CRIMLAW  It is necessary that there is voluntariness which is presumed

from elements of freedom of action and intelligence.

ARTICLE 1. Time When Act Takes Effect. — This Code shall
take effect on the first day of January, 1932.  Elements of intentional and of culpable felonies:

ARTICLE 2. Application of Its Provisions. — 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, DOLO CULPA
against those who:
1, Freedom of action; 1. Freedom of action;
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or
airship; 2. Intelligence; and 2. Intelligence; and

2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the 3. Intent. 3. Negligence, imprudence,
Philippine Islands or obligations and securities issued by the lack of skill.
Government of the Philippine Islands;
 “Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea” – crime is not
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into committed if the mind of the person performing the act
these islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the complained of is innocent.
preceding number;
 Intent - refers to the use of a particular means to bring about
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an the desired result
offense in the exercise of their functions; or

 May a crime be committed w/o criminal intent? YES, in two

5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security
and the law of nations, defined in Title One of Book Two of this
Code.
 The Philippine Government should be called Government of
the Republic of the Philippines and the country should be
referred to as the Republic of the Philippines
 Two scopes of application of the RPC:
1. intra-territorial: 1st par of art2
2. extra-territorial: enumerated in the 2nd par
 Outside of these 5 cases, Phil courts cannot take jurisdiction
over a crime committed outside of the country.
 A Filipino artist who sings Phil national anthem in USA during
the fights of Filipino boxers in contravention of the said
provision cannot be prosecuted before Phil courts bec such
offense is not among the exceptions of Art2 
instances:
1. Mala in se – acts wrong in themselves
2. Mala prohibita – acts which would not be wrong but for
the fact that positive law forbids them
 Motive – moving power or force which impels a person to
commit acts toward a desired result
 Motive becomes material when:
a) the act brings about variant crimes;
b)there is doubt whether the accused committed the crime,
or the identity of the accused is doubtful;
c) the evidence on the commission of the crime is purely
circumstantial; or
d)the evidence of guilt of the accused is inconclusive.
 No matter how evil the internal thought is, as long as there
are no overt acts, no crime is committed.

ARTICLE 3. Definition. — Acts and omissions punishable by  Mistake of fact – that mistake which had the facts been true
law are felonies (delitos). to belief of the offender, can justify his act

Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but  Effect of five factors on intent and criminal liability of the
also by means of fault (culpa). offenders:

There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberate

intent; and there is fault when the wrongful act results from FACTOR Effect of Intent Effect on
imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill. Criminal Liability

 Felonies (delitos) are acts or omissions punishable under the 1. Mistake of fact negative criminal Negative criminal
RPC. It classified on the basis of how they are committed intent liability
either as dolo (deceit) or culpa (fault).
2. Aberratio Ictus Intended result Increases criminal
 Crimes involving special laws are called offenses; violations (mistake in the falls on another liability which
of ordinances are infractions. victim of the blow) person or may be generally result to
in addition to the complex crime
injury on the
 ARTICLE 5. Duty of the court in connection with acts which
intended victim should be repressed but which are not covered by the law, and
in cases of excessive penalties. — Whenever a court has
knowledge of any act which it may deem proper to repress and
3. Error in Intended result Extenuating of the which is not punishable by law, it shall render the proper
Personae falls on another crime is greater decision, and shall report to the Chief Executive, through the
(mistake in the due to error in the than intended Department of Justice, the reasons which induce the court to
identity) identity of the believe that said act should be made the subject of penal
victim legislation.

4. Praeter Actual crime is Mitigating under In the same way the court shall submit to the Chief Executive,
Intentionem (so greater than Art13 through the Department of Justice, such statement as may be
grave wrong intended deemed proper, without suspending the execution of the
caused than that sentence, when a strict enforcement of the provisions of this
intended) Code would result in the imposition of a clearly excessive
penalty, taking into consideration the degree of malice and the
5. Proximate Results in crime Results in injury caused by the offense.
cause (the cause although not criminal liability to
of the cause is intended the actor whether ARTICLE 6. Consummated, frustrated, and attempted
the cause of the acting with intent felonies. — Consummated felonies, as well as those which are
evil caused) or negligence frustrated and attempted, are punishable.

