Criminal Law Reviewer (Art.

1-113)
Criminal Law
is that branch of publicsubstantive law which d
efines offenses andprescribes their penalties. It
is also that branchof municipal law, which
defines crimes,
treatsof their nature and provides for theirpunis
hment.3 Characteristics of Criminal
Law:1)Generality - means that the criminallaw
of the country governs all personswithin the
country regardless of theirrace, belief, sex, or
creed. However, itis subject to certain
exceptions
broughtabout by international agreement.Amb
assadors, chiefs of states and otherdiplomatic
officials are immune
fromthe application of penal laws whenthey are
in the country where they
areassigned. (Hindi kasama dito ang diplomats,
etc.)2)Territoriality - means that the
penallaws of the country have force andeffect
only within its
territory. Itcannot penalize crimes committedou
tside the same. This is subject
tocertain exceptions brought about byinternati
onal agreements and
practice.The territory of the country is notlimite
d to the land where itssovereignty resides but
includes also itsmaritime and interior waters as
well asits atmosphere. (kasama lahat dito!)

thenational security of a foreign country where

thevessel is within jurisdiction in which case
suchforeign country will never lose jurisdiction
oversuch vessel.
American Rule / Anglo-Saxon Rule
This rule strictly enforces the territoriality
of criminal law. The law of the foreign
countrywhere a foreign vessel is within its
jurisdiction isstrictly applied, except if the
crime affects onlythe internal management of
the vessel in whichcase it is subject to the
penal law of the countrywhere it is registered.
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege There
is no crime when there is no law punishingthe
same.
-This is true to civil lawcountries, but not to
commonlaw countries.
-No matter how wrongful, evilor bad the act is,
if there is nolaw defining the act, the sameis
not considered a crime.
-Common law crimes arewrongful acts which
thecommunity/society condemnsas
contemptible, even thoughthere is no law
declaring theact criminal.

-Terrestrial: jurisdictionexercised over the land

-Not any law punishing an actor omission may

be valid as acriminal law. If the lawpunishing
an act is ambiguous,it is null and void.

-Fluvial: jurisdiction overmaritime and interior

waters(3-5 nautical miles from theshore, sakop
pa rin natin)

Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit reaThe

act cannot be criminal where the mind isnot
criminal.

-Aerial: jurisdiction over theatmosphere

(airspace natin)3)Prospectivity - Acts
or omissions willonly be subject to a penal law
if theyare committed after a penal law
hadalready taken effect. Vice-versa,
thisact or omission which has beencommitted
before the effectivity of apenal law could
not be penalized
bysuch penal law because penal lawsoperate
only prospectively.

-This is true to a felonycharacterized by dolo,

but nota felony resulting from culpa.

French Rule
The French Rule provides that the nationality
of the vessel follows the flag which the vesselfli
es, unless the crime committed endangers

-This maxim is not an absoluteone because it is

not appliedto culpable felonies, or thosethat
result from negligence.
Mens Rea in laymans terms: bulls-eye
of a crime. Synonymous with criminal or
deliberateintent, but that is not correct. It still
dependson the elements of the crime. You
can onlydetect the mens rea of a crime by
knowing theparticular crime
committed. Without referenceto a particular
crime, this term is meaningless.Ex. In theft,
mens rea is taking the propertywith intent to

gain. In falsification, mens rea, isthe effect of

the forgery with intent to pervertthe truth.
Mala in se:
Which literally means, thatthe act is inherently
evil orbad or per se wrongful.
-These are punishable by ourRPC.
-The intent is crucial.
Mala prohibita(um):
-These are violations of speciallaws.
-Example is possession of drugs(punishable by
Special
Laws),ito yung kahit hindi mogagamitin or ibeb
enta, themere fact na nasa pagmamay-ari mo
ito, bawal pa rin!

Dolo has three requisites:

1)Criminal Intent
3) Intelligence

2)Freedom of action

Culpa has three requisites as well:

1)criminal negligence on the part of
theoffender , that is, the crime was
theresult of negligence, recklessimprudence,
lack of foresight or lack of skill;
2)freedom of action on the part of
theoffender, that is, he was not actingunder
duress; and3)Intelligence on the part of the
offenderin performing the negligent act.
Distinction between Dolo and Culpa

Felony:

:Dolo,hascriminal intent,and
Culpa has criminal negligence

these are acts or omissions as

definedby Article 3 of the RPC. They may bediff
erentiated by dolo (deceit) which isintentional,
and culpa (fault) which isimprudence, negligen
ce, lack of skill orforesight.

Criminal Intent has 2 categories:

1)General Criminal Intent: presumedfrom the
mere doing of a wrong act.This does not
require proof.

Offense:
are crimes punished under a speciallaw is
called as statutory offense.
Misdemeanor:
a minor infraction of the law,such as a violation
of an ordinance, is referredto as a
misdemeanor.
Crime:
whether the wrongdoing is punishedunder the
Revised Penal Code or under a speciallaw, the
generic word crime can be used.
Mistake of Fact:
When the offender acted out of a mistake
of fact, criminal intent is negated, so do notpre
sume that the act was done with
criminalintent. This is absolutory if crime
involved dolo.

