as the body of usages,
principles, and rules of action, which do not rest for
their authority upon any express and positive
declaration of the will of the legislature, are not
recognized in our country.

 Power to Define and Punish Crime.

 The State has the authority, under its police
power, to define and punish crimes and to lay down
rules of criminal procedure. The State has a large
measure of discretion in creating and defining
criminal offenses.

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 Sources of Criminal Law:

 The Revised Penal Code

 Special Laws passed by Congress or Legislatures
 Presidential decrees during Martial Law.

 Court decisions are not sources of criminal law,

because they merely explain the meaning of, and
apply, the law as enacted by the legislative branch of
the government.

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 What are the Constitutional limitations on penal
laws?
 Article III of the 1987 Constitution provides the
following limitations on the inherent right of the State
through the Legislature to enact penal laws:
 “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied
the equal protection of the laws.” Thus, the law must be
general in application so as not to violate the equal
protection clause.
 “No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any
other means which vitiate the free will shall be used against
him. Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or
other similar forms of detention are prohibited.” No law
therefore, must be passed imposing cruel and unusual
punishment.

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 What makes a penalty cruel and unusual?
 Punishments are cruel and unusual when they involve
torture or lingering death. It implies something inhuman
and barbarous. In other words, the punishment is wholly
disproportionate to the nature of the offense as to shock
the moral sense of the community.

 To illustrate:
 A person is convicted of life imprisonment for jay
walking.
 -the penalty is not only cruel and unusual but is likewise
violative of due process because that would amount to to
deprivation of life for an unreasonable length of time.

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 C. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.

 What is an ex post facto law?

 It is a penal law which is given retroactive application
to the prejudice of the accused. A law is ex post facto when
it makes an act or omission criminal which when
committed was not yet so.
 Art. 21 of the RPC provides that “ no felony shall be
punishable by any penalty not prescribed by law prior to its
commission.”

 What is a bill of attainder?

 It is a legislative act which inflicts punishment
without judicial trial. An encroachment of judicial function
by the legislative, willful violation of due process clause.

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 Describe due process as applied to penal laws.
 Due process, is the right of any person to be given
notice and be heard before he is condemned for an act
or omission defined and punished by law.

 Who are entitled to the mantle of due process of

law?
 The State, as well as the accused, is entitled to due
process of law. For justice to prevail the scales must be
balanced; justice is not to be dispensed for the accused
alone.
 Justice then must be rendered even-handedly to
both the accused, on the one hand, and the State and
offended party, on the other hand.

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 What is the effect of violation of due process
clause?
 The effect is that the judgment is void or has no
legal effect and binding effect, force or efficacy for any
purpose. In contemplation of law, it is non-existent or
it may be simply ignored.

What are the characteristic of Penal Law?

1. Generality
2. Territoriality
3. Prospectivity

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 Generality:
 Penal laws are binding on all persons who reside or sojourn
in the Philippines whether citizens or not.
 Even aliens, therefore, are covered by the generality
principle because they are also protected by the law of the
Philippines during all the time that they sojourn within its
territory.
 Exception:
 Those covered by treaties and laws of preferential
application such as Ambassadors and Head of States under the
principle of State Immunity.

 Territoriality:
 The law is applicable to all crimes committed within the limits of
Philippine territory.
 Exception:
 Treaties and law of preferential application

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 Prospectivity:
 Prospectivity of penal laws means the laws have
prospective application unless they are favorable to the
offender who is not a habitual delinquent. Conversely, and
to the same effect is irrestrospectivity which prescribes that
“laws shall have no retroactive application unless the
contrary is provided.”

 The law looks forward not backward.

 The law in force at the time of the commission of the crime
shall be applied.
 Question:
 When an act is perverse but there is no law punishing
it, is there a crime committed?

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 Answer:
 Nullumcrimennullapoena sine lege- there is no crime
when there is no law that defines and punishes it.

 As a rule, penal laws are enacted hence, no matter how

heinous is an act, it is not considered a crime unless
there is a law that punishes it. Since a penalty cannot
be imposed if not previously prescribed for a specific
crime, then, when there is no law yet defining that act
as a crime and prescribing that penalty, it cannot be
imposed.