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.

ARTICLE 4. Criminal Liability. — Criminal liability shall be
incurred:
1. By any person committing a felony (delito) although the
wrongful act done be different from that which he intended.
There is an attempt when 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.

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.
 Impossible crime – the acts performed would have been a
crime against persons or property but which is not
accomplished bec of its inherent impossibility or of the
employment of inadequate or ineffectual means
 Two kinds of inherent impossibility:
1. Legal impossibility – where the intended acts, even if
completed would amount to a crime. EX. killing a dead
person or stealing property which turned out to belong to
the stealer 
2. Factual or physical impossibility – when extraneous
circumstances unknown to the actor or beyond his control
prevent the consummation of the intended crime. EX.
stealing from a vault which turned out to be empty isn’t ironic?

 Impossible crime is NOT a crime. The law states that the act
“would be crime” hence, it has not ripened to an actual crime
bec of the ineffectual means employed or due to its inherent
impossibility.
 Felony is consummated when all the acts necessary for its
accomplishment and execution are present.
 Formal crimes are always consummated bec the offender
cannot perform all the acts necessary to execute the
offenses without consummating it. Physical injuries and
slander are formal crimes.
 Crimes that cannot be committed in frustrated stage:
1. Rape
2. Arson
3. Corruption of public officers
4. Adultery
5. Theft and robbery
 Overt acts – external acts which if continued will logically
result in felony. It is the start of criminal liability
 Preparatory acts – acts which still require another act so that
a felony will result. EX. buying poison
 Desistance – act of discontinuing the execution of the felony
which will negative criminal liability of the offender when
done during the attempted stage.
ATTEMPTED FELONIES FRUSTRATED FELONIES

 There is an impossible crime of rape bec rape is now crime

against person. Hence, if a person would rape one who Not all acts of execution had All acts of execution had
unknown to him has just died, he commits the impossible been done been performed
crime of rape.
Felony was not produced by The reason for frustration is
reason of cause or accident
other than the offender’s
own desistance
The offender is still in the
subjective phase as he still
control of his acts
In attempted homicide, the
wound is not mortal, hence,
the offender should still
need to deal another blow
on the victim which he was
not able to do because of
some cause or accident like
his being apprehended.
some cause independent of
the will of the perpetrator
He is already in the
objective phase bec all the
acts of execution are
already there and the cause
of its non- accomplishment
is other than the offender’s
own will.
The wound is mortal,
already sufficient to bring
about death; hence, there is
no more need of another
blow from the offender. But
death nevertheless did not
supervene bec of timely
medical attendance.
 Kinds of conspiracy as a means of committing a crime:
1. Conspiracy by a prior agreement on how to commit the
crime
2. Implied conspiracy, or conspiracy that is deducted from
the acts of offenders.
 When conspiracy involves a pre- conceived plan, what is
required of a co-conspirator to incur liability?
The overt act may consist of:
a) Active participation in the actual commission of the
crime itself; or
b) Moral assistance to his co-conspirators by being present
at the commission of the crime; or
c) Exerting moral ascendancy over the other conspirators.
 It is NOT necessary for the co-conspirators to perform
equally each and every part of the acts constituting the
offense, as long as the parts played by each contribute to
the realization of the common design, they are EQUALLY
liable.
 “The act of one is the act of all” – when conspiracy is
established, all who participated therein, irrespective of the
quantity and quality of his participation is liable equally,
whether the conspiracy is pre-planned or instantaneous.

FRUSTRATED FELONIES CONSUMMATED FELONIES ARTICLE 9. Grave felonies, less grave felonies and light
felonies. — Grave felonies are those to which the law attaches
All acts of execution had been done and therefore, both are the capital punishment or penalties which in any of their
in the objective phase periods are afflictive, in accordance with article 25 of this Code.