2)Special Criminal Intent: not

presumedbecause it is an ingredient or
elementof a crime, like intent to kill in the
crimes of attempted or frustrated homicide
/parricide /murder. Theprosecution has the
burden of provingthe same.
May a crime be committed without criminalinte
nt?Yes. It is not necessary between these
areas:1)When the crime was committed was
aproduct of culpa or negligence,
recklessimprudence, lack of foresight or
skill;2)When the crime is a prohibited actunder
a special law or what is calledmala
prohibita(um)
Distinction between intent and discernment
:Intent is the determination to do a certainthing
, an aim or purpose of the mind. On theother
hand, discernment is the mental capacityto tell
right from wrong.

Distinction between intent and motive:

Intent is demonstrated by the use of a

particularmeans to bring about a desired result
it is nota state of mind or a reason for
committing
acrime. On the other hand, motive impliesmoti
on. It is the moving power which impelsone to
do an act.
Distinction between negligence andimprudence
:
(1)In negligence, there is deficiency of action;
(2)In imprudence, there isdeficiency of
perception.
Criminal Liability:
This shall be incurred upon the person on
theact of a crime (gumawa ng krimen),
whether:
Error in personae mistake in identity
(wrongperson) Ex. A wanted to kill B, but kill Ci
nstead, this is considered as mistake inidentity.
Abberatio ictus mistake in blow (wrong
shot;bullet went the other way etc.) Ex. A shot
B,but instead, the bullet ricocheted (bounced
off)from the wall and hit C. (best example from
CSI:Las Vegas where a guy in avoiding an
incoming
blow and someone got hit instead and thatfello
w died of injuries to the head hours later.)
Praeter intentionem where the
consequenceexceeded the intention. Ex. A
dropped a pail of water on Bs head, his
intention was just a jokeand getting B wet. But
instead of getting wet, Bdied due to
hemorrhage to the skull sufferedfrom the
injuries. (another best example in CSI:New
York, where a sorority member inserted
acanister on an inhaler of a sister sorority
toset the mood (the said canister was said tohe
ighten sexual appetite) not knowing of herprevi
ous condition (which was asthma)
whichcollided and thus killing her instead of
settingmood, she died of orgasm.)

Proximate cause:

Article 4, Paragraph 1, presupposes that the

actdone was a proximate cause. It must
be:1)Direct2)Natural3)Logical consequence of t
he feloniousact
Impossible Crime: Is an act which would be an
offense againstperson or property were it not
for the
inherentimpossibility of its accomplishment or
onaccount of the employment of inadequate ori
neffectual means.Ex. A houseboy on the
intention of raping
hisbeautiful master went upstairs unlocked the
door and proceeded to rape her withoutknowin
g that she was dead to begin with.
Animpossible crime was committed.
Article 4, Paragraph 1
this refers to thewrongful act done constituted
a felony,although it might be different
from what heintended. Ex. In saving Ds life
from imminentdanger of being hit by
an oncoming truck, Ayanked him out and set
him aside. Not
realizingthat there were snakes or spikes where
heshoved him thus resulting in his death.
Article 4, Paragraph 2
this refers to asituation where the wrongful act
did notconstitute any felony, but because the a
ctwould have given rise to a crime against
personsor against property, the same is penaliz
ed
torepress criminal tendencies to curtail theirfre
quency.
Article 5 of the RPC covers two (2) instances:
1)The court cannot convict the
accusedbecause the acts do not constitute
acrime. The proper judgment isacquittal, but
the court is mandated toreport to the Chief
Executive thatsaid
act be made subject of penallegislation and
why. Ex. There is nocrime committed,
thus resulting
in thepersons freedom/acquittal. (bestexample
from CSI: Miami, when a guywas convicted of
shooting a man,
butsince there was no GSR (gunshotresidue) fo
und on him, evidenceshowed otherwise, thus a
cquittinghim.)

2)Where the court finds the penaltyprescribed f

or the crime too harshconsidering the
conditions surroundingthe commission of the
crime, the judgeshould impose the law. The
most that he could do is to recommend to
theChief Executive
to grant executiveclemency. Ex. In the case of
complexcrimes, although the punishment begiv
en be the highest level of punishment, they rec
ommend to thePresident that the prisoner be
grantedpardon or clemency (best examplewhe
n Michael Scofields brother Lincwas pardoned
by the President
Stages in committing a felony:
As emphasized on Article 6, the following
arethe stages:1)Attempted the crime was
commencedfirst, but only injuries were
sustained.2)Frustrated the crime that
happenedwas in progress to 75% of the
event,believing that the victim was
alreadydead, the killer fled the scene notknowi
ng that the victim still had apulse and survived
because the victimwas brought to the hospital
where hewas
saved.3)Consummated total death for thevicti
m killed or murdered.
Note that there is no frustrated rapeonly
consummated, no matter how
thepenetration happened, it was stillconsumma
ted.
There is no frustrated robbery, onlydesistance
, meaning the person aboutto rob the store was
overcome by guiltand changed his mind later.
There is no frustrated or attemptedoral defam
ation, it is always in theconsummated stage.
Formal Crimes are crimes which are
consummated in one
instance.The difference between attempted an
dfrustrated stage lies on whether
the offenderhas performed all the acts
or execution for theaccomplishment of the
crime.Literally, under the article 6, if the
offender
hasperformed all the acts of execution whichsh
ould produce the felony as a consequence but
the felony was not realized, then the crime
isalready in the frustrated stage. If

