Criminal Law branch or division of law which defines crimes, treats of their

nature, and provides for their punishment.

Crime defined as an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding
or commanding it.
Limitations
Ex post facto law and bill of attainder
Due process and equal protection
Characteristics
General Criminal law is biding on all persons who live and or sojourn in Philippine
territory. (Art. 14, NCC)
o Civil courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the military courts or general
courts-martial over soldiers of the AFP. (In times of war: Provided that in the
place of the commission of the crime no hostilities are in progress and civil
courts are functioning.)
o RPC and other penal law do not apply when military courts take cognizance of
the case. (Articles of War apply) Military courts has jurisdiction over serviceconnected offenses.
o Prosecution of an accused before a court-martial is a bar to another
prosecution for the same offense.
o Offenders accused of war crimes are triable by military commission. (Military
Commission has jurisdiction so long as a technical state of war continues.)
o Exception, Art. 2, RPC, subject to the principles of public international law and
treaty stipulations.
o Persons exempt: (1) Sovereigns and chiefs of state. (2) Ambassadors,
ministers, plenipotentiary, ministers resident, and charges daffaires.
Territorial criminal laws undertake to punish crimes committed within Philippine
territory.
o The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands
and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial
and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the
insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and
connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines. (Art. 2, 1987
Constitution)
o 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, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine
Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the
Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these
islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the presiding
number;

4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in

the exercise of their functions; or
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. (Art 2, RPC)
Prospective a penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manners in which it
was not punishable when committed.
o Application of laws enacted prior to this Code. Without prejudice to the
provisions contained in Article 22 of this Code, felonies and misdemeanors,
committed prior to the date of effectiveness of this Code shall be punished in
accordance with the Code or Acts in force at the time of their commission.
(Art 366, RPC)
o Exception: whenever a new statute dealing with crime establishes conditions
more lenient or favorable to the accused, it can be given retroactive effect.
Exception to the Exception: (1) where the new law is expressly made
inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of action. (2) where
the offender is a habitual criminal under Rule 5, Article 62 of the RPC.
(For the purpose of this article, a person shall be deemed to be habitual
delinquent, is within a period of ten years from the date of his release or
last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries,
robo, hurto, estafa or falsification, he is found guilty of any of said
crimes a third time or oftener.)
Effects: Lower Penalty = Apply NEW law, Higher Penalty = OLD law
applies, Total Repeal = crime is Obliterated.
When a new law and the old law penalize the same offense, the
offender can be tried under the old law.
When the repealing law fails to penalize the offense under the old law,
the accused cannot be convicted under the new law.
A person erroneously accused and convicted under a repealed statute
may be punished under the repealing statute. The fact that the offender
was erroneously accused and convicted under a statute which had
already been repealed and therefore no longer existed at the time the
act complained of was committed does not prevent conviction under
the repealing statute which punished the same act, provided the
accused had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge
brought against him.
A new law, which omits anything contained in the old law dealing on the
same subject, operates as a repeal of anything not so included in the
amendatory act. (cessante ratione legis cessat ipsa lex, the reason of
the law ceasing, the law itself also ceases)

Construction of Penal Laws

Penal laws are strictly construed against the government and liberally in favor of
the accused. (Applicable only when the law is ambiguous and there is doubt as to
its interpretation.)
In the construction and interpretation of the provisions of the RPC, the Spanish text
is controlling, because it was approved by the Philippine Legislature in its Spanish
text.

No person should be brought within the terms of criminal statutes who is not clearly
within them, nor should any act be pronounced criminal which is not clearly made
so by the statute.

Basis
Classical theory basis of criminal liability is human free will and the purpose of the
penalty is retribution.
Positivist theory human is naturally good, but is subdued by a strange and morbid
phenomenon which constrains him to do wrong, in spite of or contrary to his
violation, the purpose of penalty is reformation.
Application
Offenses committed on the high seas on board a foreign merchant vessel is not
triable by our courts.
Offenses committed on board a foreign merchant vessel while on Philippine waters
in triable before our courts.
Transitory offense - crimes where some acts material and essential to the
crimes and requisite to their commission occur in one municipality or territory
and some acts are done in another place.
Continuing offense: consummated in one place, yet bynature of the offense, the
violation of the law
is deemed continuing.
English Rule such crimes are triable in that country, unless they merely affect
things within the vessel or they refer to internal management thereof.
Crimes not involving a breach of public order committed on board a foreign
merchant vessel in transit no triable by our courts.
Smoking opium constitutes a breach of public order.
Philippine courts have no jurisdiction over offense committed on board foreign
warships in territorial waters.
RA 9372 - AN ACT TO SECURE THE STATE AND PROTECT OUR PEOPLE FROM
TERRORISM
a. Article 122 (Piracy in General and Mutiny in the High Seas or in the Philippine
Waters);
b. Article 134 (Rebellion or Insurrection);
c. Article 134-a (Coup d' Etat), including acts committed by private persons;
d. Article 248 (Murder);
e. Article 267 (Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention);
f. Article 324 (Crimes Involving Destruction), or under
1. Presidential Decree No. 1613 (The Law on Arson);
2. Republic Act No. 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste
Control Act of 1990);
3. Republic Act No. 5207, (Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968);
4. Republic Act No. 6235 (Anti-Hijacking Law);
5. Presidential Decree No. 532 (Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of
1974); and,
6. Presidential Decree No. 1866, as amended (Decree Codifying the Laws on
Illegal and Unlawful Possession, Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or
Disposition of Firearms, Ammunitions or Explosives)

Thereby sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear

and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to
an unlawful demand shall be guilty of the crime of terrorism and shall suffer the
penalty of forty (40) years of imprisonment, without the benefit of parole as
provided for under Act No. 4103, otherwise known as the Indeterminate
Sentence Law, as amended.
Subject to the provision of an existing treaty of which the Philippines is a
signatory and to any contrary provision of any law of preferential
application, the provisions of this Act shall apply: (1) to individual persons
who commit any of the crimes defined and punished in this Act within the
terrestrial domain, interior waters, maritime zone, and airspace of the
Philippines;
(2) to individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial
limits of the Philippines, commit, conspire or plot to commit any of the
crimes defined and punished in this Act inside the territorial limits of the
Philippines;
(3) to individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial
limits of the Philippines, commit any of the said crimes on board Philippine
ship or Philippine airship;
(4) to individual persons who commit any of said crimes within any
embassy, consulate, or diplomatic premises belonging to or occupied by
the Philippine government in an official capacity;
(5) to individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial
limits of the Philippines, commit said crimes against Philippine citizens or
persons of Philippines descent, where their citizenship or ethnicity was a
factor in the commission of the crime; and
(6) to individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial
limits of the Philippines, commit said crimes directly against the Philippine
government.
Felonies are acts and omissions punishable by the RPC.
Definition Acts and omissions punishable by law are felonies (delitos).
Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of
fault (culpa).
There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberated intent; and there is
fault when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of
foresight, or lack of skill. (Art.3,RPC)
Elements: (1) there must be an act or omission, (2) the act or omission must be
punishable by the RCP, (3) the act is performed or the omission incurred by means
of dolo or culpa.
Act = external act
Omission = inaction
Punishable by law (nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege, there is no crime where
there is no law punishing it.)

A person who causes an injury, without intention to cause an evil, may be help
liable for culpable felony.
Impruden
Intentional Felonies
Culpable Felonies
ce

deficiency
Act or omission of the offender is Act or omission is not malicious.
of action,
malicious.
failure to
Act is performed with deliberate Injury caused by the offender in
take
intent.
unintentional.
necessary
The offender, in performing the An incident of another act
act or in incurring the omission, performed without malice. The
has the intention to cause an wrongful
act
results
from
injury to another.
imprudence, negligence, law or
foresight or lack of skill.
precaution to avoid injury.
Negligence deficiency of perception, failure to pay proper attention and use due
diligence in foreseeing the injury or damage impending to be caused.
Acts executed negligently are voluntary.
Requisites of dolo or malice (1) he must have FREEDOM while doing an act or
omitting to do an act; (2) he must have INTELLIGENCE while doing the act or
omitting to do an act; (3) he must have INTENT while doing the act or omitting to do
the act.
A voluntary act is free, intelligent, and intentional act.
Intent presupposes the exercise of freedom and the use of intelligence.
The existence of intent is shown by the overt acts of a person.
Criminal intent and the will to commit a crime are always presumed to exist on the
part of the person who executes an act, which the law punishes, unless the contrary
shall appear.
The presumption of criminal intent does not arise from the proof of the commission
of an act, which is not unlawful. (Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea, a crime is
not committed if the mind of the person performing the act complained be
innocent.
It is true that a presumption of criminal intent may arise from proof of the
commission of a criminal act; and the general rule is that if it is proved that the
accused committed the criminal act charged, it will be presumed that the act was
done with criminal intention and that it is for the accused to rebut the presumption.
But it must be borne in mind that the act from which such presumption springs
must be a criminal act.
Ignorance or mistake of fact relieves the accused from criminal liability.
Mistake of fact is a misapprehension of fact on the part of the person who caused
injury to another. He is not, however, criminally liable, because he did not act with
criminal intent. Hones mistake of fact destroys the presumption of criminal intent,
which arises upon the commission of a felonious act.

Requisites of MOF (1) that the act done would have been lawful had the facts been
as the accused believed them to be; (2) that the intention of the accused in
performing the act should be lawful; (3) that the mistake must be without fault or
carelessness on the part of the accused.
Lack of intent to commit a crime may be inferred from the facts of the case.
Lack of intent to kill the deceased, because his intention was to kill another, does
not relieve the accused from criminal responsibility.
Criminal intent is necessary in felonies committed by means of dolo. (Actus non
facit reum nisi mens sit rea, the act itself does not make a man guilty unless his
intentions were so.) (Actus me invite factus non est meus actus, an act done by me
against
Mala In Se
Mala Prohibita
my will
is
not
Wrongful from their nature
Wrongful
merely
because
my
act.)
prohibited by statute.
Are those so serious in their Are violations of mere rules of Requisit
es
of
effects on society as to call for convenience designed to secure a
fault or
almost unanimous condemnation more orderly regulation of the
culpa
of its members
affairs in the society.
(1)
he
Intent governs
The only inquiry is, has the law
must
been violated?
have
Refers
generally
to
felonies Refers generally to acts made
defined and penalized by the RPC. criminal by special laws.
FREEDOM while doing an act or omitting to do an act; (2) he must have
INTELLIGENCE while doing the act or omitting to do an act; (3) he is IMPRUDENT,
NEGLIGENT or LACKS FORESIGHT or SKILL while doing the act or omitting to do the
act.
In culpable felonies, the injury caused to another should be unintentional, it being
simply the incident of another act performed without malice.
Mistake in the identity of the intended victim is not reckless imprudence. Where
such an unlawful act is willfully done, a mistake in the identity of the intended
victim cannot be considered as reckless imprudence.

A person causing damage or injury to another, without malice or fault, is not

criminally liable under the RPC. In such case, he is exempt from criminal liability,
because he causes an injury by mere accident, without fault or intention of causing
it. (The act performed must be lawful)

Dolo not required in crimes punished by special laws. It is sufficient that the
offender has the intent to perpetrate the act prohibited by the special law. It is
enough that the prohibited act is done freely and consciously.
In those crimes punished by special laws, the act alone, irrespective of its motives,
constitutes the offense. When the doing of an act is prohibited by a special law, it is
considered that the act is injurious to public welfare and the doing of the prohibited
act is the crime itself.
Good faith and absence of criminal intent not valid defenses in crimes punished by
special laws.
When the acts are inherently immoral, they are mala in se, even if punished under
special law.
Motive is the moving power, which impels one to act for a definite result. Intent is
the purpose to use a particular means to effect such result. Motive is not an
essential element of crime, and, hence, need not be proved for the purpose of
conviction.
o Where the identity of a person accused of having committed a crime is in
dispute, the motive may have impelled its commission is very relevant.
o Generally, proof of motive not necessary to pin a crime on the accused if the
commission of the crime has been proven and the evident of identification is
convincing.
o Motive is essential only when there is doubt as to the identity of the assailant.
It is immaterial when the accused has been positively identified.
o Where the defendant admits the killing, it is no longer necessary to inquire
into his motive for doing the act.
o Motive is important in ascertaining the truth between two antagonistic
theories or versions of killing.
o Where the identification of the accused proceeds from an unreliable source
and the testimony is inconclusive and not free from doubt, evidence of motive
is necessary.
o Where there are no eyewitnesses to the crime, and where suspicion is likely
to fall upon a number of persons, motive is relevant.
o If the evidence is merely circumstantial, proof of motive is essential.
o Proof of motive is not indispensable where guilt is otherwise established by
sufficient evidence.
Generally, the motive is established by the testimony of witnesses on the acts or
statements of the accused before or immediately after the commission of the
offense. Such deeds or words may indicate the motive.
Disclosure of the motive is an aid in completing the proof of the commission of the
crime.
Proof of motive alone is not sufficient to support a conviction.
Lack of motive may be an aid in showing innocence of the accused.