The desire was not The purpose was Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with
accomplished accomplished penalties which in their maximum period are correctional, in
accordance with the abovementioned article.

Frustrated is subsumed in consummated

ARTICLE 7. When light felonies are punishable. — Light
felonies are punishable only when they have been
consummated, with the exception of those committed against
person or property.
 Light felonies (Article 9 )
 Who are punishable in light felonies? Only the principals and
the accomplices are liable. Accessories are not punishable
bec LF is penalized with arresto menor.
ARTICLE 8. Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony. —
Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only
in the cases in which the law specially provides a penalty
therefor.
A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an
agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide
to commit it.
Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of
which the penalty of arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200
pesos or both, is provided.
 The significance of classifying felonies into grave, less
grave, or light is to determine:
a) Whether a complex crime was committed;
b) The duration of the subsidiary penalty to be
imposed where the subsidiary penalty is based on
the severity of the penalty;
c) The duration of the detention in case of failure to
post the bond to keep the peace;
d) Whether the crime has prescribed;
e) Whether or not there is delay in the delivery of
detained persons to the judicial authority; and
f) The proper penalty for quasi-offenses.
ARTICLE 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.

There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit

 Special laws – laws that define and penalize crimes not
a felony proposes its execution to some other person or
included in the RPC; they are of a nature different from those
persons.
defined and punished in the Code

 Two concepts of conspiracy:  Different modifying circumstances:

1. Conspiracy as crime by itself
2. Conspiracy as a means of committing a crime
a) By pre-agreement or planning
b) Implied from the concerted acts of the offenders or
implied conspiracy
1. Justifying circumstances (Article 11);
2. Exempting circumstance (Article 12);
3. Mitigating circumstance (Article 13);
4. Aggravating circumstance (Article 14; and
 5. Alternative circumstances, either mitigating or aggravating Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to
(article 15). avoid it;
 Entrapment – employment of such ways and means for the
purpose of trapping or capturing a lawbreaker Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means
 Buy-bust operation – form of entrapment which has been of preventing it.
accepted as a valid means of arresting violators of the drugs
law
5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the
ENTRAPMENT INSTIGATION
lawful exercise of a right or office.
1. The mens rea originated 1. Evil idea originated from
from the accused who was the peace officer who
merely trapped by the peace induced the accused to 6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a
officer in flagrante delicto commit the act superior for some lawful purpose.
2. This is not absolutory as 2. Absolutory by reason of
to the offender since he public policy  The following are justifying circumstances:
authored the evil idea a) Defense of self, of relatives and of strangers;
3. Consistent with public 3. Contrary to public policy b) State of necessity;
policy c) Fulfillment of duty; and
4. Trap for the unwary 4. Trap for unwary innocent d) Obedience of superior order.
criminal
The peace officer has no 5. The peace officer is a  Requisites of self-defense:
criminal liability for his acts principal by inducement 1. Unlawful aggression;
are in accordance with law 2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent
The crime has already been 6. The crime would not and or repel it; and
committed could not have been 3. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person
committed were it not for the defending himself.
instigation
 Unlawful aggression – to constitute this, it is necessary that
an attack or material aggression, an offensive act positively
ARTICLE 11. Justifying Circumstances. — The following do determining the intent of aggressor to cause injury, shall
not incur any criminal liability: have been made

 It must be the COURT should determine the existence of

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. Anyone 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.
justifying circumstances not the police officers.
 Elements of defense of relatives:
a) Unlawful aggression;
b) Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent
or repel it; and
c) In case the provocation was given by the person attacked,
the person defending had no part therein.
 Elements of defense of strangers:
a) Unlawful aggression;
b) Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent
or repel it; and
c) The person defending is not included by revenge,
resentment or other evil motives.
 Battered Woman Syndrome is characterized by “cycle of
violence” which has three phases:
a) The tension-building phase;
b) The acute battering incident; and
c) Tranquil, loving phase.