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 What is the rule in the interpretation of penal laws in
relation to the accused’s culpability?
 All laws must be interpreted liberally in favor of the
accused and strictly against the state.

 Reason:
 This is so because it is the State which drafted and
prescribed the law, hence the law must be read, interpreted
and construed against the State.
 Thus, where penal laws is susceptible of two
interpretations, one consistent with acquittal and the other
with conviction, the offender is entitled to acquittal as a
matter of right. In other words the balance of justice should
be tilted in favor of the accused because the State should
prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt
and should rely on the strength of its own evidence, not on
the weakness of the evidence of the accused.
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 What is an equipoise rule?
 The equipoise rule-that if the inculpatory facts and
circumstances are capable of two or more explanations, one
of which is consistent with the innocence of the accused
and the other is consistent with his guilt, then the evidence
does not fulfill the test of moral certainty, and does not
suffice to produce conviction, the same must be denied.

 Who has the burden of proof (onus probandi) in

criminal case?
 Generally, the burden of proof is imposed upon the State.
 In other words, it the State who has the burden of proving
the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

 What is proof beyond reasonable doubt?

 It is the quantum of evidence required to establish the
guilt of the accused to support a conviction.
 Wanting of such proof the accused must be acquitted.
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 How are crimes variously classified?

A. As to Commision:
1. Dolo or felonies committed with deliberate intent
and
2. Culpa or those committed by means of fault.

B. As to stage of execution
1.Attempted;
2.Frustrated; and
3. Consummated.

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C.Classifications of felonies as to:
A. Formal felonies - those crimes which are always
consummated.
 Example: physical injuries- the degree of injury cannot be
determined without first consummating the offense.
B. Material felonies - or those which have various stage of
execution.
C. Felonies - which cannot be committed in the frustrated stage.
 Example: rape and theft cannot be committed in the frustrated
stage because the essence are carnal knowledge and unlawful
taking of property respectively.
 In rape, slight penetration of the female organ consummates the
crime of rape because then there is already carnal knowledge.
 In theft, the element of unlawful taking is deemed complete
from the moment the offender gains possession of the thing,
even he has no opportunity to dispose of the same.
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 D. As to Gravity:
1.Grave felonies;
2.Less grave felonies; and
3.Light felonies.

E. As to count:
1. Compound crime - are those when a single act results to
two or more grave or less grave felonies. The felonies
committed may be: a.) two or more grave felonies b.) two or
more less grave felonies; or c.) one or more grave and one or
more less grave felonies.
 Note: when light felony likewise resulted, it shall be treated
as a separate offense.
 Basis: singularity of the act.

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 2. Complex or complex crime proper- it is when an
offense is a necessary means for committing the other. The
first crime must be a necessary means to commit another.
This means that the first crime is committed to insure and
facilitate the commission of the next crime.
 Requisites:
a. At two offenses are committed;
b. On or some of the offenses must be necessary to commit
the other; and
c. Both or all the offense must be punished under the same
statute.

 Example:
 Falsification of public document to commit malversation.
 Note: applies only to cases where the Code does not
provide a definite specific penalty for a complex crime.
 A complex crime is only one crime. The penalty for the
most serious crime is to be imposed, and applied in its
maximum period. 19
3. Composite crime or special complex crime – one crime
made up of specific crimes with specific penalties provided for by law.
 Example: robbery with homicide; arson with homicide or kidnapping
with homicide/rape
 Note: combination of offense is fixed by law and the penalty is also
specific.

4. Continued crimes - here the offender is impelled by a single

criminal impulse but committed a series of overt acts about the same
time in about the same place and all overt acts violate one and the same
provision of law.
 Example: the theft 13 cows belonging to different owners committed by
the accused at the same place and at the same period of time.

5. Continuing crime- in the rules of court it is one where any of the

elements of the offense was committed in different localities such that
the accused may be indicted in any of those localities.
 Example: rebellion, squatting, violation of B.P. 22

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F. As to nature:
 1. Mala in se- Crimes - mala in se are acts or omissions
which are inherently evil. (mala means evil; in se means by
itself). Generally, crimes mala in se are punished under the
R. Revised Penal Code. There are however crimes which
although punished under special laws are deemed mala in
se, such as those which are mere modification of the
provisions of the Code like cattle rustling which modifies
Art. 308, 309, 310 on qualified theft. In effect, the rules and
system on penalties under the RPC apply.
 2. Mala prohibita- They are acts which made evil because
there is a law prohibiting the same. These acts would not
be wrong if not for the fact that positive law forbids them.