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. (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. (Art. 4,RPC)

One who commits an intentional felony is responsible for all the consequences,
which may naturally and logically result therefrom, whether foreseen or intended or
not. (Par1,Art.4,RPC) (El que es causa de la causa es causa del mal causado, he who
is the cause of the cause is the cause of the evil caused.)
o Committing a felony punishable by the RPC.
When a person has not committed a felony, he is not criminally liable
for the result, which is not intended.
o Although the wrongful act done be different from that which he intended.
Error in personae (Mistake in the identity of the victim)
Aberratio Ictus (Mistake in the blow)
Praeter Intentionem (The injurious result is greater that that intended)
Requisites of Par. 1: (1) that an intentional felony has be committed; (2) that the
wrong done to the aggrieved party be the direct, natural, and logical consequence
of the felony committed by the offender.
Any person who creates in anothers mind an immediate sense of danger, which
causes the latter to do something resulting in the latters injuries, is liable for the
resulting injuries.
Felony committed must be the proximate cause of the resulting injury.
o Not proximate cause when: (1) there is an active force that intervened
between the felony committed and the result injury, and the active force is a
distinct act or fact absolutely foreign from the felonious act of the accused;
(2) the resulting injury is due to the intentional acts of the victim.
Unskillful and improper treatment may be an active force, but it is not a
distinct act or fact absolutely foreign from the criminal act.
o The offender is criminally liable for the death of the victim if his delictual act
caused, accelerated or contributed to the death of the victim.
o Not efficient intervening causes: (1) the weak or diseased physical condition
of the victim, (2) the nervousness or temperament of the victim, (3) Causes
which are inherent in the victim, (4) neglect of the victim or third person, (5)
erroneous or unskillful medical or surgical treatment.
Death is presumed to be the natural consequence of physical injuries inflicted
when: (1) that the victim at the time the physical injuries were inflicted was in
normal health. (2) that death may be expected from the physical injuries inflicted.
(3) that death ensued within a reasonable time.
If the consequences produced have resulted from a distinct act or fact absolutely
foreign from the criminal act, the offender is not responsible for such consequences.
A supervening event may be the subject of amendment of the original information
or of a new charge without double jeopardy.
Impossible Crimes the commission of an impossible crime is indicative of criminal
propensity or criminal tendency on the part of the actor. Requisites: (1) the act
performed would be an offense against persons or property, (2) that the act done
was with evil intent, (3) that its accomplishment is inherently impossible, or that the
means employed is either inadequate or ineffectual, (4) that the act performed
should not constitute a violation of another provision of the RPC.
o Offender intends to commit a felony against persons or property, and the act
performed would have been an offense. But a felony should not be actually
committed, for; otherwise, he would be liable for that felony.

o If the act performed would be an offense other that a felony against persons
or against property, there is no impossible crime.
o The act done was done with EVIL INTENT.
o Inherent Impossibility the act intended by the offender is by its nature one
of impossible accomplishment.
There must either be (1) legal impossibility or (2) physical impossibility.
o Employment of inadequate means. But where the means employed is
adequate and the result expected in not produced, it is not an impossible
crime, but a frustrated felony.
Duty of the Court
Duty of the court in connection with acts which 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 which is not punishable
by law, it shall render the proper decision, and shall report to the Chief Executive,
through the Department of Justice, the reasons which induce the court to believe that
said act should be made the subject of legislation.
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. (Art.5,RPC)
Acts which should be repressed but which are not covered by the law, requisites: (1)
the act committed by the accused appears not punishable by any law; (2) but the
court deems it proper to repress such act; (3) in that case, the court must render
the proper decision by dismissing the case and acquitting the accused; (4) the
judge must then make a report to the Chief Executive, through the Secretary of
Justice, stating the reason which induce him to believe that the said act should be
made the subject of penal legislation.
In cases of excessive penalties, the law requires: (1) the court after trial finds the
accused guilty; (2) the penalty provided by law and which the court imposes for the
crime committed appears to clearly excessive, because (a) the accused acted with
lesser degree of malice and/or (b) there ins no injury or the injury caused is of
lesser gravity; (3) the court should not suspend the execution of the sentence; (4)
the judge should submit a statement to the Chief Executive, through the Secretary
of Justice, recommending executive clemency.
o The penalties are not excessive when intended to enforce a public policy.
o It is the duty of judicial officers to respect and apply the law, regardless of
their private opinions.
o 2nd paragraph of Art. 5 have no application to the offense defined and
penalized by a special law.
Consummated, Frustrated and Attempted Felonies
Consummated, frustrated, and attempted felonies. Consummated felonies as well
as those, which are 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.
There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony directly
or over acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the
felony by reason of some cause or accident other than this own spontaneous
desistance. (Art 6.,RPC)

Development of crime: (1) Internal Acts, (2) External Acts

o Internal Acts, such as mere ideas in the mind of a person, are not punishable
even if, had they been carried out, they would constitute a crime. Mere
intention producing no effect is no more a crime than a mere effect without
the intention is a crime.
o External acts cover (a) preparatory acts; (b) acts of execution
Preparatory acts ordinarily they are not punishable, except when the
law provides for their punishment in certain felonies.
Acts of execution - punishable under the RPC.
Attempted when the offer begins the commission of a felony
directly by overt acts. He has not performed all the acts of
execution, which should produce the felony. Elements: (1) the
offender commences the commission of the felony directly by overt
acts; (2) he does not perform all the acts of execution, which should
produce the felony; (3) the offenders act is not stopped by his own
spontaneous desistance; (4) the non-performance of all acts of
execution was due to cause or accident other than his spontaneous
desistence.
The external acts must be related to the overt acts (some physical
activity or deed, indicating the intention to commit a particular
crime, more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried to
its complete termination following its natural course, without being
of the crime the offender intended commit.
Drawing or trying to draw a pistol is not an overt act of homicide.
Raising a bolo as if to strike the offended party with it is not an overt
act of homicide.
Overt act may not be by physical activity.
External acts mush have a direct connection with the crime intended
to be committed by the offender.
Indeterminate offense it is one where the purpose of the offender
in performing act is not certain. Its nature in relation to its objective
is ambiguous.
The intention of the accused must be viewed from the nature of the
acts executed by him, not form his admission.
When there is conspiracy, the rule is the act of one is the act of all.
Desistance should be made before all the acts of execution are
performed.
The desistance which exempts from criminal liability has reference
to the crime intended to be committed, and has no reference to the
crime actually committed by the offender before his desistance.

 Subjective phase it is that portion of the acts constituting the

crime, starting from the point where the offender begins the
commission of the crime to that point where he has still control over
his acts, including their natural course.
If between these two points the offender is stopped by any cause
outside of his own voluntary desistance, the subjective phase has
not been passed and it is an attempt. If he is not so stopped but
continues until he performs the last act, it is frustrated, provided the
crime is not produced. The acts then of the offender reached the
objective phase of the crime.
Frustrated Felony, Elements: (1) the offender performs all the acts of
execution; (2) all the acts performed would produce the felony as a
consequence; (3) but the felony is not produced; (4) by reason of
causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
The SC in certain cases has emphasized the belief of the accused.
Consummated Felony all elements necessary for its execution and
accomplishment are present.
Manner of Committing the Crime:
Formal Crimes consummated in one instant, no attempt.
(Slander and false testimony)
Crimes consummated by mere attempt or proposal or by over
acts. (Flight to enemys country and corruption of minors and
treason)
Felony by omission, no attempted stage.
Crimes requiring the intervention of two persons to commit
them are consummated by mere agreement.
Material crimes there are three stages of execution. (Rape,
murder, etc.)
There is no attempted or frustrated impossible crime
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. (Slight Physical
Injuries, Theft, Alteration of boundary marks, malicious mischief and intriguing against
honor)
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. (Art.7,RPC)
Conspiracy
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.
There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony proposes its
execution to some other person or persons. (Art.8,RPC)

Conspiracy is not a crime except when the law specifically provides a penalty
therefor.
RPC provides penalty for mere conspiracy: Commit treason; commit coup detat,
rebellion or insurrection; commit sedition. These crimes should not have been
actually committed or else conspiracy becomes a manner of incurring criminal
liability and not considered a separate offense.
The acts of the defendants must show a common design.
Period of time to afford opportunity for meditation or reflection, not required in
conspiracy.
Requisites: (1) that two or more persons came to an agreement; (2) that the
agreement concerned the commission of a felony; (3) that the execution of the
felony be decided upon.
RPC provides penalty for mere proposal: Commit treason; commit coup detat,
rebellion or insurrection.
Requisites: (1) that a person has decided to commit a felony; (2) that he proposes
its execution to some other person or persons.
There is no criminal proposal when: (1) the person who proposes it not determined
to commit the felony. (2) There is no decided, concrete and formal proposal. (3) It is
not the execution of a felony that is proposed.
It is not necessary that the person to whom the proposal be made agree to commit
treason or rebellion.
Proposal as an overt act of corruption of public officer. (Attempted Bribery)

Grace, Less Grave and Light Felonies

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.
Capital punishment:
Death.
Afflictive penalties:
Reclusion perpetua,
Reclusion temporal,
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification,
Prision mayor.
Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their
maximum period are correctional, in accordance with the above-mentioned article.
Correctional penalties:
Prision correccional,
Arresto mayor,
Suspension,
Destierro.
Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which a penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both; is provided. (Art.9,RPC)
Arresto menor,
Public censure.

Offenses Not Subject to RPC

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. (Art.10,RPC)

First clause is understood to mean that the RPC is not meant to supersede special
penal laws. The second clause provides that the RPC shall be supplementary to
special laws, unless the latter should specially provide the contrary.
The provisions of the RPC on penalties cannot be applied to offenses punishable
under special laws.
Where the special law adopted penalties from the RPC, the rules for graduating
penalties by degrees or determining the proper period should be applied.
Art. 6 of RPC cannot be applied to special laws, unless special law provides a
penalty therefor.
The special law has to fix penalties for attempted and frustrated crimes.
This provision is not applicable to punish an accomplice under the special law.
Plea of guilty is not mitigating in illegal possession of firearms punished by special
law.
Special laws amending the RPC are subject to its provisions.

Justifying Circumstances
Article 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal liability:
1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the following
circumstances concur;
First. Unlawful aggression.
Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it.
Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.
2. Any one who acts in defense of the person or rights of his spouse, ascendants,
descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters, or 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.
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.
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;
First. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists;
Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;
Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.
5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or

office.
6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior for some lawful
purpose.

Unlawful Aggression is indispensable in self-defense.

o To constitute unlawful aggression, it is necessary that an attack or material
aggression, an offensive act positively determining the intent of the aggressor
to cause injury, shall have been made. Mere threatening or intimidating
attitude is not sufficient.
o By invoking SD, appellant admits the fact of committing the act; it is
incumbent upon him to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he acted
in SD.
o When aggression has ceased to exist, there is no more necessity of SD.
o The presence of a large number of wounds on the part of the victim negates
SD and instead indicates a determined effort on the part of the offender to kill
the victim.
Reasonableness of the means employed depends upon the circumstances
surrounding the aggression, the state of mind of the aggressor and the available
weapon at the defenders disposal.
o What the law requires in rational equivalence. In the natural order of things,
following the instinct of self-preservation. Self-preservation is the paramount
consideration.
Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the defender shows that there may
have been provocation but it should not be sufficient and it must not immediately
precede the act.
Absence on the part of the person defending.
Stand ground when in the right applies when the aggressor is armed with a
weapon and is especially more liberal if the person attacked is a peace officer in the
performance of his duty.
Effect if not all requisites of SD are present: (1) ordinary mitigating circumstance of
incomplete SD pursuant to Art. 13(1) if unlawful aggression is present; (2)
privileged mitigating circumstance under Art. 69, if 2 requisites are present, which
always includes unlawful aggression.
Defense of honor encompasses defense of ones chastity or reputation. But there
must be imminent and immediate danger of rape to justify killing. Slander may be a
necessary means to repel slander. But must only be to the extent necessary to
redeem the honor of the defender.
The owner or lawful possessor of a thing has the right to exclude any person from
the enjoyment and disposal thereof. For this purpose, he may use such force as may
be reasonably necessary to repel or prevent an actual or threatened unlawful
physical invasion or usurpation of his property. (Art. 429, NCC Self-Help) But not
to the extent of taking the offenders life unless there is a like danger posed on the
person of the defender.
Elements of defense of relatives: (1) and (2), (3) in case the provocation was given
by the person attacked, the person defending had no part therein.
o Defense of relatives beyond the 4 th civil degree falls within defense of
strangers.