the offenderhas not yet performed all the acts

of execution there is yet something to be
performed but he
was not able to perform all the acts of executio
n due to some cause or accident otherthan his
own spontaneous desistance, then youhave an
attempted felony
Desistance: On the part of the offender
negates criminalliability in the attempted
stage. Desistance istrue only in the attempted
stage of the felony.If under the definition of the
felony,
theactdone is already in the frustrated stage, n
oamount of desistance will negate criminalliabil
ity.Whether the felony is attempted, frustrated
orconsummated, here are the following
criteriainvolved:1)The manner of committing th
e crime;2)The elements of the crime; and3)The
nature of the crime itself
Manner of committing a crime
Ex. Bribery. Can the crime of frustrated
briberybe committed? No.It usually takes 2 to
tango. Meaning there is aprincipal and an
accomplice. And 2 people totake part in the
crime. As mentioned earlierthere is
no such thing as frustrated rape. Inrape, it
requires the connection of the offenderand the
offended party. No penetration at
all,there is only an attempted stage. Slightestp
enetration or slightest connection,consummate
d. You will notice this from thenature of the
crime requiring two participants.
On physical injuries
In order that in law, a deformity can be said
toexist, three factors must concur:
(1)The injury should bring about theugliness;(2)
The ugliness must be visible;(3)The
ugliness would
notdisappear through natural healingprocess.

Elements of a crime:
1)Element of intent to damage2)The damage
inflicted3)Intent to gain
Nature of crime:

1)Grave
2)Light

imposed shall be the onewith the graver

offense.

Conspiracy and proposal to commit felon

Classifications of felonies:

For conspiracy to exist:1)There is an

agreement2)The participants acted
in concert orsimultaneously which is indicative
of
ameeting of the minds towards acommon crimi
nal goal or criminalobjective. When
several offenders actin a synchronized,
coordinated manner,the fact that their acts
complimentedeach other is indicative of
the meetingof the minds. There is an
impliedagreement.

1)According to the manner of theircommission.

Under Article 3, they
areclassified as, intentional felonies orthose co
mmitted with deliberateintent; and culpable
felonies or those resulting from negligence,
reckless imprudence, lack of foresight or lack
of skill.

Two (2) kinds of conspiracy:

1)Conspiracy as a crime more of national
security (like coup detat)
2)Conspiracy as a manner of incurringcriminal
liability following an attack,the 2 offenders
conspired to get backat the person who
attacked them thusresulting in his
death.Proposal to commit murder is not a
crime. But
if B accepts the proposal, there will beconspira
cy to commit murder which is a crimeunder the
Revised Penal Code.When the conspiracy is
only a basis of incurring criminal liability,
there must be an
overt actdone before the co-conspirators beco
mecriminally liable. When the conspiracy itself
is a crime, this cannot be inferred or deduced
because there is no overt act. All that there
isthe agreement. On the other hand, if the coconspirator or any of them would execute
anovert act, the crime would no longer be
theconspiracy but the overt act itself.
Composite crimes
are crimes which, insubstance, consist of more
than one crime but inthe eyes of the law, there
is only one crime.
Ex.Crimes with robbery with rape, robbery with
homicide, robbery with physical injuries.
Complex crimes
-are crimes which in sum,consist of a mixture o
f two crimes, but thepenalty that will be

2)According to the stages of theirexecution. Un

der Article 6., feloniesare classified as
attempted felony when
the offender commences thecommission of a
felony directly byovert acts, and does not
perform allthe acts of execution which should
produce the felony by reason of somecause or
accident other than his own
spontaneous desistance; frustrated
felony when the offender commences
the commission of a felony as a consequence
but which would producethe felony as a
consequence but which nevertheless do not
produce the felonyby reason of causes
independent of theperpetrator; and,
consummated felony when all the elements
necessary for its execution are
present.3)According to their gravity. UnderArtic
le 9, felonies are classified asgrave felonies or t
hose to whichattaches the capital punishment
orpenalties which in any of their periods
are afflictive; less grave felonies orthose to
which the law punishes with
penalties which in their maximum
period was correccional; and light felonies or
those infractions of law for the commission of
which the penalty is arresto menor.
There are five (5) circumstances affectingcrimi
nal
liability:1)Justifying circumstances2)Exempting
circumstances3)Mitigating Circumstances4)Agg
ravating Circumstances5)Alternative
CircumstancesThere are 2 others found elsewh
ere in theprovision of the
RPC:1)Absolutory cause2)Extenuating
circumstancesAbsolutory cause: The effect of
this is to absolvethe offender from criminal
liability, althoughnot from civil liability. It has
the same effect asan exempting circumstance,
but you do not callit as such in order not to

confuse it with thecircumstances under Article

12. It has the
effectof an exempting circumstance and
they arepredicated on lack of voluntariness like
instigation. Instigation is associated
withcriminal intent.Difference between
instigation and entrapmentIn instigation,
the criminal plan or design existsin the mind of
the law enforcer with whom theperson
instigated cooperated so it is said thatthe
person instigated is acting only as a
mereinstrument or tool of the law enforcer in
theperformance of his duties.On the other
hand, in entrapment, a
criminaldesign is already in the mind of the
personentrapped. It did not emanate from the
mind of the law enforcer entrapping
him. Entrapmentinvolves only ways and
means which are laiddown or resorted to
facilitate the apprehensionof the culprit.