 In this case, the only question asked is, has the law been
violated? In short the acts or omission here has been made
illegal by the law, in effect intent of the offender is
immaterial. Good faith or lack of criminal intent is not a
defense.
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 What is a heinous crime?
 It is a grievous, odious and hateful offense which by reason of its
inherent or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity, is
regarded as seriously outrageous to the common standards or norms of
decency and morality in a just, civilized and orderly society. (R.A. 7659)

 What is the finality-of-acquittal rule?

 This rule emphasizes that whenever a defendant is acquitted he is
entitled to the right of repose as a direct consequences of the finality of
his acquittal. With this right of repose, the criminal justice system had
built in a protection to insure that the innocent, even those whose
innocence rest upon a jury’s leniency, will not be found guilty in a
subsequent proceeding. Stated otherwise, the State with all its
resources and power should not be allowed to make repeated
attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, which
would subject the person to embarrassment, expense and ordeal
, and not only that, it might enhance the possibility that even
though innocent, he may be found guilty.

END OF PART 1
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APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE
REVISED PENAL CODE

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 APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE REVISED
PENAL CODE

 Art. 2 RPC

 What are the two scopes of application of the RPC?

 They are the intra-territorial and the extra-territorial
application:
1. Intra-territorial- the Code states that penal laws shall
be enforced within the Philippine Archipelago, including
its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone.
 Exception: as provided in treaties and laws of preferential
application.
 Example: international laws grants immunity from suit to
those sovereigns and head of states and their official
representative(representing their state in political matters,
not commerce)
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2. Extra-territorial- this refers to the application or
enforcement of the Code outside its jurisdiction against
those who:
a. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or
airship;
b. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of
the RP or obligations and securities issued by the
government of the RP;
c. Should be liable for acts connected with the
introduction into the Philippines of the obligation and
securities mentioned in the preceding letter;
d. While being public officers or employees, should commit
an offense in the exercise of their functions;
e. Should commit any of the crimes against national
security and the law of nations, defined I Title One Book
Two of the Code.

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 What is a Philippine ship or airship?

 One that is duly registered in the Philippines and under Philippine laws.
 Note: Merchant ship of Philippine nationality-if crime is committed therein;
the Philippines has jurisdiction over the crime; provided within its territory.
 -if in the high seas-Philippines still has jurisdiction
 -if in the territory of another country-foreign state has jurisdiction
following the principle that penal laws are primary territorial in application.

 But Philippine warship and the official vessel of the president of the RP,
wherever they are, are extensions of the Philippine territory and its sovereignty.

 Recognized rules on jurisdiction over merchant vessels:

 French rule: recognizes the jurisdiction of the flag country over crime
committed within the vessel except if the crime disturbs the peace and order of
the host country.
 English rule: the host country has jurisdiction over crimes committed in the
vessel unless they involve the internal management of the vessel.
 Note: these rules does not apply to war vessel over which a country
always has jurisdiction.

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 Who are public officers and employees within the
purview of Art. 2?
 Public officers and employees of the RP when the
crime is related to the exercise of their office. Without
the intimate relation of their office, they are acting in
their private capacity hence, bound by the law of the
host country.

 What are included in the crimes against national

security and law of nations?
 Treason; Espionage; provoking War; and Disloyalty in
case of war
 Piracy and Mutiny

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 Art. 3, RPC
Felonies- acts and omission punishable by law.
Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit
(dolo) but also by means of Fault(culpa).
There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberate
intent and there is fault when the wrongful act results from
imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight and lack of skill.

Elements of intentional felonies and culpable felonies:

DOLO CULPA
1. Freedom of action 1. Freedom of action
2.Intelligence 2. Intelligence
3.Intent 3. Negligence, imprudence,
Lack of foresight and lack of skill

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 Question: To which these kind of felonies does the
principle that “the act cannot be criminal unless the
mind is criminal” refer?
 Answer: Strictly it refers to intentional felonies
because in culpable felonies and in crimes mala
prohibita, good faith and lack of intent are not
material. This is why both culpa and mala prohibita
are in consummated stage only because intent is
inherent in attempted and frustrated felonies.