Elements of defense of strangers: (1) and (2), (3) the person defending is not
induced by revenge, resentment or other evil motives.
Battered Woman - is one who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or
psychological behavior by a man in order to coerce here to do something he wants
her to do without concern for her rights. BW includes wives or women in any form of
intimate relationship with men. To be classified as such, the couple must go through
the battering cycle at least twice.
Battered Woman Syndrome - is characterized by the cycle of violence, which has
three phases:
o Tension-Building Phase minor battering occurs, verbal, physical abuse or
other form of hostile behavior.
o Acute Battering incident the violence spirals out of control, characterized by
brutality, destructiveness and sometimes death.
o Tranquil, loving phase couple experience profound relief.
Defense should prove all three phases of the cycle of violence characterizing the
relationship of the partners.
Where the brutalized person is already suffering from the syndrome, further
evidence of actual physical assault at the time of killing is not required.
State of Necessity, Elements: (1) the evil sought to be avoided actually exists, (2)
the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it; (3) there in no other
practical and less harmful means of preventing it.
o The persons for whose benefit the harm has be prevented shall be civilly
liable in proportion to the benefit which they may have received.
Fulfillment of a duty, elements: (1) the offender acted in the performance of a duty
or lawful exercise of a right or office; (2) the injury caused or the offense committed
is the necessary consequence of the due performance of such right or office.
o In the absence of the second requisite, the justification becomes incomplete
and there converting it into a mitigating circumstance under Art 13 and 69
Obedience to a superior order, elements: (1) an order has been issued by the
superior; (2) the order is for a legal purpose; (3) the means used to carry out such
order is lawful.
o Even if the order is illegal but is apparently legal and the subordinate is not
aware of its illegality, the subordinate is not liable.

Exempting Circumstances
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. (Now 15 years or under, RA9344)
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. (Now 15 years but under 18 years of age, RA
9344)

When such minor is adjudged to be criminally irresponsible, the court, in conformably

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 Art. 80. (Above 15 but below 18)
4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by
mere accident without fault or intention of causing it.
5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of irresistible force.
6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or
greater injury.
7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented by some
lawful insuperable cause.

Insanity a manifestation in language or conduct of disease or defect of the brain

or a more or less permanently diseased or disordered condition of the mentality,
functional or organic, and characterized by perversion, inhibition, or disordered
function of the sensory or of the intellective faculties or by impaired or disordered
volition. It exists when there is a complete deprivation of reason, he cats without
the least discernment because there is complete absence of power to discern, or
there is a total deprivation of freedom of the will.
o How is insanity disproved: (1) immediate surrender after the killing of the
victims; (2) manifestation of remorse during his confinement at the mental
institute; (3) was able to give a sworn statement before PAO.
o The law presumes that every man is sane. In the absence of sufficient
evidence to prove insanity, the legal presumption of sanity stands.
o An inquiry to the appellant should relate to the period immediately before or
at the precise moment of doing the act which is the subject of the inquiry.
o Insanity is a defense in the nature of confession and avoidance, and as such
must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
o Schizophrenic reaction may be considered as a mitigating circumstance under
Art 13(9).
Minors are persons under the age of 18
o Children at risk those who are vulnerable to and at the risk of committing
criminal offenses because of personal, family and social circumstances.
o Children in conflict with the law (CICL) those who are alleged as, accused of
or adjudged as having committed an offense.
o Below 15 y/o at the time of the commission of the offense = exempt from
criminal liability and will undergo intervention program.
o Over 15 but below 18 y/o = exempt from criminal liability and will undergo
intervention program. If acted with discernment shall undergo diversion
program.
o Diversion program: Imposable penalty >6 years; there is a victim = diversion
shall be before the law enforcement officer or the Punong Barangay and shall
be in the form of mediation, family conferencing and conciliation; there is no

victim = diversion shall be conducted by the local social welfare and

development officer. <6 years = diversion measures shall be by courts only;
>12 years, before arraignment of the child, the court shall determine whether
or not diversion is appropriate. The period of prescription of the offense shall
be suspended during the effectivity of the diversion program not exceeding 2
years. If not included under any of the above or if the child, his parents or
guardian does not consent to a diversion, authority shall forward the records
to the prosecutor or court within 3 days from the determination of absence of
jurisdiction or termination of the proceedings and shall be filed according to
the regular process.
o PI shall be conducted in the following cases: (1) when the child does not
qualify for diversion; (2) when the child, his parents or guardians does not
agree to diversion; (3) when the prosecutor determines that diversion is not
appropriate for the CICL, considering the assessment and recommendation of
the social worker. Upon determination of probable cause, the information shall
be filed with the Family Court within 45 days from the start of the PI.
o Who are minors disqualified from suspension of sentence: (1) a minor who
has once enjoyed suspension of sentence, (2) convicted for an offense
punishable by death or life imprisonment, (3) or by Military Tribunals.
o Once a child reaches 18, the court shall determine whether to discharge the
child, order the execution of sentence, or extend the suspended sentence for
a period or until the child reaches the maximum age of 21.
Accident is an occurrence that happens outside the sway of our will, and although
it comes about through some act of our will, lies beyond the bounds of humanly
foreseeable consequences. It connotes the absence of criminal intent.
o What is required for accident to be accepted: (1) accused was performing a
lawful act with due care; (2) the injury is caused by mere accident; (3) there
was no fault or intent of causing the injury.
o Negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided
by those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human
affairs, would do, or the doing of something which a prudent and reasonable
man would not do.
Irresistible Force, elements: (1) 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; (2) the actor must be reduced to a mere instrument, such that the element
of freedom is wanting; (3) 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.
o Duress should be anchored on a real, imminent or reasonable fear for ones
own life or limb and should not be speculative, fanciful, or imagined. (Actus
me invite factus non est meus actus, an act done by me against my will is not
my act.)
Uncontrollable Fear, elements: (1) threat which caused the fear of an evil greater
than or at least equal to that which the accused was required to commit; (2) it
promised an evil of such gravity and imminence that the ordinary man would have
succumbed to it.
Insuperable Cause it is an exempting circumstance which applies to felonies by
omission. The law imposes a duty on the offender to perform an act but his failure
to do so is due to a lawful or insuperable cause.

Mitigating Circumstances
Article 13. Mitigating circumstances. - The following are mitigating circumstances;
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.
2. That the offender is under eighteen year of age or over seventy years. In the case of
the minor, he shall be proceeded against in 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, 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 communications 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 the consciousness of his acts.
10. And, finally, any other circumstances of a similar nature and analogous to those
above mentioned.

Ordinary lowers the penalty to the minimum period. Art. 13

Privileged lowers the imposable penalty, whether divisible or indivisible, by one or
more degrees.
Specific applies to a specific felony like concealment of dishonor in the case of
abortion by a pregnant woman herself.
Ordinary
Can be offset by generic
aggravating
Penalty is lowered to the
minimum period of the penalty
prescribed
Not considered when what
prescribed is a single indivisible

Privileged
Cannot be offset by any
aggravating
Penalty is lowered by one or two
degrees
Always considered whether the
penalty is divisible or indivisible.

penalty

Mitigating Circumstances are personal to the accused in whose favor they exist and
cannot be enjoyed by his co accused.
Incomplete Justifying or Exempting requirements: (1) Self defense Unlawful
Aggression; (2) Accident due care and lack of fault; (3) lawful act and lack of
intention of causing injury.
o Unlawful Aggression alone = ordinary; Unlawful Aggression + another
requisite = privileged.
Minority must be under 18 years of age at the time the crime was committed. It is
always privileged mitigating because: (1) Art 47 if DP is imposed, it is lowered to
RP; (2) RA 9344 if a minor is 15 or under, he is exempt from criminal liability; (3) RA
9344 if a minor is over 15 but under 18 and he acted with discernment, he shall be
entitled to a reduction of penalty to the next lower penalty but in the proper period.
Praeter intentionem is the lack of intention to commit so grave a wrong as that
committed. There should be great disparity between the intent and its
consequences. It should be appreciated where the accused had no intention to kill
but only inflict injuries when he attacked the victim. Praeter intentionem cannot be
invoked if the acts of the accused are sufficient to bring about the result intended or
when the means employed would naturally result to the felony committed.
Sufficient provocation must be sufficient, immediate to the commission of the
crime; and must originate from the offended party. Provocation is immediate if no
interval of time elapsed between the provocation and the commission of the crime.
Immediate vindication of a grave offense offense may be any act or event which
offends the accused causing mental agony to him and moves him to vindicate
himself of such offense.
o Immediate means proximate and allows for a lapse of time as long as the
offender is still suffering from the mental agony brought by the offense to
him.
Passion and Obfuscation must arise from the accused lawful sentiments. The
offended must have done an act unlawful and sufficient to excite passion or
obfuscation on the part of the accused.
o Passion and obfuscation will not be appreciated where the anger did not arise
from lawful sentiments. This circumstance cannot co-exist with treachery or
evident premeditation because passion or obfuscation must be a spur of the
moment. It cannot be appreciated if the acts of the accused were done in the
spirit of revenge and lawlessness. It cannot be claimed in addition to
vindication if the two circumstances arose from the same cause.
o The excitement which is inherent in all persons who quarrel and come to
blows does not constitute obfuscation.
Voluntary Surrender, elements: (1) the offender surrendered to a person in authority
or his agent; (2) the offender surrendered before arrest is effected; (3) the
surrender must be voluntary, spontaneous and must show the intent of the accused
to submit himself unconditionally to the authorities, either because he
acknowledges his guild or he wishes to save them the trouble and expense
incidental to his search and capture; (4) that there is no pending warrant of arrest
or information.

Voluntary Plea of Guilt, elements: (1) must be made in open court; (2)
spontaneously and unconditionally; (3) prior to the presentation of the evidence of
the prosecution.
o Extra-judicial confession is not within the concept of voluntary plea of guilt
because it is not made in open court.
o The accused must be acquitted if the only evidence of his guilt is his
improvident plea due to the prodding of his lawyer from the PAO.
o Voluntary surrender and plea of guilt can be both considered in one case.
o For voluntary confession to be appreciated as an extenuating circumstance it
must not only be unconditional but the accused must admit to the offense
charged.
Physical defects and illness the offenders being deaf and dumb or blind or
otherwise suffering from some physical defect must relate to the offense because
the law requires that the defect have the effect of restricting his means of action,
defense, or communication to hi fellow beings. The illness or defect is the
contributory cause that moved him to commit the offense.
o In order for this condition to be appreciated, it must be shown that such
physical defect limits his means of communication with his fellow beings to
such an extent that he did not have complete freedom of action,
consequently resulting in diminution of the element of voluntariness.
o The illness must only diminish and not deprive the offender of the
consciousness of his acts; otherwise he will be exempt from criminal liability.

Aggravating Circumstances
Article 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following
circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public position.

are

aggravating

2. That the crime be committed in contempt or with insult to the public authorities.
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.
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 night time, 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 by 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 international 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 evidence premeditation.
14. That the 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 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, motorized watercraft, airships, or other similar means. (As
amended by RA 5438).
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be deliberately augmented by
causing other wrong not necessary for its commissions.