1)The circumstances affect the actor, not the

act;

Extenuating circumstance

Since the justifying circumstances are in the

nature of defensive acts, there must be always
sunlawful aggression. The reasonableness
of the means employed depends on the gravity
of the aggression. If the unlawful
aggressor was killed,this can only be justified if
it was done to save the life of the person
defending or the person being defended. The
equation is life was takento save life.Self
defense:It is the element of unlawful
aggression that isin issue. Never confuse
unlawful aggressionwith provocation. Mere
provocation is not enough.

The effect of this is to mitigate the

criminalliability of the offender. In other words,
thishas the same effect as mitigatingcircumsta
nces, only you do not call it mitigatingbecause
this is not found in Article 13.Distinction
between Justifying and ExemptingCircumstance
:
Justifying Circumstances:
1)The circumstance affects the act, notthe
actor;
2)The act complained of is considered tohave
been done within the bounds of law; hence, it
is legitimate and lawfulin the eyes of the law;
3)Since the act is considered lawful,there is no
crime, and because there isno crime, there is
no criminal;
4)Since there is no crime or criminal,there is no
criminal liability as well ascivil
liabilityExempting Circumstances:

2)The act complained of is actually wrongful,

but the actor acted without voluntariness. He is
a mere tool or instrument of the crime;
3)Since the act complained of is actually
wrongful, there is a crime. But
because the actor acted without voluntariness,
there is absence of doloor culpa. There is no
criminal;
4)Since there is a crime committed
butthere is no criminal, there is civilliability for
the wrong done. But thereis no criminal
liability. However, inparagraphs 4 and 7
of Article 12, thereis neither criminal nor civil
liability.
Justifying Circumstances:

Defense of property rights

This can only be invoked if the life and limb
of the person making the defense is also thesu
bject of unlawful aggression. Life cannot
beequal to property.
Defense of stranger

If the person being defended is

already a secondcousin, you do not
invoke defense of relativeanymore. It
will be defense of stranger. This isvital
because if the person making the
defenseacted out or revenge,
resentment or some evilmotive in
killing the aggressor, he cannot

invokethe justifying circumstance if th

e relativedefended is already a
stranger in the eyes of thelaw. On
the other hand, if the relativedefended
is still within the coverage of defenseof
relative, even though he acted out of someevil
motive, it would still apply. It is enoughthat
there was unlawful aggression against the
relative defended, and that the person
defending did not contribute to the unlawful
aggression.
Incomplete self-defense or incomplete justifyin
g circumstance or incomplete exempting
circumstances
When you say incomplete justifyingcircumstanc
e, it means that not all therequisites to justify
the act are present or notthe requisites to
exempt from criminal liabilityare present.
First, to have incomplete self-defense, the
offended party must be guilty of unlawful
aggression. Without this, there can be
noincomplete self-defense, defense of relative,
or defense of stranger.
Second, if only the element of unlawfulaggressi
on is present, the other requisites beingabsent,
the offender shall be given only thebenefit of
an ordinary mitigating circumstance.
Third, if aside from the element
of unlawfulaggression another requisite, but no
t all, arepresent, the offender shall be given the
benefitof a privileged
mitigating circumstance. In sucha case, the
imposable penalty shall be reducedby one or
two degrees depending upon how thecourt
regards the importance of the
requisitespresent. Or absent.
State of necessity this is the commission of
acrime to avoid an imminent and clear
presentdanger.Fulfillment of duty this is the
commission of the crime in line of
duty, and there are 2conditions:1)The felony
was committed while theoffender was in the
fulfillment of aduty or in the lawful exercise of a
rightor office; and2)The resulting felony is
the unavoidableconsequence of the due
fulfillment of the duty or the lawful exercise of
theright or office

Exempting Circumstances:
The reason for the exemption lies on theinvolu
ntariness of the act one or some of
theingredients of voluntariness such as crimina
lintent, intelligence, or freedom of action on
thepart of the offender is missing.This
includes:1)Imbecility and insanity take note
onthe grounds of insanity the accusedacted wit
h complete deprivation of intelligence in commi
tting the crimeand test of volition, whether the
accused acted in total deprivation of freedom
of will.2)Minority
Damnum absque injuria
the
offender isexempt from criminal liability but of
civilliability as well.
Mitigating Circumstances:
These are accompanying or accessory
condition,event, or fact that (though not
constituting ajustification or excuse of
an offense) may be considered by the courts
as reducing the degreeof culpability or liability
of the accused. Such circumstances may
include family or personal
situations, and may help in attracting a
sentence less severe than a typical sentence
forsimilar offenses.
There are two distinctions: ordinary and
privileged.
1)As to the nature of the
circumstances,ordinary mitigating circumstanc
e canbe offset by aggravating
circumstances,while privileged can never be
offset.
2)As to effect, ordinary, if not offset
willoperate to reduce the penalty to aminimum
period, provided the penaltyis a divisible one
(negotiable. Meaningif you hear the words of
an officer Man1, but because of the offenders
confession and divulging of other vital
information, Man 1 with reduced
sentence of up to 5 years with probation). With
privileged, it operatesto reduce the penalty by
one or two degree, depending on what the law
provides.
Sufficient threat or provocation:

This is mitigating only if the crime was

committed on the very person who made the
threat or provocation. The common set-up
given in a bar problem is that of provocation
was given by somebody. The person provoked
cannot retaliate against him; thus, the person
provoked retaliated on a younger brother or
onan elder father. Although in fact, there
issufficient provocation, it is not mitigating
because the one who gives the provocation is
not the one against whom the crime was
committed. Diminished self control has two
criteria:1)Time has lapsed after the
provocationwas initially given (ex. A guy was
insulted at this moment, and retaliatedback
after 24 hours. Giving him enough time to think
of his actions)2)If there is that time
element and at thesame time, facts are given
indicatingthat at the time the offender
committed the crime, he is still suffering from
outrage of the threat o rprovocation done to
him, then he willstill get the benefit of this
mitigatingcircumstance.Vindication of a grave
offense, the vindication need not be done
by the person upon whom thegrave offense
was
committed.Passion or obfuscation this stands
on the
premise or proposition that the offender is
suffering from a diminished self-control
because
of passion or obfuscation. Passion must be
legitimate.This occurs when an assault on
spouse or love done is prominent,
and because of a jealous
outbreak you end up killing the person
assaulting your spouse or loved one. Physical
defect is another mitigating circumstance.
Regardless of any physical defecta person may
still commit a crime as the otherparts of the
body are fully functioning and couldstill
commence the crime. Blind, and invalid arenot
exempted. Some parts of their body are still
working.
Aggravating Circumstances:
Circumstances that increase the seriousness
oroutrageousness of a given crime, and
that inturn increase the wrongdoer's penalty or
punishment.These are the kinds of aggravating
circumstances:1)Generic or those that can gen
erallyapply to all crime;2)Specific or those that
apply only to aparticular crime3)Qualifying

or those that change thatchange the nature of

the crime
4)Inherent or those that must of necessity
accompany the commission of the crime
Distinctions between Aggravating and
Qualifying circumstancesIn aggravating:
1)The circumstance could be offset by a
mitigating circumstance,
2)No need to allege this circumstance inthe
information, as long as it is provenduring trial.
If it is proved during trial,the court would
consider the same inimposing the penalty;
3)It is not an ingredient of a crime. Itonly
affects the penalty to be imposedbut the crime
remains the sameIn qualifying circumstances:
1)The circumstance affects the nature of the
crime itself such that the offendershall be liable
for a more serious crime. The circumstance
is actually an ingredient of the crime
2)Being an ingredient of the crime, it
cannot be offset by any mitigatingcircumstance
4)Qualifying circumstances to beappreciated as
such must bespecifically alleged in the
complaint orinformation. If not alleged but
provenduring the trial, it will be considered
only as generic aggravatingcircumstance. If
this happens, they are susceptible of being
offset by amitigating circumstanceAggravating
circumstances includes:
1)Taking advantage of public position this
means you use public office as amedium to
commence a crime thinkingthat you wouldnt
be convicted (wellguess again!)
2)Disrespect due to age, rank and sex this
refers to old, young and for thesex, its the
female
3)Abuse of confidence this is
not merebetrayal of trust just because inexamp
le you left your daughter in thetrust of a
neighbor and your neighbor rapes your
daughter. That is not aggravating, what
is aggravating if it was done to you.
4)Dwelling this refers to house,regardless if
its yours or not!

5)Band obviously this refers to morethan 3

people! It would be bad enoughas it is if one
person kills you, but agroup? (hello! Common
sense!)
6)Uninhabited place this refers to anarea far
away from civilization, if thisis you, it would be
so unfair as
thecriminal intends that you wont be
saved, this is considered asaggravating.

17)During natural causes of accidents

likeearthquake or epidemic and you used itas a
cover for your crime, this is alsoaggravating.
(Best example of this, CSI:Miami, a robbery
took place during
atsunami event. The robbers used ageologist
to cover for them. Talk aboutgood research!
But regardless, its stillaggravating
circumstances)

7)Nighttime you are rendereddefenseless at

this point in moment intime. You are sleeping,
so killing
youwhile sleeping aggravates the wholething!

18)If you commit a crime in the

executivepalace, regardless of the existence
of the president or not, the grounds arestill
aggravating. Especially if you shoota gun inside
a church!

8)Treachery violation of allegiance

orfaith. You create this once yourallegiance/loy
alty to someone isdestroyed.

19)If you insult a public officer, that isalso an

aggravating circumstance.