 Latin Maxim: “actus non facitreum, nisi mens sit rea”; a

crime is not committed if the mind of the person
performing the act complained of is innocent.

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What is intent?
Refers to the use of a particular means to bring about the
desired result.
Example: the use of a lethal weapon would show the
criminal intent to kill although death may not result therefrom.
It is a mental state, the existence of which is demonstrated by
the overt acts of a person. The only way to know what’s in the
mind of the person is to look at the external manifestation
thereof demonstrated by the means employed.

As a general rule; intent is presumed , but where intent

is an element of the crime the intent cannot be presumed but
must be established. (intent to kill in homicide; intent to gain in
theft)

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 What is motive?
 Motive is the moving power or force which impels a
person to commit acts towards a desired result.
Generally, motive is not material in incurring criminal
liability.
 Motive becomes material when:
a. The acts bring about variant crimes;
b. Doubt as to identity of the person committed the
offense;
c. Circumstantial as to evidence; or
d. Evidence of guilt is inconclusive.

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 Art. 4, RPC-Criminal liability

 Criminal liability shall be incurred:

1. By any person committing a felony although the wrongful
act done be different from that which he intended.
2. By any person performing an act which would be an
offense against persons or property were it not for the
inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or on account
of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means.

 Under the first clause both intentional and culpable

felonies may be committed because the provision specified
felony or delito; and under Art. 3, RPC delitos are
committed either by dolo or culpa. Therefore, by process of
substitution, the provision would be, by any person
committing a dolo or culpa.
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 What is an impossible crime?

 An impossible crime is one where the acts performed would have

been a crime against person or property but which is not
accomplished because of its inherent impossibility or because of
the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means. There is
intent to commit a crime but actually no crime is committed.
 Example: if a person would rape someone who unknown to
him has just died, he commits the impossible crime of rape.
 Impossible crime is not a crime:
 Note: that the laws states that the act would be a crime,
hence, it has not ripened into an actual crime because of the
means employed that is ineffectual or inadequate.
 Why is impossible crime punished?
 In order to punish such criminal tendencies.

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 Art. 5, RPC- Courts Duty xxx

Art. 6, RPC- Stages of Execution

 Consummated:
 A felony is consummated when all the acts necessary
for its accomplishment and execution are present. In
other words, the offender does not have to do anything
else to consummate the crime. He has reached the
objective stage of the offense as he no longer has
control of his acts having already performed all that is
necessary to accomplish his purpose.

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 Frustrated:
 A felony is frustrated when the offender performs all the
acts which would produce the felony as a consequence, but
the felony was not produce by reason of causes independent
of the will of the perpetrator. If the cause of the frustration
is due to the will of the perpetrator the crime is not
frustrated, but could be another crime.

 What crimes cannot be committed in the frustrated stage?

a. Rape- gravamen of the offense is carnal knowledge;
b. Arson- the moment burning occurs, even if a small
portion only the offense is consummated;
c. Theft- unlawful taking is complete the moment the
offender gains possession of the thing.

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 Attempted:
 A felony is attempted when the offender commences
the commission of an offense directly by overt acts and
does not perform all the acts of execution which
should produce the felony by reason of cause or
accident other than his own spontaneous desistance.
In this stage, the offender still has control over his acts
as he may or may not continue his overt acts.
What are overt acts?
 Overt acts are external acts which if continued will
logically result in a felony. It must be directly related to
the offense committed.
What are preparatory acts?
 Acts which still require another act so that a felony will
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result.
 What is a desistance?

 It is the act which will negate criminal liability of the

offender when done during the attempted stage. It is
an absolutory cause which negates criminal liability
because the law encourage the person to desist from
committing a crime.

 It has legal effect only in attempted stage.

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 Art. 7, RPC
•When lights felony are punishable?
Lights felony are punishable only when they have been
consummated with the exception of those committed
against persons or property.

•Who are punishable in light felonies?