Kinds of aggravating circumstance:

o Generic Aggravating: (1) apply generally to all crimes; (2) can be offset by an
ordinary mitigating circumstance; (3) increase the penalty to the maximum
period of the penalty prescribed in the law provided alleged in the
information.
o Qualifying Circumstance: (1) cannot be offset by any mitigating circumstance;
(2) change the nature of the crime and the designation of the offense; (3)

must be alleged in the information, otherwise cannot be considered against

the offender because it violates the right of the accused to be informed of the
nature of accusation against him; (4) must be proved as conclusively as the
guilt of the offender because of its effect.
o Special or Specific aggravating circumstance which apply to a particular
felony, they are found elsewhere than Art.14
o Inherent circumstance which is an element of the felony committed thus no
longer considered against the offender in the determination of the penalty.
Fundamental requirement is that qualifying circumstances should be alleged in the
information
Qualifying circumstance must be proved beyond reasonable doubt as convincingly
as the crime. Where one of the aggravating circumstances has been used as a
qualifying circumstance, the others will be deemed as generic.
Special aggravating circumstances: (1) organized/syndicated group RA7659; (2)
unlicensed firearm for homicide and murder RA8294.
Conspiracy is neither aggravating nor qualifying but rather a manner of incurring
collective criminal liability amongst every co-conspirator in an equal degree,
whereby the effect is that the act of one becomes the act of all.
Abuse of official position, the test is: Did the accused abuse his office in order to
commit a crime? For such to be considered aggravating, the public official must use
the influence, prestige and ascendancy which his office gives him in realizing his
purpose.
Insult to public authorities:
o It convers not only persons in authority but also agents of person in authority
and other public officers.
o The circumstance of contempt of or insult to public authorities requires that
the public authority is engaged in the discharge of his duties and the offender
knows that he is a public authority.
o If the public authority is a person in authority or an agent of person in
authority as the term is used in Art 152, the crime committed against him is
direct assault and as such, this aggravating circumstance will be deemed
absorbed because it is inherent thereto.
Age,Sex,Rank and Dwelling:
o These four circumstances show lack of respect to the offended. There must be
proof that offender deliberately intended to offend or insult the offended.
o These circumstances cannot co-exist with passion or obfuscation where the
offender lost his control or reason.
o Rank should be given its plain, ordinary meaning.
o The circumstance of insult or in disregard of the respect due the offended
party can be appreciated only in crimes against person or honor, not in the
special complex crime of robbery with homicide which is a crime against
property.
o To be appreciated, it should be clearly demonstrated that the accused
deliberately intended to act with insult or disregard of the respect due the
victim on account of his rank.
o Dwelling includes dependencies, staircase, and enclosures under the hose. It
is not necessary that the house be owned by the offended. A dwelling must
be a building or structure, exclusively use for rest and comfort.
o For dwelling to be considered, it is not necessary that the accused should

have entered the dwelling of the victim to commit the offense; it is enough
that the victim was attacked inside his own house, although the assailant may
have devised means to perpetrate the assault from without.
o Dwelling is not aggravating if the offended has given provocation or If both
the offended and offender live there or if inherent in the crime such as those
which could be committed in no other place.
Abuse of confidence, requisites: (1) the offended had trusted the offender; the
offender abused such trust; (3) such abuse of confidence facilitate the commission
of the crime.
Palace of the Chief Executive performance of function is not necessary. It is
necessary though that the offender must have sought the places for the
commission of the crime which shows his lack of respect for the places enumerated.
Nighttime (Nocturnity) it becomes aggravating only when it is especially sought
by the offender, or taken advantage by him to facilitate the commission of the
crime or to ensure his immunity from capture.
o Nighttime is appreciated when: (1) nighttime was especially sought by the
offender; (2) it was taken advantage of by him; (3) it facilitated the
commission of the crime by insuring the offenders immunity from capture; (4)
the place where the crime was committed was not illuminated.
Uninhabited Place the uninhabitedness of a place of locus delicti is determined not
solely by the distance of the nearest house to the scene but also whether or not in
the place of the commission of the offense, there was reasonable possibility of the
victim receiving some help.
Band consist of: (1) more than 3 persons; (2) armed malefactors; (3) acting
together in the commission of an offense.
Calamity or misfortune it refers to events similar in nature as conflagration,
shipwreck, and earthquake or epidemic. The offender should particularly seek the
opportunity provided by the calamities mentioned to perpetrate his crim.
Aid of armed men, elements: (1) that the armed men or persons took part in the
commission of the crime, directly or indirectly; (2) that the accused availed himself
of there aid or relied upon them when the crime was committed.
o Aid of armed men cannot be appreciated when there is conspiracy, accused
acting under the same plan and for the same purpose.
o In a band and organized crime syndicate, all the members are principal; in aid
of armed men, the armed men merely aided the principal offender and are
accomplices.
o In band, there must be at least 4 armed men; in aid of armed men, their
number is not specified nor required as long as there is more than 1; in
organized crime syndicate, there must be at least 2 members who are not
required to be armed.
o In band and aid of armed men, the crimes are not specified; in organized
crime syndicate, the purpose is to commit crimes for gain.
o Syndicated estafa is different from organized crime syndicate. The former
requires at least five members whereas the latter needs only two.
o Illegal recruitment in a large scale requires that it be committed by at least 3
offenders.
Habituality, different forms: (1) recidivism; (2) reiteracion; (3) habitual delinquency;
(4) quasi recidivism
o Recidivist one who: (1) at the time of his trial for one crime; (2) shall have

been previously convicted by final judgment; (3) of another crime embraced

in the same title of the RPC.
Recidivism is a generic aggravating circumstance. There is no specific
period between the prior conviction and the second convictions. It can
be appreciated even if the convict was give absolute pardon, as pardon
extinguishes the penalty only but not the effect of the offense.
The prosecution must allege recidivism in the information and present
certified true copy of the judgment of conviction in the other case.
o Reiteracion, the offender has been previously punished. The first offense must
have been punished with an equal or greater penalty; or he has committed
two or more crimes previously to which the law attaches a lighter penalty.
o Habitual delinquency is a special aggravating circumstance for which is
imposed an additional penalty which escalates with the increase in the
number of convictions. (1) within a period of 10 years from his release or last
conviction; (2) of the crimes of falsification, robbery, estafa, theft, serious or
less serious physical injuries; (3) he is found guilt of said crimes a third time
or oftener.
o Quasi-recidivism is a special aggravating circumstance wherein the offender
has been previously convicted by final judgment and before the beginning to
serve such sentence, or while serving the same he committed a felony. It is
not offset by ordinary mitigating circumstance.
Price, Promise, Reward
o They affect principal by direct participation who committed a crime for
consideration. The other co-conspirators if there be any who did not benefit
from the price, promise or reward will not have his penalty aggravated
because this circumstance is personal to the receiver. The reward is the
primary consideration in the commission of the crime for this circumstance to
be aggravating.
Inundation,Fire, etc.
o These circumstances by themselves constitute a crime; hence, Art 62(1) shall
apply. Aggravating circumstances which in themselves constitute a crime
specially punishable by law or which are included by the law in defining a
crime and prescribing the penalty therefor shall not be taken into account for
the purpose of increasing the penalty. If one of these circumstances was a
means to kill, the crime is murder, not homicide, hence, the penalty will be for
murder. The circumstance will no longer be considered aggravating.
Evident Premeditation indicates a stubborn adherence to a decision to commit a
felony. It requires a showing of: (1) a previous decision by the accused to commit
the crime; (2) overt acts manifestly indicating that the accused clung to his
determination; and (3) a lapse of time between the decision to commit the crime
and is actual execution sufficient to allow the accused to reflect upon the
consequences of his acts.
o When EP not appreciated: (1) When it is an inherent element of a crime; (2) if
the attack was made in the heat of anger or the meeting of the accused and
the victim was a chance encounter and not sought on purpose; (3) the
appellant did not even know the victim and vice versa prior to their
confrontation at the place of the shooting incident.
o EP is not inherent in robbery with homicide. The premeditation must relate to
the killing and not to the robbery.

o EP must be clearly proven, established beyond reasonable doubt and must be

base on external acts which are evident, not merely suspected, and which
indicate deliberate planning.
o Proof of conspiracy does not imply the existence of evident premeditation. It
can be presumed only where conspiracy is directly established, not where
conspiracy is only implied.
Craft, Fraud, Disguise
o Craft is a cunning or intellectual trickery or chicanery resorted to by the
accused to carry out his evil design.
o Fraud constitutes deceit and is manifested by insidious words or
machinations.
o Disguise is resorted to conceal the identity. If in spite of the disguise, the
offender was recognized, such cannot be aggravating.
o These circumstances are not aggravating if they did not facilitate the
commission of the crime or not taken advantage of by the offender in the
course of the assault. If they were used to insure the commission of the crime
against the person without risk to offender, they are absorbed by treachery.
Abuse of superior strength or Means taken to weaken the defense
o There is abuse of superior strength where the offenders intentionally and
purposely employ excessive force out of proportion to the means of defense
available to the offender party. There must be a notorious inequality of forces
between the victim and the aggressor. It must be proved that the attackers
cooperated in such a way as to secure advantage from superiority of strength.
o When is abuse of superior strength not appreciated: (1) if the assault is
characterized with passion or obfuscation or made during a quarrel or when
the attack was made on the victim alternately and not simultaneously. (2)
Inherent in parricide, rape, band; (3) superior strength is not appreciated by
mere superiority in the number of the malefactors, but by the deliberate
employment of excessive force, which is out of proportion to the means of
defense available to the person attacked.
Treachery (Alevosia) exists when the offender commits any of the crimes against
person, employing means, methods, or forms in the execution thereof which tend
directly and especially to insure its execution, without risk to himself arising from
the defense which the offended party might take. The offender must: (1) insure that
the offended party at the time of the attack was not in the position to put up any
defense, not even token defense; (2) the means, manner, and form was consciously
and deliberately chose.
o Its essence is the swiftness and unexpectedness of the attack upon the
unsuspecting and unarmed victim, who does not give the slightest
provocation.
o There is no treachery if the attack is an impulse of the accused or when the
killing is due to passion or when the accused did not make any preparation to
kill the deceased so as to insure the commission of the crime.
o Treachery can never be present in a chance encounter.
o Treachery may be appreciated even if the victim was warned of the danger,
what is decisive is that the execution of the attack made it impossible for the
victim to defend himself or retaliate.
o To appreciate treachery in a continuous aggression, the same must be
present at the inception of the attack.

o In the absence of proof as to the manner the victim was attacked, the killing
could not be considered as qualified by treachery.
o Treachery is a special aggravating circumstance in the sense that it applies
only to crimes against persons. It is a qualifying circumstance in murder. It is
a specific aggravating circumstance in serious physical injuries.
o Treachery absorbs both nighttime and taking advantage of superior strength
in the light of circumstances of this case.
o It must be proved as convincingly as the crime itself for treachery cannot be
presumed.
Ignominy, this circumstance pertains to the moral attribute, which adds disgrace to
the material injury caused by the crime. It produces more suffering on account of its
humiliating effects. Ignominy relates to moral suffering whereas, cruelty refers to
physical suffering.
Unlawful entry/breaking of wall
o When an entrance is through a way not intended for that purpose; the
opening must be used to enter, not to escape. It qualifies the crime of theft to
robbery. It is inherent in the crimes of trespass and in robbery with force upon
this thus should no longer be aggravating per Art 62(2).
Aid of Minors/use of motor vehicles
o The use of minor in the commission of the offense shows the greater
perversity of the offender because he is educating the innocent in committing
an offense.
o The use of motorized means of conveyance to commit the crime is penalized
because they pose difficulty to the authorities in apprehending them. This
circumstance is considered when the motor vehicle was purposely used to
facilitate the commission of the offense not when used to escape.
Cruelty
o To be aggravating there must be evidence to show that the cruel acts were
done while the victim was alive and the offender delighted in the suffering of
the victim.
o The test in appreciating cruelty is whether the accused deliberately and
sadistically augmented the wrong by causing another wrong necessary for its
commission or inhumanly increased the victims suffering or outraged or
scoffed at his person or corpse.

Alternative Circumstances
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
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

circumstance.

In crimes against chastity, relationship is aggravating.

Relationship is aggravating in the crime of rape.
When relationship is an element to a crime, it is neither aggravating nor mitigating.
Intoxication as a mitigating circumstance must show that: (1) he has taken a
quantity of alcoholic beverage prior to the commission of the crime sufficient to
produce the effect of obfuscating reason; (2) he is not a habitual drinker and did not
take the alcoholic drink with the intention to reinforce his resolve to commit the
crime. The offenders mental faculties must be affected by the drunkenness.
It is mitigating if it is not habitual, intentional and self-control is diminished as a
result of the intoxication. Otherwise it is aggravating.
To be mitigating, the intoxication must be proved by sufficient evidence.

Persons criminally liable for felonies

Article 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.
Article 17. Principals. - The following are considered principals:
1. Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act;
2. Those who directly force or induce others to commit it;
3. Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without which
it would not have been accomplished.

Direct Participator they are those who materially execute the crime. They must
appear at the scene of the crime and perform acts necessary in the commission of
the offense to be liable.
o In conspiracy by prior agreement, if the principal by direct participation does
not appear at the scene of the crime, he is not liable because: (1) nonappearance is desistance which is favored and encouraged; (2) conspiracy is
not a crime unless the law provides a penalty therefor; (3) there is no basis
for criminal liability because there is no criminal participation.
Inducer the principal by inducement must intend that his inducement be obeyed.
Mere careless comment of one who does not possess dominance or moral
ascendancy over the offender will not make the former a principal by inducement.
The inducers utterance must be of such a nature and made in such a manner as to
become the determining cause of the crime.
o The inducer is generally liable as an accomplice because the law favors a
lesser penalty for if he were regarded as a principal, his penalty would be
heavier.
o One is induced to commit a crime either by a command or for a consideration,
or by any other similar act which constitutes the real and moving cause of the
crime and which was done for the purpose of forcing or inducing such criminal

act and which was sufficient for that purpose.

Indispensable Cooperator to be a principal by indispensable cooperation, there
must be direct participation in the criminal design by another act without which the
crime could not have been committed.
o The participation of the cooperator must be indispensable to the crime. If his
participation is not indispensable, as when with or without his participation,
the offense will be committed; his liability may only be that of an accomplice.
Notwithstanding conspiracy, the liability of the principals may be different.
The cooperation that the law punishes is the assistance knowingly or intentionally
rendered. It is required that the accused unite with the criminal design of the
principal by direct participation.