9)Evident premeditation it means youplanned

this all along!!!
10)Breaking and entering is included aswell!
11)If you ask the aid of people below
15years of age, the crime getsaggravated!
(best example CSI: Miami, when an
offender asked the aid of Horatios son Kyle
who at the time of the offense was 15, ranking
him as ajuvenile)
12)Craft, disguise or fraud be used incommittin
g a crime.
13)If you create an explosion, poison,stranding
a vessel, fire, (all man-madeaccidents)
these also aggravate thesituation. If you use
these examples tohide your crime, then youre
facing jailtime for a lifetime.
14)If you accepted a bribe, reward orprice in
exchange for a commencementof a crime, well
consider these things aggravating.
15)Another aggravating circumstances, you kill
someone and being a show-off, youexposed
the person, not only dead, butnaked as well
and hung him on a tree,this is ignominy.
Kumbaga sa dead,double-dead na ito!
16)If you use your size to get your way andin
the end resulting in death, then thisis also
considered as aggravating.

20)If you also asked the help of armed men, it

also aggravates the case.
Recidivism the offender at the time of the
trial
shall have been previously convicted by final
judgment of another in the same title of
theRPC. Ex. A guy committed murder last 2
monthsago, and now he is being convicted of
homicide.
Reiteration the offender has been punished
foran offense which the
law attaches an equalgreater penalty for two or
more crimes to whichit attaches a lighter
penalty. This time, separatetitles are
applicable. Ex. Robbery with rape is agood
example.
Habitual delinquency the offender within a
10-year period from the date of release orconvi
ction of the crimes: robbery, estafa,murder, the
third time.
Alternative Circumstance:
These offenses are against your family(relation
ship)These offenses also cover the part when
youredrunk (so stop
drinking!)It doesnt care if youve finished a
college degree or a simple 1st grader. Everyone
has atendency to become a murderer.

The following are Criminally Liable

for Gravefelonies:
1)Principals main doers of the crime
2)Accomplices the one who helped inthe
execution
3)Accessories one may not be thereduring
the crime, but after you
helphide the evidence (obstruction of justice
ito)
The following are Criminally Liable for Light
felonies:
1)Principals
2)Accomplices
Grave felonies:
These felonies are punishable by the highestpo
ssible punishment: lifetime imprisonment or630 years. Examples are rape, murder, robbery,
treason.
Light felonies:
These felonies, are punishable by lightestpunis
hments: arresto menor, bail. These arecommen
ced due to infractions and misdemeanors.
Accessories who are exempt from Criminal
Liability are your relatives, siblings, spouses.
Punishments given for Grave Felonies:
1)Reclusion perpetua
2)Reclusion temporal
3)Perpetual or temporary disqualification
4)Perpetual or special disqualification
5)Prision mayorCorrectional penalties:
1)Prision correccional
2)Arresto mayor
3)Suspension
4)DestierroLight penalties
1)Arresto menor
2)Public censure
Penalties common to the three preceding
classes:1)Fine and 2)Bond to keep the peace.
Art. 21.

Penalties that may be imposed.

Nofelony shall be punishable by any penalty
not prescribed by law prior to its commission.
: Meaning, you cannot punish anyone with
anypenalty if he or she did not commit any
crime,thus the legal maxim: Nullum crimen, n
ullapoena sine lege - There is no crime when
thereis no law punishing the same.Ex: A man
was convicted of murder, but his alibiand
evidence showed otherwise. Should the manbe
convicted of murder or not?A: No, he shouldnt
be.There was no felony committed, therefore,
nopenalty is prescribed by law punishing it,
thusthe legal maxim: Nullum crimen, nulla poe
nasine lege there is no crime when there is
nolaw punishing the
same.In the case given, although the man wasc
onvicted of murder, the evidence and alibidoes
not tie him to the crime.Thus eliminating him of
any liability for therewas no crime
committed.Art. 22.
Retroactive effect of penal laws.
Penal Laws shall have a retroactive effect
ins ofar 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 thesame
.
: With relation to Art. 4 of the Civil Code: Laws
shall have no retroactive effect unless
otherwise
provided, meaning, laws are usuallyprospectiv
e. They never look back. Say forexample, a
man committed a crime of murder,if he was
sentenced for the penalty of the
deathsentence, and since it was abolished, it
will no longer follow. Should it be implemented
back,he is no longer covered by such
punishment.Art. 23.
Effect of pardon by the offended party.
A pardon of the offended party
doesnot 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.

: This is in connection to the pardoning of the

President to the accused. Usually in the case
of rape, unless the person is forgiven by thevict
im, then the offender is not pardoned. The
difference between amnesty and pardon lies
between the erasure of the conviction and the
crime itself. Pardon, excuses the convict from
serving the sentence. Ex: Suppose, instead of
amnesty, what wasgiven was absolute pardon,
then years later, the offender was again
captured and charged forrebellion, he was
convicted, is he a recidivist?A: Yes, he
is.Pardon, although absolute, does not erase
the effects of conviction . It only excuses the
accused from serving his sentence.In the case
at bar, the accused was awarded or
given pardon, not amnesty, which erases not
only the conviction but also the crime itself. He
thencommits a crime of rebellion, there by
making him a recidivist.Art. 24.
Measures of prevention or safety which are not
considered penalties
. Thefollowing shall not be considered as
penalties:
1. The arrest and temporary detention of accus
ed persons, as well as their detention by
reason of insanity or imbecility, or illnessrequiri
ng their confinement in a hospital.
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

publicoffice during the trial or in order to
instituteproceedings.
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 penalform.