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.
 Elements of state of necessity:
a) The evil sought to be avoided actually exists;
b) The injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it; and
c) There is no other practical and less harmful means of
preventing it.

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 actually exists;
 Elements of fulfilling of duty or exercise of right or office:
a) The offender acted in the performance of a duty or the
lawful exercise of a right or office; and
b) The injury caused or the offense committed is the
necessary consequence of the due performance of such
right or office.
 Obedience to superior order appreciated when the following
elements concur:
a) An order has been issued by a superior;
b) The order is for legal purpose; and
c) The means used to carry out such order is lawful.
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 an 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 or insuperable cause.
 The exempting circumstances are:
a) Imbecility/ insanity;
b) Minority;
c) Accident;
d) Compulsion of irresistible force;
e) Impulse of uncontrollable fear; and
f) Insuperable or lawful cause.
JUSTIFYING EXEMPTING
1. The act is legal, within the 1. The act is criminal.
bounds of law
2. There is no crime, hence, 2. There is a crime and a
no criminal. criminal.
3. Since there is no crime, 3. Since there is a crime,
there is no criminal and no there is a criminal (but
civil liability. exempt from criminal
liability) and there is civil
liability.
4. The emphasis of the law 4. The emphasis of the law
is on the act. is on the actor.
 Insanity – exists when there is a complete deprivation of
intelligence in committing the act, he acts without the least
discernment bec there is complete absence of power to
discern, or there is a total deprivation of freedom of the will
 Insanity is manifested in language and conduct.
 Schizophrenia – chronic mental disorder characterized by
inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, and often
accompanied by hallucinations and delusions
 The judge is not a psychiatrist or psychologist equipped with
the specialized knowledge of determining the state of a
person’s mental health. The court should order examination
of accused 
 Minors exempt from criminal liability:
a) A minor 15 yrs old or under. The age of exemption was
increased from 9 to 15.
b) A minor over 15 and under 18 who did not act with
discernment.
 Accident – happens outside the say of our will, and although
it comes about through some act of our will, lies beyond the
bounds of humanly foreseeable consequences
 The following must concur for accident to be accepted:
a) Accused was performing a lawful act with due care;
b) The injury is caused by mere accident; and
c) There was no fault or intent of causing the injury.
 Elements of irresistible force:
a) The force must be physical, must come from an outside
source, and the accused must act not only without a will
but even against his will.
b) The actor must be reduced to a mere instrument, such
that element of freedom is wanting.
c) The duress, force, fear or intimidation must be present,
imminent and impending and of such a nature as to induce
a well-grounded fear of death or serious bodily injury if the
act is not done.
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.
 Classifications of mitigating circumstances:
a) Ordinary – lowers the penalty to minimum period
b) Privileged – lowers the imposable penalty
c) Specific – applies to a specific felony like
concealment of dishonor in the case of abortion by
the pregnant woman herself
Ordinary Privileged
1. Can be offset by a 1. Cannot be offset by any
generic aggravating aggravating circumstance
circumstance
2. Penalty is lowered to the 2. Penalty is lowered by one
minimum period of the or two degrees
penalty prescribed
3. Not considered when 3. Always considered
what is prescribed is single whether the penalty
indivisible penalty imposable is divisible or
indivisible
 Unlawful aggression is NOT a mitigating circumstance.
 Requirements for sufficient provocation:
a) Sufficient;
b) Immediate to the commission of the crime; and
c) Must originate from the offended party
 Elements of voluntary surrender:
a) The offender surrendered to a person in authority or his
agent;
b)The offender surrendered before arrest is effected; and
c) The surrender must be voluntary.
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.
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.

20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under
fifteen years of age or by means of motor vehicles, airships, or
other similar means.

21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be

deliberately augmented by causing other wrong not necessary
for its commission.

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.

 Three alternative circumstances:

a) Relationship
b) Intoxication
c) Degree of instruction and education of the offender