Article 18. Accomplices. - Accomplices are those persons who, not being included in
Article 17, cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.

To be an accomplice: (1) offender should take part in the execution of the crime by
previous or simultaneous acts; (2) he intends to take part in the commission of the
crime.
A person is an accomplice if his role in the perpetration of the crime is of a minor
character.
Conspiracy is not necessary for the liability of an accomplice for he is not a principal
but he supplies material or moral aid to the principal in an efficacious way.
If there is conspiracy, he ceases to be an accomplice but instead is considered a
principal although his participation is such that, without the conspiracy, should have
been that of an accomplice.
A lookout who is not part of the conspiracy but participated only after such decision
was reached is an accomplice. A lookout is a principal if he was a co-conspirator in
the criminal design and in deciding the course of action to be taken in its
commission.

Article 19. Accessories. - Accessories are those who, having knowledge of the
commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either as principals
or accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission in any of the following
manners:
1. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime.
2. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments
thereof, in order to prevent its discovery.
3. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principals of the crime,
provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever the author
of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the
Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.

If the crime is robbery or theft and one bought, sold, possessed, or in any other
manner dealt with the proceeds which he knew or should have known to be
proceeds of robbery or theft, he is a principal in the crime of fencing.
If the crime is brigandage and he profited from the loot, he should be charged with
abetting brigandage-an accomplice of brigands.
Corpus delicti is the body or substance of the crime and in its primary sense
refers to the fact that a crime has actually been committed. Its elements are : (1)

the proof of the occurrence of a certain event; (2) some persons criminal
responsibility.
The offender to be assisted must be a principal; assisting an accomplice is not
included. Those who assist the principal to escape may be prosecuted under PD
1829 on obstruction of justice not as accessory but as a principal, provided that a
separate information shall be prepared.

Article 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.
PENALTIES IN GENERAL
Art. 21. Penalties that may be imposed. No felony shall be punishable by any
penalty not prescribed by law prior to its commission.

Penalties are the punishment imposed by lawful authority upon a person who
commits a deliberate or negligent act or for omitting to act when there is a duty to
do so. They are imposed as a result of judicial proceedings.
Penalties are prescribed by statutes and are essentially and exclusively legislative.
An appeal taken by one or more of several accused shall not affect those who did
not appeal, except insofar as the judgment of the appellate court is favorable and
applicable to the latter.

Art. 22. Retroactive effect of penal laws. Penal Laws shall have a retroactive effect
insofar as they favor the persons guilty of a felony, who is not a habitual criminal, as
this term is defined in Rule 5 of Article 62 of this Code, although at the time of the
publication of such laws a final sentence has been pronounced and the convict is
serving the same.

An absolute repeal of a penal law deprives a court of its authority to punish a

person charged with violation of the law prior to its repeal because an unqualified
repeal constitutes a legislative act of rendering legal what had been previously
declared as illegal, such that the offense no longer exists and it is as if the person
who committed it never did so. The exceptions are: (1) the inclusion of a saving
clause in the repealing statute that provides that the repeal shall have no effect on
pending actions; (2) where the repealing act re-enacts the former stature and
punishes the act previously penalized under the old law.

Art. 23. Effect of pardon by the offended party. A pardon of the offended party does
not extinguish criminal action except as provided in Article 344 of this Code; but civil
liability with regard to the interest of the injured party is extinguished by his express
waiver.

Art. 24. Measures of prevention or safety which are nor considered penalties. The
following shall not be considered as penalties:
1. The arrest and temporary detention of accused persons, as well as their detention

by reason of insanity or imbecility, or illness requiring their confinement in a hospital.

1 2. The commitment of a minor to any of the institutions mentioned in Article 80
and for the purposes specified therein.
3. Suspension from the employment of public office during the trial or in order to
institute proceedings.
1 4. Fines and other corrective measures which, in the exercise of their
administrative disciplinary powers, superior officials may impose upon their
subordinates.
5. Deprivation of rights and the reparations which the civil laws may establish in
penal form.

U
5 Classification of Penalties
U 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.
U Capital punishment:
U Death.
U Afflictive penalties:
U Reclusion perpetua,
U Reclusion temporal,
U Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,
U Perpetual or temporary special disqualification,
U Prision mayor.
U
U Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their
maximum period are correctional, in accordance with the above-mentioned article.
U Correctional penalties:
U Prision correccional,
U Arresto mayor,
U Suspension,
U Destierro.
U
U Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which a penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both; is provided. (Art.9,RPC)
U Arresto menor,
U Public censure.
Penalties common to the three preceding classes:
Fine, and
Bond to keep the peace.
Accessory Penalties
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification,
Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for, the profession or
calling.
Civil interdiction,
Indemnification,
Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and proceeds of the offense,
Payment of costs.

Penalties are:
a) Graduated according to severity
b) Divided into periods except for RP
c) Classified into principal or accessory penalties
d) Deemed imposed for consummated crimes
e) Impose
Life Imprisonment
Reclusion Perpetua
d
Violation of Special laws
Violation of RPC
against
the
No fixed duration
With fixed duration
No accessory penalties
With accessory penalties.
principal offenders
f) The maximum imposable for the particular crime to which they are respectively
prescribed. Thus, the penalties prescribed for the respective felonies can never
be increased by the court no matter how perverse the offender may be.
g) Understood to be a degree for purposes of lowering the penalty under the ISL, in
case of presence of privileged mitigating circumstances, and for applying the
rules under Articles 50 to 57.

Principal penalties are the specific penalty for specific felony under the provisions of
Book II defining felonies and imposing penalties thereon. They must be imposed by
the court expressly in the decision.
Accessory penalties are those whish follow the principal penalties by operation of
law. As such, they need not be expressly stated in the decision.
Reclusion perpetua is not the same as life imprisonment.

All prisoners whether under preventive detention or serving final sentence, cannot
practice their profession or engage in any business or occupation, or hold office,
elective or appointive, while in detention.
Examples where the lesser offense absorbs the graver offense: (1) Rebellion
absorbs murder; (2) forcible abduction absorbs illegal detention of a woman; (3)
slavery involving kidnapping of a person absorbs kidnapping.

Art. 26. When afflictive, correctional, or light penalty. A fine, whether

imposed as a single of as an alternative penalty, shall be considered an afflictive
penalty, if it exceeds 6,000 pesos; a correctional penalty, if it does not exceed 6,000
pesos but is not less than 200 pesos; and a light penalty if it less than 200 pesos.
Duration and Effect of Penalties
Art. 27. Reclusion perpetua. The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be from 20
years and 1 day to 40 years.
No bail shall be granted to those charged with an offense which under the law at
the time of its commission and at the time of the application for bail is punishable
by reclusion perpetua, when evidence of guilt is strong.
After 30 years, a convict is eligible for pardon.

Reclusion temporal. The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be from 12 years and 1
day to 20 years.
Both RP and RT have the same accessory penalties of civil interdiction and
perpetual absolute disqualification.
Prision mayor and temporary disqualification. The duration of the penalties of
prision mayor and temporary disqualification shall be from 6 years and 1 day to 12
years, except when the penalty of disqualification is imposed as an accessory penalty,
in which case its duration shall be that of the principal penalty.
Prision correccional, suspension, and destierro. The duration of the penalties of
prision correccional, suspension and destierro shall be from 6 months and 1 day to 6
years, except when suspension is imposed as an accessory penalty, in which case, its
duration shall be that of the principal penalty.
Arresto mayor. The duration of the penalty of arresto mayor shall be from 1 month
and 1 day to 6 months.
It is a correctional penalty and has accessory penalties of suspension of the right to
hold office and the right of suffrage during the term of the sentence. This penalty
prescribes in 5 years.
Arresto menor. The duration of the penalty of arresto menor shall be from 1 day to
30 days.
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.
Art. 28. Computation of penalties. If the offender shall be in prison, the term of
the duration of the temporary penalties shall be computed from the day on which the
judgment of conviction shall have become final.
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.

In computing the duration of penalty, regard should be had of the civil provision on
the duration of days, weeks, months and years. The same rule is followed in the
prescription of penalties and of crimes.

Preventive Imprisonment
Art. 29. Period of preventive imprisonment deducted from term of imprisonment.
Offenders who have undergone preventive imprisonment shall be credited in the
service of their sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty, with the full time during
which they have undergone preventive imprisonment, if the detention prisoner agrees
voluntarily in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted
prisoners, except in the following cases:
U

1. When they are recidivists or have been convicted previously twice or more

times of any crime; and

1 2. When upon being summoned for the execution of their sentence they have
failed to surrender voluntarily.
U
U 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).
U
Whenever an accused has undergone preventive imprisonment for a period equal to or
more than the possible maximum imprisonment of the offense charged to which he
may be sentenced and his case is not yet 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).

Preventive imprisonment is to prevent the flight of the accused and his going into
hiding. The accused is detained if the offense is not bailable; if bailable he cannot
post bail and he is not qualified for recognizance.
Full credit is given to the detention prisoner who agrees voluntarily in writing to
abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed on convicts unless: (1) He is a
recidivist, or (2) when upon being summoned for the execution of his sentence he
failed to surrender voluntarily.
If the person has already served the maximum penalty imposable, the appropriate
remedy is to file a petition for habeas corpus.
It is patently erroneous to release a convict on recognizance. Sec 24, Rule 114 or
the ROC prohibits the grant of bail after conviction by final judgment and after the
convict has started to serve sentence. The only exception is when the convict has
applied for probation before he commences to serve sentence.

Art. 30. Effects of the penalties of perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification.

The penalties of perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification for public office shall
produce the following effects:
1. The deprivation of the public offices and employments which the offender may
have held even if conferred by popular election.
2. The deprivation of the right to vote in any election for any popular office or to
be elected to such office.
3. The disqualification for the offices or public employments and for the exercise
of any of the rights mentioned.
In case of temporary disqualification, such disqualification as is comprised in
paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article shall last during the term of the sentence.
4. The loss of all rights to retirement pay or other pension for any office formerly
held.
Art. 31. Effect of the penalties of perpetual or temporary special disqualification.
The penalties of perpetual or temporal special disqualification for public office,
profession or calling shall produce the following effects:
1. The deprivation of the office, employment, profession or calling affected;
2. The disqualification for holding similar offices or employments either

perpetually or during the term of the sentence according to the extent of such
disqualification.
Art. 32. Effect of the penalties of perpetual or temporary special disqualification for the
exercise of the right of suffrage. The perpetual or temporary special disqualification
for the exercise of the right of suffrage shall deprive the offender perpetually or during
the term of the sentence, according to the nature of said penalty, of the right to vote
in any popular election for any public office or to be elected to such office. Moreover,
the offender shall not be permitted to hold any public office during the period of his
disqualification.
Art. 33. Effects of the penalties
calling, or the right of suffrage.
calling, and the exercise of the
holding such office or exercising
the term of the sentence.

of suspension from any public office, profession or

The suspension from public office, profession or
right of suffrage shall disqualify the offender from
such profession or calling or right of suffrage during

The person suspended from holding public office shall not hold another having similar
functions during the period of his suspension.
Art. 34. Civil interdiction. Civil interdiction shall deprive the offender during the time
of his sentence of the rights of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the
person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his
property and of the right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance
inter vivos.
It is an accessory penalty imposed upon a person sentenced to the principal
penalties of reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal.
It covers the deprivation of the following: (1) Parental Authority; (2) Guardianship as
to the person or property of any ward; (3) Marital Authority; (4) To manage his
property; (5) To dispose of such property by any act or conveyance inter vivos.
Person civilly interdicted may not appoint an agent for the act of the agent is also
the act of the principal.
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.
The court shall determine, according to its discretion, the period of duration of the
bond.
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, if he shall have been prosecuted for
a grave or less grave felony, and shall not exceed thirty days, if for a light felony.

Being a principal penalty, it must be specifically prescribed in Book II for a particular

felony. There being none, the penalty is unenforceable by virtue of Art. 21.

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.