By virtue of Art. 16, only the principal and accomplice
are liable. Accessories are not punishable because light
felony is penalized with arrestomenor and accessories
are penalized two degrees lower than the principal
which no longer exist after lowering the same.

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 Art. 8, RPC- Conspiracy and proposal to commit
felony:
 Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only in
cases in which the law specially provides a penalty therefor.
 A conspiracy exist when two or more persons come to an
agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to
commit it.
 There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a
felony proposes its execution to some other person or persons.
 . What are the two concept of conspiracy?
1. Conspiracy as a crime by itself;
2. Conspiracy as a means of committing a crime.

 “The Act of One is the Act of All”- when conspiracy is established,

all who have participated therein, irrespective of the quantity
and quality of his participation is liable equally, whether the
conspiracy is pre-planned or instantaneous. The criminal
liability of one is the same as the criminal liability of the other.

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 Art. 9, RPC
• Grave felonies are those to which the law attaches
the capital punishment or penalties which in any of
their periods are afflictive.

• Less grave felonies are those which the law

punishes with penalties which in their maximum
period are correctional.
• Light felonies are those infractions of law for the
commission of which the penalty of arrestomenor or a
fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both, is provided.

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 Art. 10, RPC-
 Offenses not subject to the provisions of this code:

What are special laws?

 They are laws that define and penalize crimes not
included in the RPC; they are of a nature different
from those defined and punished in the code.
 There are special laws however which are mere
amendment of the provisions of the RPC, which is,
thus, not a true special law.

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 JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES AND
CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH EXEMPT FROM
CRIMINAL LIABILITY

 What circumstances do affect criminal liability?

 Every penalty under the Code is understood to be
prescribed for consummated felonies and against the
principal offenders. The penalties are predetermined
without regard to the moral state of the offender.
Thus, the need for circumstances to modify criminal
liability taking into consideration the moral,
emotional, and mental state of the offender and the
circumstances when the offense was committed.

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•The Code, therefore, provides for circumstances which modify
the criminal liability of the offenders, to wit:

1. Justifying circumstances; (Art. 11, RPC)

2. Exempting circumstances; (Art. 12, RPC)
3. Mitigating circumstances; (Art. 13, RPC)
4. Aggravating circumstances; and (Art. 14, RPC)
5. Alternative circumstances. (Art. 15, RPC)

• Offenders falling under either Art.11 or Art. 12 are

without criminal liability; those benefited by the circumstances
in Art. 13 have reduced criminal liability; those proved to be
more perverse by committing the felony with any of the
circumstances in Art. 14 have increased criminal liability; and
those who act while under the circumstances stated in Art. 15
will have their liability either increased or reduced depending
upon the situation obtaining in the commission of the felony. 43
 Art. 11, RPC- Justifying Circumstances:

1. Defense of self- includes defense of life, of chastity, of

property and of honor.
 Requisites:
a. Unlawful aggression;
b. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent
it;
c. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person
defending himself.

 The first requisite is indispensable. There can be no self-

defense unless it is proven that there had been unlawful
aggression on the part of the person injured or killed by the
assailant. If there is no unlawful aggression, there is
nothing to prevent or repel.

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 What is unlawful aggression?
 An offensive act positively determining the intent of the
aggressor to cause injury. A mere threatening or
intimidating attitude is not sufficient; there must be a real
danger to life or personal safety.

1. Defense of relatives-
the relatives to be defended must be defenders spouse,
ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural or adopted
brothers or sisters, or relatives by affinity in the same
degrees, those by consanguinity within the fourth degree.

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• Defense of relative within the fifth degree of
consanguinity fall within defense of strangers and the
third element in defense of relatives will be replaced by
the element that the defender is not induced by
revenge, resentment or evil motive.
• Requisites:
1. Unlawful aggression;
2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to repel
it; and
3. In case the provocation was given by the person
attacked the person defending had no part therein.

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 3 . Defense of Stranger:
Requisites:
 1. Unlawful aggression;
 2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to
prevent it; and
 3. The person defending is not induce by revenge,
resentment or evil motive.
 4 . State of necessity:
 1. The evil sought to be avoided actually exists;
 2. The injury feared be greater than that done to avoid
it;
 3. There is no other practical and less harmful means
of preventing it.
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 5 . Fulfillment of duty or exercise of right or office:
1. The offender acted in the performance of a duty or
the lawful exercise of a right or office;
2. The injury caused is the necessary consequence of
the due performance of such right or office.