The penalties which may be imposed

according to this
Code, and their differentclasses, are those
included in the following
:Capital punishment: Death
Afflictive penalties:
Reclusion perpetua ,Reclusion temporal,
Perpetual or temporary absolute
disqualification, Perpetual or
temporary special disqualification, Prision
mayor.
Correctional penalties: Prision correccional,
Arresto mayor, Suspension, Destierro.
Penalties common to the three precedingclasse
s: Fine, and Bond to keep the peace.
AccessoryPenalties:
Perpetual or temporary absolute
disqualification
Perpetual or temporary specialdisqualification
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
: The above mentioned are penalties imposed
onthe criminal offenses being committed byoff
enders.Art. 26.
When afflictive, correctional, or light penalty.
A fine, whether imposed as a
singleof as an alternative penalty, shall beconsi
dered an afflictive penalty, if it exceeds6,000
pesos; a correctional penalty, if it doesnot
exceed 6,000 pesos but is not less than200
pesos; and a light penalty if it less than200
pesos.
: This means you could just pay for bail, if
whatyou committed did not meet the penalties
mentioned in the preceding article.Art. 27.
Reclusion perpetua

: The abovementioned are not penalties for

acrime. Rather they are just part of due
processgiven to an accused.Art. 25.
Penalties which may be imposed.

. Any personsentence to any of the

perpetual penaltiesshall be pardoned after und
ergoing thepenalty for thirty years, unless such
person byreason of his conduct or some other
seriouscause shall be considered by the Chief E

xecutive as unworthy of pardon. (20 yearsand

1 day to 40 years)

onlyfrom the day on which the defendant

commences to serve his sentence.

Reclusion temporal.

: This refers to the duration of the sentence.

The penalty of reclusiontemporal shall be

from twelve years and oneday to twenty years.

Ex: True or false, a man was convicted of

Reclusion temporal after committing a crime
of homicide should be serving a sentence of
twenty years and one day to forty years?

Prision mayor and temporary disqualification.

The duration of the
penalties of prision mayor and temporary
disqualification shall be from six years andone
day to twelve years, except when thepenalty
of disqualification is imposed as anaccessory
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 six months and one day to six 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 one month and
one day to six months. Arresto menor. The
duration of the penalty of arresto menor
shall be from one day to thirty 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.
: The abovementioned penalties are to be
givenon offenders when they have committed
acrime, depending on the lightness and gravity
of the crime committed. The gravest being
Reclusion perpetua since the Death sentence
hasbeen abolished. And bond to keep peace as
thelightest.Art. 28.
Computation of penalties.
If theoffender shall be in prison, the term of
theduration 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
fromthe day that the offender is placed
at thedisposal of the judicial authorities for the
enforcement of the penalty. The duration of the
other penalties shall be computed

A: False.The Revised Penal Code provides that

Reclusion temporal is supposed to be served
twelve years and one day to twenty years .In
the case at bar, the man committed homicide
and was punished with Reclusion temporal. The
years that was mention in the prescription was
for Reclusion perpetua.Art. 29.
Period of preventive imprisonment
deducted from term of imprisonment.
Offenders who have undergone preventive
imprisonment shall be credited in the serviceof
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
inthe following cases:
1. When they are recidivists or have been
convicted previously twice or more times
of any crime; and
2. When upon being summoned for theexecutio
n of their sentence they have failedto
surrender voluntarily.If the detention
prisoner does not agree toabide by the same
disciplinary rules imposedupon convicted
prisoners, he shall be creditedin the service of
his sentence with four-fifthsof the time during
which he has undergone preventive
imprisonment.
Whenever an accused has undergone
preventive imprisonment for a period equal to
or more than the possible maximumim
prisonment 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 maybe
sentenced is destierro, he shall be released

after thirty (30) days of preventiv

eimprisonment.

squalification for public office, profession

orcalling shall produce the following effects:

: This is in reference to offenders

who haveserved their sentences to prevent the
m fromcommitting another crime.Art. 30.

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.

Effects of the penalties of

perpetualor temporary absolute disqualification
.
The penalties of perpetual or temporary
absolute disqualification for public office
shallproduce the following effects:
1. The deprivation of the public offices
andemployments which the offender
may haveheld even if conferred by popular
election.
2. The deprivation of the right to vote in
anyelection for any popular office or to beelect
ed to such office.
3. The disqualification for the offices or
publicemployments 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 orother
pension for any office formerly held.
: This is in line with the sentence: Public officeis
a public trust.Ex: A public officer committed a
crime of rapewith murder. His final judgment
was perpetualor temporary absolute
disqualification. Do youagree with the
judgment or not?A: Yes, I agree with the
judgment.Public office is a public trust. And if a
publicofficer commenced such crime, he is not
fit tobe trusted and must be stripped of his
dutiesand obligations to the public.
In the given case at bar, the public officer
committed rape with murder, therefore, he
cannot be trusted and must be stripped of his
office, duties and obligations as a public officer,
as public office is a public trust.Art. 31.
Effect of the penalties of perpetualor
temporary special disqualification.