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:
1. The reparation of the damage caused.
2. Indemnification of consequential damages.
3. The fine.
4. The cost of the proceedings.
Pecuniary liabilities of the offender are those owing to the offender: reparation for
the damage caused and indemnification of consequential damages; and those
owing to the government: fine and cost of proceedings.
Fine is pecuniary punishment imposed by a lawful tribunal upon a person convicted
of a crime.
Civil liabilities of a person found guilty of 2 or more offenses shall be satisfied by
following the chronological order of the dates of the final judgments rendered upon
him.
Art. 39. Subsidiary penalty. If the convict has no property with which to meet the
fine mentioned in the paragraph 3 of the next preceding article, he shall be subject to
a subsidiary personal liability at the rate of one day for each eight pesos, subject to
the following rules:
1. If the principal penalty imposed be prision correccional or arresto and fine, he
shall remain under confinement until his fine referred to in the preceding paragraph is
satisfied, but his subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed one-third of the term of the
sentence, and in no case shall it continue for more than one year, and no fraction or
part of a day shall be counted against the prisoner.
2. When the principal penalty imposed be only a fine, the subsidiary
imprisonment shall not exceed six months, if the culprit shall have been
prosecuted for a grave or less grave felony, and shall not exceed fifteen days, if
for a light felony.
3. When the principal imposed is higher than prision correccional, no subsidiary
imprisonment shall be imposed upon the culprit.
4. If the principal penalty imposed is not to be executed by confinement in a
penal institution, but such penalty is of fixed duration, the convict, during the
period of time established in the preceding rules, shall continue to suffer the
same deprivations as those of which the principal penalty consists.
5. The subsidiary personal liability which the convict may have suffered by
reason of his insolvency shall not relieve him, from the fine in case his financial
circumstances should improve. (As amended by RA 5465, April 21, 1969).

 Subsidiary penalty is a penalty that takes the place of the fine for insolvent convicts.
It is a substitute penalty for fine only. It may be in the form of imprisonment or
deprivation of right depending upon the principal penalty imposed on the convict.
SP is proper when the penalty imposed upon the convict includes fine but he cannot
pay the same. The court must expressly sate that the SP shall be served in case of
insolvency because this is not an accessory penalty that follows the principal
penalty as a matter of course.
Subsidiary imprisonment is applicable to cases of failure to pay the fine in violation
of special laws.
If the offender cannot pay the fine for damage resulting from the negligence, he will
suffer subsidiary imprisonment provided that the same is expressed in the
sentence.
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.
Art. 41. Reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal; Their accessory penalties. The
penalties of reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal shall carry with them that of
civil interdiction for life or during the period of the sentence as the case may be, and
that of perpetual absolute disqualification which the offender shall suffer even though
pardoned as to the principal penalty, unless the same shall have been expressly
remitted in the pardon.

Art. 42. Prision mayor; Its accessory penalties. The penalty of prision mayor, shall
carry with it that of temporary absolute disqualification and that of perpetual special
disqualification from the right of suffrage which the offender shall suffer although
pardoned as to the principal penalty, unless the same shall have been expressly
remitted in the pardon.
Art. 43. Prision correccional; Its accessory penalties. The penalty of prision
correccional shall carry with it that of suspension from public office, from the right to
follow a profession or calling, and that of perpetual special disqualification from the
right of suffrage, if the duration of said imprisonment shall exceed eighteen months.
The offender shall suffer the disqualification provided in the article although pardoned
as to the principal penalty, unless the same shall have been expressly remitted in the
pardon.
Art. 44. Arresto; Its accessory penalties. The penalty of arresto shall carry with it
that of suspension of the right too hold office and the right of suffrage during the term
of the sentence.
Art. 45. Confiscation and forfeiture of the proceeds or instruments of the crime.
Every penalty imposed for the commission of a felony shall carry with it the forfeiture
of the proceeds of the crime and the instruments or tools with which it was committed.
Such proceeds and instruments or tools shall be confiscated and forfeited in favor of

the Government, unless they be property of a third person not liable for the offense,
but those articles which are not subject of lawful commerce shall be destroyed.

The proceeds or instruments which are the property of third person who has no
complicity in the crime cannot be confiscated unless the said articles are
contraband or not subject to lawful commerce.

Application of Penalties
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.
Whenever the law prescribes a penalty for a felony in general terms, it shall be
understood as applicable to the consummated felony.

The penalties in Book II are understood to be imposed on the principal offender and
in the consummated stage. When the felony is frustrated or attempted and when
accomplices or accessories participate in its commission, there is a need to lower
the penalty by one or several degrees.

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:
1. When the guilty person be more than seventy years of age.
2. When upon appeal or revision of the case by the Supreme Court, all the
members thereof are not unanimous in their voting as to the propriety of the
imposition of the death penalty. For the imposition of said penalty or for the
confirmation of a judgment of the inferior court imposing the death sentence,
the Supreme Court shall render its decision per curiam, which shall be signed by
all justices of said court, unless some member or members thereof shall have
been disqualified from taking part in the consideration of the case, in which even
the unanimous vote and signature of only the remaining justices shall be
required.
Article has become absolute because RA 9346 has proscribed again the imposition of
the death penalty and in its stead shall be reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment
as the case may be without any right of the offender to avail of the benefit of
parole.
It is only in cases where the penalty imposed is death that the trial court must
forward the records of the case to the Supreme Court for automatic review of the
conviction. If the convicts did not file a notice of appeal or otherwise indicate their
desire to appeal, the decision convicting them and imposing reclusion perpetua
becomes final and unappealable.
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.

Compound crime or delito compuesto when a single act constitutes two or more
grave or less grave felonies
Complex crime proper or delito complejo - when an offense is a necessary means to
commit the others.
Elements of Compound Crimes: (1) a single act is committed by the offender; (2)
that the single act resulted to two or more grave and/or less grave felonies; (3) the
penalty provided is for the most serious in the maximum period.
When various victims expire from separate shots, such acts constitute separate and
distinct crimes.
If the act or acts resulted from a single criminal impulse, it constitutes a single
offense.
Complex crime proper these are felonies denominated complex crime proper
where when one offense is necessary to commit another. The two crimes thus
committed comprise one complex crime. The first crime must be necessary to
commit the other. This means that the first offense is committed to insure and
facilitate the commission of the next crime.
Cases where commission of two crimes will not result to complex crimes proper: (1)
a crime to conceal another for the law requires a crime to commit another, not to
conceal the other crimes; (2) a crime which is an element of the other for in the
case, the former shall be absorbed by the latter such as trespassing which is an
element of robbery; (3) a crime which has the same element as the other crime
committed; (4) where the intent is really to commit the second crime but the first
act although also a crime is incidental to the commission of the second crime.
It is a condition precedent that there is one information charging a complex crime.
The reason for the single penalty is that the basis of the felony is the singularity of
the act.
Art. 48 apply to imprudence.
Offenses punished in special laws cannot be complexed with felonies penalized
under RPC.
Composite crimes or special complex crimes are crimes which in the eyes of the
law are treated as single indivisible offenses although in reality are made up of
more than one crime.
o Art 294 on robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, robbery with mutilation,
robbery with serious physical injuries.
o Art 320 on arson with homicide.
o Art 267 on kidnapping with homicide, kidnapping with rape, kidnapping with
serious physical injuries.
o Art 266-A on rape with homicide,.
Composite Crime
Complex Crime
The combination of the offenses is fixed The combination is not specified but in
by the law.
general terms, that is, grave and/or less
grave; or one offense being a necessary
means to commit the other.
The penalty for the specified combination The penalty is no specific but is for the
of crimes is also specific.
most serious offense in the maximum
period.
Even if there are more than one account If there is more than one count of the
of the component crime such as several crime forming part of the complex crime,

rapes or several homicides accompanying

the kidnapping, there is just one
composite crime charged.
If a light felony accompanied the
commission of the composite offense,
such light felony is absorbed.

the first shall be complexed while the

other counts maybe treated as a separate
crime.
If a light felony accompanies the
commission of the complex crime, the
light felony may be subject to separate
information.
Penalized in a single provision of law.
Penalized by two provisions of law.
Offenses under special law can become It is not possible to complex under Art 48
composite
two offenses; one felony and one offense.
Where a complex crime is charged and the evidence fails to support the charge as
to one of the component offenses, the accused can be convicted of the other.
Continued crimes or delito continuado also known as continuous crimes, the
offender, impelled by a single criminal impulse, commits a series of overt acts at
about the same time in about the same place and all the overt acts violate one and
the same provision of law.
Single Larceny Doctrine the trend in theft cases is to follow the single larceny
doctrine, that is, the taking of several things, whether belonging to the same or
different owners, at the same time and place constitutes one larceny.
Continuing crime it is one where any of the elements of the offense was
committed in different localities such that the accused may be indicted in of those
localities. It may also refer to any offense, which is continuing in time, e.g.,
rebellion, insurrection, conspiracy and proposal to commit such crimes are in the
nature of continuing offenses.

Art. 49. Penalty to be imposed upon the principals when the crime committed is
different from that intended. In cases in which the felony committed is different
from that which the offender intended to commit, the following rules shall be
observed:
1. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be higher than that
corresponding to the offense which the accused intended to commit, the penalty
corresponding to the latter shall be imposed in its maximum period.
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.
3. The rule established by the next preceding paragraph shall not be applicable if
the acts committed by the guilty person shall also constitute an attempt or
frustration of another crime, if the law prescribes a higher penalty for either of
the latter offenses, in which case the penalty provided for the attempted or the
frustrated crime shall be imposed in its maximum period.
Art 49 applies to error in personae. It does not apply to praeter intentionem and
complex crimes.

U
U Art. 50. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of a frustrated crime The penalty
next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall be
imposed upon the principal in a frustrated felony.
Art. 51. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of attempted crimes. A penalty lower
by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall be

imposed upon the principals in an attempt to commit a felony.

Art. 52. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in consummated crime. The
penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the consummated shall be
imposed upon the accomplices in the commission of a consummated felony.
Art. 53. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories to the commission of a consummated
felony. The penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the
consummated felony shall be imposed upon the accessories to the commission of a
consummated felony.
Art. 54. Penalty to imposed upon accomplices in a frustrated crime. The penalty
next lower in degree than prescribed by law for the frustrated felony shall be imposed
upon the accomplices in the commission of a frustrated felony.
Art. 55. Penalty to be imposed upon accessories of a frustrated crime. The penalty
lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the frustrated felony shall be
imposed upon the accessories to the commission of a frustrated felony.
Art. 56. Penalty to be imposed upon accomplices in an attempted crime. The
penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for an attempt to commit a
felony shall be imposed upon the accomplices in an attempt to commit the felony.
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.
Art. 58. Additional penalty to be imposed upon certain accessories. Those
accessories falling within the terms of paragraphs 3 of Article 19 of this Code who
should act with abuse of their public functions, shall suffer the additional penalty of
absolute perpetual disqualification if the principal offender shall be guilty of a grave
felony, and that of absolute temporary disqualification if he shall be guilty of a less
grave felony.
Art. 59. Penalty to be imposed in case of failure to commit the crime because the
means employed or the aims sought are impossible. When the person intending to
commit an offense has already performed the acts for the execution of the same but
nevertheless the crime was not produced by reason of the fact that the act intended
was by its nature one of impossible accomplishment or because the means employed
by such person are essentially inadequate to produce the result desired by him, the
court, having in mind the social danger and the degree of criminality shown by the
offender, shall impose upon him the penalty of arresto mayor or a fine from 200 to 500
pesos.
Art. 60. Exception to the rules established in Articles 50 to 57. The provisions
contained in Articles 50 to 57, inclusive, of this Code shall not be applicable to cases in
which the law expressly prescribes the penalty provided for a frustrated or attempted
felony, or to be imposed upon accomplices or accessories.
Art. 61. Rules for graduating penalties. For the purpose of graduating the penalties

which, according to the provisions of Articles 50 to 57, inclusive, of this Code, are to be
imposed upon persons guilty as principals of any frustrated or attempted felony, or as
accomplices or accessories, the following rules shall be observed:
1. When the penalty prescribed for the felony is single and indivisible, the
penalty next lower in degrees shall be that immediately following that indivisible
penalty in the respective graduated scale prescribed in Article 71 of this Code.
2. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of two indivisible
penalties, or of one or more divisible penalties to be impose to their full extent,
the penalty next lower in degree shall be that immediately following the lesser of
the penalties prescribed in the respective graduated scale.
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.
4. When the penalty prescribed for the crime is composed of several periods,
corresponding to different divisible penalties, the penalty next lower in degree
shall be composed of the period immediately following the minimum prescribed
and of the two next following, which shall be taken from the penalty prescribed,
if possible; otherwise from the penalty immediately following in the above
mentioned respective graduated scale.
5. When the law prescribes a penalty for a crime in some manner not especially
provided for in the four preceding rules, the courts, proceeding by analogy, shall
impose corresponding penalties upon those guilty as principals of the frustrated
felony, or of attempt to commit the same, and upon accomplices and
accessories.
Art. 62. Effect of the attendance of mitigating or aggravating circumstances and of
habitual delinquency. Mitigating or aggravating circumstances and habitual
delinquency shall be taken into account for the purpose of diminishing or increasing
the penalty in conformity with the following rules:
1. Aggravating circumstances which in themselves constitute a crime specially
punishable by law or which are included by the law in defining a crime and prescribing
the penalty therefor shall not be taken into account for the purpose of increasing the
penalty.
2. The same rule shall apply with respect to any aggravating circumstance
inherent in the crime to such a degree that it must of necessity accompany the
commission thereof.
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.
4. The circumstances which consist in the material execution of the act, or in the
means employed to accomplish it, shall serve to aggravate or mitigate the
liability of those persons only who had knowledge of them at the time of the
execution of the act or their cooperation therein.
5. Habitual delinquency shall have the following effects:

(a) Upon a third conviction the culprit shall be sentenced to the

penalty provided by law for the last crime of which he be found guilty and
to the additional penalty of prision correccional in its medium and
maximum periods; (b) Upon a fourth conviction, the culprit shall be
sentenced to the penalty provided for the last crime of which he be found
guilty and to the additional penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and
medium periods; and (c) Upon a fifth or additional conviction, the culprit
shall be sentenced to the penalty provided for the last crime of which he
be found guilty and to the additional penalty of prision mayor in its
maximum period to reclusion temporal in its minimum period.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, the total of the two penalties to be
imposed upon the offender, in conformity herewith, shall in no case exceed 30 years.
For the purpose of this article, a person shall be deemed to be habitual delinquent, is
within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes
of serious or less serious physical injuries, robo, hurto, estafa or falsification, he is
found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener.