 In the absence of the second requisites, the justification

becomes an incomplete one thereby converting it into a
mitigating circumstances.

 6. Obedience to a superior order:

1. An order has been issued by a superior;
2. The order is for legal purpose; and
3. The means used to carry out such order is lawful.
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 Art. 12, RPC- Exempting Circumstances
What are exempting circumstances?
These are circumstances by virtue of which,
although the act is criminal, the law exempts the actor from
liability. A crime is committed, but circumstances pertaining to
the offender calls for exemption from criminal liability.
Since there is a crime, although there is no
criminal liability, there is civil liability except in accident and
insuperable cause which strictly are not criminal.
The exempting circumstances are:
1. Imbecility/insanity;
2.Minority (amended by RA 9344);
3. Accident;
4.Compulsion of irresistible force;
5. Impulse of uncontrollable fear;
6.Insuperable cause/lawful;
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•Art. 12, RPC- Exempting Circumstances
What are exempting circumstances?
These are circumstances by virtue of which, although the act
is criminal, the law exempts the actor from liability. A crime is committed,
but circumstances pertaining to the offender calls for exemption from
criminal liability.
Since there is a crime, although there is no criminal liability,
there is civil liability except in accident and insuperable cause which strictly
are not criminal.

•The exempting circumstances are:

1. Imbecility/insanity;
2.Minority (amended by RA 9344);
3. Accident;
4. Compulsion of irresistible force;
5. Impulse of uncontrollable fear;
6. Insuperable cause/lawful;
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 CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MITIGATE CRIMINAL
LIABILITY

 Art. 13. Mitigating Circumstances – The following are mitigating

circumstances:

1. Those mentioned in the preceding chapter, when all the requisites

necessary to justify the act to exempt from criminal liability in the
respective cases are not attendant.
2. That the offender is under 18 years of age or over seventy years. In
the case of a minor, he shall be proceeded against in the accordance
with the provisions of ART. 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
and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees.
51
6. That 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 surrendered himself to
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 restrict 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 circumstances of a similar
nature and analogous to those above mentioned.
52
CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AGGRAVATE CRIMINAL
LIABILITY
Art. 14 Aggravating Circumstances
• The following are the aggravating circumstances

1.That the 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 committee 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 the 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 place dedicated to religious worship.
53
6. That the crime be committed in the nighttime or an uninhabited
place, or by a band, whenever such circumstances nay 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 hand.
7. That the crime be committed on the occasion of a conflagration,
shipwreck, earthquake, epidemic, or other calamities or
misfortune.
8. That the crime be committed with the aid of armed men or
persons who insure or afford impunity.
9. That he 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 his 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 in lighter penalty. 54
11. That the crime be committed in a consideration of a price,
reward, or promise.
12. That the crime e 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 by treachery (alevosia).
There is treachery when the offender commits any of the
crimes against person, employing means, methods or forms in the
execution thereof which tend directly and specially to ensure its
execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which
the offended party might make.
55
 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 of a wall,
roof, floor, door, or window be broken.
 20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons
under fifteen years of age, or by means of motor vehicle,
airships or other similar means.
 21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be
deliberately augmented by causing other wrong not
necessary for its commission.
56
 ALTERNATVE CIRCUMSTANCES
 Art. 15. Their Concept – Alternative circumstances
are those which 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 intoxication of the offender shall be taken into
consideration as a mitigating circumstances 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 circumstances. 57
 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

The following are criminally liable for light felonies:

1. Principals
2. Accomplices
.

58
Art. 19 – Accessories – Accessories are those whose 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
principal 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.
. 59
 Art. 17 PRINCIPALS – The following are considered
principals:

 1. Those who take 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 have
been accomplished.
 Art. 18. Accomplices – Accomplices are the
persons who not being included in ART. 17 cooperate
in the execution of the offense by previous or
simultaneous acts.
60
Art. 20 ACCESSORIES
•Who are exempt from criminal liability – 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, with the single
exception of accessories falling within the provisions of
paragraph 1 of the next preceding article.
.

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