Different kinds of modifying circumstance: (1) those which in themselves constitute

a crimes such as by means of fire or arson; (2) those included by law in defining a
crime and prescribing the penalty. Like laying hands upon a person in authority
which direct assault; (3) those inherent in the crime like dwelling in trespass to
dwelling; (4) those which are caused by the moral attributes of the offender or his
relations with the offender or any other personal causes; (5) when advantage is
taken by the offender of his public position, the penalty shall be in its maximum
period, regardless of the presence of mitigating circumstances; (6) an
organized/syndicated crime group formed for purposes of gain. Gain pertain to
those crimes where the offender will profit.

Art. 63. Rules for the application of indivisible penalties. In all cases in which the law
prescribes a single indivisible penalty, it shall be applied by the courts regardless of
any mitigating or aggravating circumstances that may have attended the commission
of the deed.
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:
1. When in the commission of the deed there is present only one aggravating
circumstance, the greater penalty shall be applied.
2. When there are neither mitigating nor aggravating circumstances in the
commission of the deed, the lesser penalty shall be applied.
3. When the commission of the act is attended by some mitigating
circumstances and there is no aggravating circumstance, the lesser penalty shall
be applied.
4. When both mitigating and aggravating circumstances attended the
commission of the act, the court shall reasonably allow them to offset one
another in consideration of their number and importance, for the purpose of
applying the penalty in accordance with the preceding rules, according to the
result of such compensation.
Art. 64. Rules for the application of penalties which contain three periods. In cases

in which the penalties prescribed by law contain three periods, whether it be a single
divisible penalty or composed of three different penalties, each one of which forms a
period in accordance with the provisions of Articles 76 and 77, the court shall observe
for the application of the penalty the following rules, according to whether there are or
are not mitigating or aggravating circumstances:
1. When there are neither aggravating nor mitigating circumstances, they shall
impose the penalty prescribed by law in its medium period.
2. When only a mitigating circumstance is present in the commission of the act,
they shall impose the penalty in its minimum period.
3. When an aggravating circumstance is present in the commission of the act,
they shall impose the penalty in its maximum period.
4. When both mitigating and aggravating circumstances are present, the court
shall reasonably offset those of one class against the other according to their
relative weight.
5. When there are two or more mitigating circumstances and no aggravating
circumstances are present, the court shall impose the penalty next lower to that
prescribed by law, in the period that it may deem applicable, according to the
number and nature of such circumstances.
6. Whatever may be the number and nature of the aggravating circumstances,
the courts shall not impose a greater penalty than that prescribed by law, in its
maximum period.
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. 65. Rule in cases in which the penalty is not composed of three periods. In
cases in which the penalty prescribed by law is not composed of three periods, the
courts shall apply the rules contained in the foregoing articles, dividing into three
equal portions of time included in the penalty prescribed, and forming one period of
each of the three portions.
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.
Art. 67. Penalty to be imposed when not all the requisites of exemption of the fourth
circumstance of Article 12 are present. When all the conditions required in
circumstances Number 4 of Article 12 of this Code to exempt from criminal liability are
not present, the penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional
in its minimum period shall be imposed upon the culprit if he shall have been guilty of
a grave felony, and arresto mayor in its minimum and medium periods, if of a less
grave felony.
Art. 68. Penalty to be imposed upon a person under eighteen years of age. When
the offender is a minor under eighteen years and his case is one coming under the
provisions of the paragraphs next to the last of Article 80 of this Code, the following
rules shall be observed:

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.
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.
Art. 69. Penalty to be imposed when the crime committed is not wholly excusable. A
penalty lower by one or two degrees than that prescribed by law shall be imposed if
the deed is not wholly excusable by reason of the lack of some of the conditions
required to justify the same or to exempt from criminal liability in the several cases
mentioned in Article 11 and 12, provided that the majority of such conditions be
present. The courts shall impose the penalty in the period which may be deemed
proper, in view of the number and nature of the conditions of exemption present or
lacking.
Art. 70. Successive service of sentence. When the culprit has to serve two or more
penalties, he shall serve them simultaneously if the nature of the penalties will so
permit otherwise, the following rules shall be observed:
In the imposition of the penalties, the order of their respective severity shall be
followed so that they may be executed successively or as nearly as may be possible,
should a pardon have been granted as to the penalty or penalties first imposed, or
should they have been served out.

For the purpose of applying the provisions of the next preceding paragraph the
respective severity of the penalties shall be determined in accordance with the
following scale:
1. Death,
2. Reclusion perpetua,
3. Reclusion temporal,
4. Prision mayor,
5. Prision correccional,
6. Arresto mayor,
7. Arresto menor,
8. Destierro,
9. Perpetual absolute disqualification,
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 12. Public
censure.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the rule next preceding, the maximum duration of
the convict's sentence shall not be more than three-fold the length of time
corresponding to the most severe of the penalties imposed upon him. No other penalty
to which he may be liable shall be inflicted after the sum total of those imposed equals
the same maximum period.
Such maximum period shall in no case exceed forty years.

In applying the provisions of this rule the duration of perpetual penalties (pena
perpetua) shall be computed at thirty years. (As amended).

The general rule is that he shall serve them simultaneously if the nature of the
penalties permits simultaneous service of sentence. Otherwise, the penalties shall
be served successively in order of the severity as prescribed by Art. 70.
The penalties that can be simultaneously served are: (1) perpetual absolute
disqualification, (2) perpetual special disqualification, (3) temporary absolute
disqualification, (4) temporary special disqualification, (5) suspension, (6) destierro,
(7) public censure, (8) fine and bond to keep the peace, (9) civil interdiction, (10)
confiscation and payment of costs. These penalties, except destierro can be served
simultaneously with imprisonment.
Penalties consisting in deprivation of liberty cannot be served simultaneously by
reason of the nature of such penalties.
Three-fold rule the maximum duration of the convicts sentence shall not be more
than three-fold the length of time corresponding the most severe of the penalties
imposed upon him. No other penalty to which he may be liable shall be inflicted
after the sum total of those imposed equals the same maximum period.
Such maximum period shall in no case exceed 40 years.

Art. 71. Graduated scales. In the case in which the law prescribed a penalty lower or
higher by one or more degrees than another given penalty, the rules prescribed in
Article 61 shall be observed in graduating such penalty.
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,
9. Public censure,
10. Fine.
SCALE NO. 2
1. Perpetual absolute disqualification,
2. Temporal absolute disqualification
3. Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for, the
right to follow a profession or calling,
4. Public censure,
5. Fine.
Art. 72. Preference in the payment of the civil liabilities. The civil liabilities of a
person found guilty of two or more offenses shall be satisfied by following the

chronological order of the dates of the judgments rendered against him, beginning
with the first in order of time.
Art. 73. Presumption in regard to the imposition of accessory penalties . Whenever
the courts shall impose a penalty which, by provision of law, carries with it other
penalties, according to the provisions of Articles 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 of this Code, it
must be understood that the accessory penalties are also imposed upon the convict.
Art. 74. Penalty higher than reclusion perpetua in certain cases. In cases in which
the law prescribes a penalty higher than another given penalty, without specially
designating the name of the former, if such higher penalty should be that of death, the
same penalty and the accessory penalties of Article 40, shall be considered as the next
higher penalty.
Art. 75. Increasing or reducing the penalty of fine by one or more degrees.
Whenever it may be necessary to increase or reduce the penalty of fine by one or
more degrees, it shall be increased or reduced, respectively, for each degree, by onefourth of the maximum amount prescribed by law, without however, changing the
minimum.
The same rules shall be observed with regard of fines that do not consist of a fixed
amount, but are made proportional.
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.

Complex penalty is one composed of three distinct penalties, each one forming a
period, the lightest being the minimum, the next, the medium; and the most
severe, the maximum.

ISLAW
It is a law that modified the imposition of penalties under the RPC and special laws.
The courts are mandated in imposing a sentence to fix a minimum and maximum
period of penalty. The minimum sentence must be served thereupon; the convict
becomes eligible for parole. When released, he is not automatically discharged for
the rest of his sentence is served out of prison under the supervision of a parole
officer.
Its objective is to avoid unnecessary, prolonged imprisonment of convicts which
may result in economic wastefulness. That is why after the prisoner has served the
minimum and has shown that he has reformed, he is given parole.
The need for specifying the minimum of the indeterminate sentence is to prevent
the unnecessary and excessive deprivation of liberty and to enhance the economic
usefulness of the accused, since he may be exempted from serving the entire
sentence, depending upon his behavior and his physical, mental and moral record.

Islaw is mandatory except: (1) offenses punished by death or life imprisonment; (2)
those convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason; (3) those
convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage; (4) those
convicted of piracy; (5) habitual delinquents; (6) those who escaped from the
confinement or those who evaded sentence; (7) those granted conditional pardon
who violated its terms; (8) those whos maximum period of imprisonment does not
exceed one year; (9) those who are already serving final judgment upon approval of
ISL.

PROBATION LAW

Probation is a privilege, not a right. Its benefits cannot extend to those expressly
excluded. Probation is not a right of the accused, but rather an act of grace and
clemency or immunity conferred by the State which may be granted by the court to
a deserving defendant who thereby escapes the extreme rigors of the penalty
imposed by law for the offense of which he stands convicted.
Objectives of PL
o To promote correction and rehabilitation of the offender by giving him
individualized treatment.
o To provide a better opportunity for the pertinent offender to reform
o To prevent further commission of crimes as he is placed under the supervision
of a probation officer.
o To decongest jails
o To save the government funds which would be spent on maintaining him
inside the jail.
The penalty must not exceed 6 years of imprisonment to apply for probations.
Who are disqualified: those who had been:
o Sentenced to a maximum term of more than 6 years imprisonment;
o Convicted of subversion or any crime against national security or the public
order;
o Previously convicted by final judgment of offense punished by imprisonment
of not less than 1 month and 1 day and/or fine of not less than P200;
o Granted probation for its is available only once;
o Already serving sentence upon effectivity of the law;
o Perfected an appeal for appeal and probation are mutually exclusive
remedies.
No application for probation shall be entertained or granted if the defendant has
perfected the appeal from the judgment of conviction. Therefore, an appeal should
not bar the accused from applying for probation if the appeal is taken solely to
reduce the penalty to qualify for probation is contrary to the clear and express
mandate of law. Probation forecloses the right to appeal.
The application for probation must be filed within the period for perfecting an
appeal (15 days). If the application was filed after the lapse of that period, the
decision had attained finality; not appeal therefrom is possible under the law.
Multiple prison terms are distinct from each other, and if none of the prison terms
exceeds the limit set out in the law, then he is entitled to probation, unless
otherwise specifically disqualified. The number of offenses is immaterial as long as
all the penalties imposed, taken separately, are within the probationable period.

The legal effect of probation is only to suspend the execution of sentence.

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.
In addition to the provisions of the law, the special regulations prescribed for the
government of the institutions in which the penalties are to be suffered shall be
observed with regard to the character of the work to be performed, the time of its
performance, and other incidents connected therewith, the relations of the convicts
among themselves and other persons, the relief which they may receive, and their
diet.
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.
Art. 79. Suspension of the execution and service of the penalties in case of insanity.
When a convict shall become insane or an imbecile after final sentence has been
pronounced, the execution of said sentence shall be suspended only with regard to the
personal penalty, the provisions of the second paragraph of circumstance number 1 of
Article 12 being observed in the corresponding cases.
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.
The respective provisions of this section shall also be observed if the insanity or
imbecility occurs while the convict is serving his sentence.
Art. 82. Notification and execution of the sentence and assistance to the culprit. The
court shall designate a working day for the execution but not the hour thereof; and
such designation shall not be communicated to the offender before sunrise of said day,
and the execution shall not take place until after the expiration of at least eight hours
following the notification, but before sunset. During the interval between the
notification and the execution, the culprit shall, in so far as possible, be furnished such
assistance as he may request in order to be attended in his last moments by priests or
ministers of the religion he professes and to consult lawyers, as well as in order to
make a will and confer with members of his family or persons in charge of the
management of his business, of the administration of his property, or of the care of his
descendants.
Art. 83. Suspension of the execution of the death sentence. The death sentence
shall not be inflicted upon a woman within the three years next following the date of
the sentence or while she is pregnant, nor upon any person over seventy years of age.
In this last case, the death sentence shall be commuted to the penalty of reclusion
perpetua with the accessory penalties provided in Article 40.

Art. 84. Place of execution and persons who may witness the same. The execution
shall take place in the penitentiary of Bilibid in a space closed to the public view and
shall be witnessed only by the priests assisting the offender and by his lawyers, and by
his relatives, not exceeding six, if he so request, by the physician and the necessary
personnel of the penal establishment, and by such persons as the Director of Prisons
may authorize.
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.
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.
Art. 87. Destierro. Any person sentenced to destierro shall not be permitted to enter
the place or places designated in the sentence, nor within the radius therein specified,
which shall be not more than 250 and not less than 25 kilometers from the place
designated.
Art. 88. Arresto menor. The penalty of arresto menor shall be served in the
municipal jail, or in the house of the defendant himself under the surveillance of an
officer of the law, when the court so provides in its decision, taking into consideration
the health of the offender and other reasons which may seem satisfactory to it.
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.
2. By service of the sentence;
3. By amnesty, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects;
4. By absolute pardon;
5. By prescription of the crime;
6. By prescription of the penalty;
7. By the marriage of the offended woman, as provided in Article 344 of this
Code.
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. 23. Effect of pardon by the offended party. A pardon of the offended party does
not extinguish criminal action except as provided in Article 344 of this Code; but civil
liability with regard to the interest of the injured party is extinguished by his express
waiver.
Express repeal of the penal law will also extinguish criminal liability subject to the
provisions of Art. 22, as the act is decriminalized.
Death of convict extinguishes criminal liability at any stage during the proceeding
but his civil liability shall be extinguished if death occurs before final judgment.
The term judgment means judgment beyond recall, meaning executor.
Pardon it does not extinguish criminal liability. But civil liability is extinguished by
express waiver of the offended.
Limitations of the Presidents pardoning power: (1) that the power be exercised after
final conviction; (2) that such power does not extend to cases of impeachment.
Judgment of conviction becomes final: (1) when no appeal is seasonably perfected;
(2) when the accused commences to serve the sentence; (3) when the right to
appeal is expressly waived in writing; (4) when the accused applies for probation,
therefore waiving his right to appeal.
Amnesty is one of the presidential prerogatives besides reprieve, commutation of
sentence, pardon and remittance of fines and forfeitures. But unlike the others,
amnesty requires congressional action. It is an act of grace, which relieves the
offender not only from suffering the penalty but obliterates the effects of the
conviction as if the act were not criminal. It is usually given to political offenders.
AMNESTY
PARDON
Applicatio Generally to political crimes and Generally to ordinary crimes and
n
offenders
offenders
Effect
Obliterates
the
effects
of Relieves the offender of penalty but
conviction as if the act were not the effects of the conviction
criminal
Congress
Concurrence is required
Concurrence not needed
When
Even before conviction
After final conviction
Given
Beneficiar Usually a class of persons
A specific individual
y
Nature
Public act of the president; the Private act of the president; no
courts must take judicial notice
judicial notice
Art. 90. Prescription of crime. Crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua or
reclusion temporal shall prescribe in 20 years.
Crimes punishable by other afflictive penalties shall prescribe in 15 years.
Those punishable by a correctional penalty shall prescribe in 10 years; with the

exception of those punishable by arresto mayor, which shall prescribe in 5 years.

The crime of libel or other similar offenses shall prescribe in 1 year.
The crime of oral defamation and slander by deed shall prescribe in 6 months.
Light offenses prescribe in 2 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).
Art. 91. Computation of prescription of offenses. The period of prescription shall
commence to run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the offended
party, the authorities, or their agents, and shall be interrupted by the filing of the
complaint or information, and shall commence to run again when such proceedings
terminate without the accused being convicted or acquitted, or are unjustifiably
stopped for any reason not imputable to him.
The term of prescription shall not run when the offender is absent from the Philippine
Archipelago.
Prescription of a crime refers to the loss of the right of the state to prosecute
offenders. It is not waivable. Once prescription sets in, the courts automatically
losses jurisdiction over the case.
Offended party is the person against whom or against whose property the offense
was committed.

Art. 92. When and how penalties prescribe. The penalties imposed by final sentence
prescribe as follows:
1. Death and reclusion perpetua, in 20 years;
2. Other afflictive penalties, in 15 years;
3. Correctional penalties, in 10 years; with the exception of the penalty of arresto
mayor, which prescribes in 5 years;
4. Light penalties, in 1 year.
Prescription of penalty is the loss of the right of the State to enforce the sentence
imposed on the convict by the lapse of time. Prescription of penalty becomes
operative when the convict escapes from detention or evades the service of his
sentence.
Express or total repeal of penal laws, which decriminalizes the act extinguishes
criminal liability for the act is no longer criminal and its effect shall retroact
favorably to offenders whos sentence has become final and even those who are
already serving sentence provided they are not habitual delinquents.
Implied or partial repeal which has favorable effect on the accused or convict has the
effect of partial extinction of criminal liability for it reduces the penalty imposed on
the accused or convict.
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.
PARTIAL EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Art. 94. Partial Extinction of criminal liability. Criminal liability is extinguished

partially:
1. By conditional pardon;
2. By commutation of the sentence; and
3. For good conduct allowances which the culprit may earn while he is serving
his sentence.

U
Art. 95. Obligation incurred by person granted conditional pardon. Any person who
has been granted conditional pardon shall incur the obligation of complying strictly
with the conditions imposed therein otherwise, his non-compliance with any of the
conditions specified shall result in the revocation of the pardon and the provisions of
Article 159 shall be applied to him.
Conditional pardon is a contract between the Chief Executive and the convicted
criminal to the effect that the former will release the latter subject to the condition
that if he does not comply with the terms of the pardon, he will be recommitted to
prison to serve the unexpired portion of the sentence or an additional one.
Conditional pardon does not extinguish the civil liability arising from the crime.
Requisites: (1) Given after final judgment; (2) must be accepted because of the
conditions which must be complied with strictly.
Art. 96. Effect of commutation of sentence. The commutation of the original
sentence for another of a different length and nature shall have the legal effect of
substituting the latter in the place of the former.

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:
1. During the first two years of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction
of five days for each month of good behavior;
2. During the third to the fifth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be
allowed a deduction of eight days for each month of good behavior;
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
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.

U
Art. 98. Special time allowance for loyalty. A deduction of one-fifth of the period of
his sentence shall be granted to any prisoner who, having evaded the service of his
sentence under the circumstances mentioned in Article 158 of this Code, gives himself
up to the authorities within 48 hours following the issuance of a proclamation
announcing the passing away of the calamity or catastrophe to in said article.

Art. 99. Who grants time allowances. Whenever lawfully justified, the Director of
Prisons shall grant allowances for good conduct. Such allowances once granted shall
not be revoked.
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.
Art. 101. Rules regarding civil liability in certain cases. The exemption from criminal
liability established in subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of Article 12 and in subdivision 4 of
Article 11 of this Code does not include exemption from civil liability, which shall be
enforced subject to the following rules:
First. In cases of subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 of Article 12, the civil liability for acts
committed by an imbecile or insane person, and by a person under nine years of age,
or by one over nine but under fifteen years of age, who has acted without
discernment, shall devolve upon those having such person under their legal authority
or control, unless it appears that there was no fault or negligence on their part.
Should there be no person having such insane, imbecile or minor under his authority,
legal guardianship or control, or if such person be insolvent, said insane, imbecile, or
minor shall respond with their own property, excepting property exempt from
execution, in accordance with the civil law.
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.
The courts shall determine, in sound discretion, the proportionate amount for which
each one shall be liable.
When the respective shares cannot be equitably determined, even approximately, or
when the liability also attaches to the Government, or to the majority of the
inhabitants of the town, and, in all events, whenever the damages have been caused
with the consent of the authorities or their agents, indemnification shall be made in
the manner prescribed by special laws or regulations.
Third. In cases falling within subdivisions 5 and 6 of Article 12, the persons using
violence or causing the fears shall be primarily liable and secondarily, or, if there be no
such persons, those doing the act shall be liable, saving always to the latter that part
of their property exempt from execution.
Art. 102. Subsidiary civil liability of innkeepers, tavernkeepers and proprietors of
establishments. In default of the persons criminally liable, innkeepers,
tavernkeepers, and any other persons or corporations shall be civilly liable for crimes
committed in their establishments, in all cases where a violation of municipal
ordinances or some general or special police regulation shall have been committed by
them or their employees.

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.
Art. 103. Subsidiary civil liability of other persons. The subsidiary liability established
in the next preceding article shall also apply to employers, teachers, persons, and
corporations engaged in any kind of industry for felonies committed by their servants,
pupils, workmen, apprentices, or employees in the discharge of their duties.
An acquittal on the ground that the accused is not the author of the act or omission
complained of closes the door to civil liability, for a person who has be found to be
not the perpetrator of any act or omission cannot be held liable for such act or
omission.
An acquittal based on reasonable doubt on the guild of the accused shall not exempt
the accused from civil liability, which may be proved by preponderance of evidence.
Acquittal of the accused, even if based on a finding that he is not guilty, does not
carry with in the extinction of the civil liability based on quasi-delict.
Who are subsidiarily liable for criminal offenses: (1) innkeepers, (2) tavern keepers,
(3) proprietor of establishments for crimes committed by their servants, pupils,
workmen or employees, respectively.
WHAT CIVIL LIABILITY INCLUDES

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;
2. Reparation of the damage caused;
3. Indemnification for consequential damages.
Art. 105. Restitution; How made. The restitution of the thing itself must be made
whenever possible, with allowance for any deterioration, or diminution of value as
determined by the court.
The thing itself shall be restored, even though it be found in the possession of a third
person who has acquired it by lawful means, saving to the latter his action against the
proper person, who may be liable to him.
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. 106. Reparation; How made. The court shall determine the amount of damage,
taking into consideration the price of the thing, whenever possible, and its special
sentimental value to the injured party, and reparation shall be made accordingly.

Art. 107. Indemnification; What is included. Indemnification for consequential

damages shall include not only those caused the injured party, but also those suffered
by his family or by a third person by reason of the crime.
Art. 108. Obligation to make restoration, reparation for damages, or indemnification
for consequential damages and actions to demand the same; Upon whom it devolves.
The obligation to make restoration or reparation for damages and indemnification
for consequential damages devolves upon the heirs of the person liable.
The action to demand restoration, reparation, and indemnification likewise descends to
the heirs of the person injured.
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.
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.
Whenever the liability in solidum or the subsidiary liability has been enforced, the
person by whom payment has been made shall have a right of action against the
others for the amount of their respective shares.
Art. 111. Obligation to make restitution in certain cases. Any person who has
participated gratuitously in the proceeds of a felony shall be bound to make restitution
in an amount equivalent to the extent of such participation.
NCC
Art. 2206. The amount of damages for death caused by a crime or quasi-delict shall be
at least three thousand pesos, even though there may have been mitigating
circumstances. In addition:
(1) The defendant shall be liable for the loss of the earning capacity of the deceased,
and the indemnity shall be paid to the heirs of the latter; such indemnity shall in every
case be assessed and awarded by the court, unless the deceased on account of
permanent physical disability not caused by the defendant, had no earning capacity at
the time of his death; (2) If the deceased was obliged to give support according to the
provisions of Article 291, the recipient who is not an heir called to the decedent's
inheritance by the law of testate or intestate succession, may demand support from
the person causing the death, for a period not exceeding five years, the exact duration
to be fixed by the court; (3) The spouse, legitimate and illegitimate descendants and
ascendants of the deceased may demand moral damages for mental anguish by
reason of the death of the deceased.
Art. 2219. Moral damages may be recovered in the following and analogous cases:
(1) A criminal offense resulting in physical injuries;

(2) Quasi-delicts causing physical injuries;

(3) Seduction, abduction, rape, or other lascivious acts;
(4) Adultery or concubinage;
(5) Illegal or arbitrary detention or arrest;
(6) Illegal search;
(7) Libel, slander or any other form of defamation;
(8) Malicious prosecution;
(9) Acts mentioned in Article 309;
(10) Acts and actions referred to in Articles 21, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, and 35.
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.