Thepenalties of perpetual or temporal specialdi

: People in office who had committed a crime

shall be deprived of their office. Like in royalty
for example, if the king commits a crime, he is
forced to abdicate and thereby stripped of his
title and office.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.
: Again with connection to public office is a
public trust, the offender may not hold any
office during his term of sentence. They will be
deprived the right to vote in any popular
election for any public office.Art. 33.
Effects of the penalties of suspension from any
public office, profession or calling,or the right
of suffrage.
The suspensionfrom public office, profession
or calling, and the exercise of the right of
suffrage shall disqualify the offender
from holding such office or exercising such
profession or callingor right of suffrage during
the term of thesentence.
The person suspended from holding public
office shall not hold another having similar
functions during the period of his suspension.
: In connection with the holding of public office,
one may be suspended from holding public
office and shall not hold another having simila

rfunctions 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 theperson or property of any ward,
of marital authority, of the right to manage his
property and of the right to dispose of such
property byany act or any conveyance inter
vivos.
: During the term of sentence, one who is
convicted is stripped of rights to parental
authority, guardianship, marital authority and
right to manage his property.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 judgme
nt, 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 itsdiscretion, the period of
duration of the bond. Should the person
sentenced fail to give the bond as required he
shall be detained for
aperiod which shall in no case exceed six
months, is he shall have been prosecuted for a
grave or less grave felony, and shall notexceed
thirty days, if for a light felony.
: In connection to payment of any bail or
bond,as to keep the peace and sanctity of the
place.Art. 36.
Pardon; its effect.
A pardon shallnot work the restoration of the
right to holdpublic office, or the right of
suffrage, unlesssuch rights be expressly
restored by the termsof the pardon.A pardon
shall in no case exempt the culprit
from the payment of the civil indemnity
imposed upon him by the sentence.

: Pardon is differentiated from amnesty. As

pardon excuses the sentence but not the
crime,and amnesty excuses both the sentence
and thecrime.Art. 37.
Cost; What are included.
Costs shallinclude fees and indemnities in
the course of the judicial proceedings,
whether they befixed or unalterable amounts
previously determined by law or regulations in
force, oramounts not subject to schedule.
: These are the fees included in paying the
bail,or other form of obligations you have when
youare accused.Art. 38.
Pecuniary liabilities; Order of payment.
In case the property of the
offender should not be sufficient for thepaymen
t of all his pecuniary liabilities, the same shall
be met in the following order:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The reparation of the damage caused.

Indemnification of consequential damages.
The fine.
The cost of the proceedings.

: When things are to be repaired, or when

things are taken, its either you pay back the
equal amount in which the victim paid for it or
you find a way to repair it.Art. 39.
Subsidiary penalty.
If the convicthas no property with which to
meet the finementioned 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
formore than one year, and no fraction or part
of a day shall be counted against the prisoner
2. When the principal penalty imposed be
onlya fine, the subsidiary imprisonment shall

notexceed six months, if the culprit shall have

been prosecuted for a grave
or less gravefelony, and shall not exceed
fifteen days, if for a light felony.
3. When the principal imposed is higher
thanprision correccional, no subsidiaryimprison
ment shall be imposed upon theculprit.
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.chan robles virtual law library

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, unlessthe
same shall have been expressly remittedin the
pardon.
Art. 43.
Prision correccional; Its accessory penalties.

: This is in case a person convicted cannot

payfor the same, they will follow theabove
mentioned guidelines with regard to
payment.Art. 40.

The penalty of prisionc

orreccional shall carry with it that of suspensio
n from public office, from the rightto follow a
profession or calling, and that
of perpetual special disqualification from the
right of suffrage, if the duration of saidimprison
ment shall exceed eighteen months.The
offender shall suffer the disqualification
provided in the article although pardoned asto
the principal penalty, unless the same shall
have been expressly remitted in the pardon.

Death; Its accessory penalties.

Art. 44.

5. The subsidiary personal liability which

theconvict may have suffered by reason of his
insolvency shall not relieve him, from the
finein case his financial circumstances should
improve.

Thedeath penalty, when it is not executed by

reason of commutation or pardon shall carry
with it that of perpetual absolutedisqualificatio
n and that of civil interdiction
during thirty years following the date
sentence, unless such accessory penalties
have been expressly remitted in the pardon.

Arresto; Its accessory penalties.

The penalty of arresto shall carry with it that
of suspension of the right too hold office
andthe right of suffrage during the term of the
sentence.

: This has been abolished, so, at some point no

longer applicable. Although it is still included in
the RPC, it is respected as a resource.Art. 41.

Art. 45.

Reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal;

Their accessory penalties.

Confiscation and forfeiture of the proceeds or

instruments of the crime.

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
theoffender shall suffer even though pardoned
asto the principal penalty, unless the same
shall have been expressly remitted in the
pardon.

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 at
hird person not liable for the offense, but those

articles which are not subject of lawful

commerce shall be destroyed.
Art. 46.
Penalty to be imposed upon principals in gener
al
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 is general terms, it shall be
understood as applicable to the consummated
felony.
: This means, all the crimes have been on the
consummated stage.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 asto the propriety of the imposition
of the death penalty. For the imposition of said
penalty orfor 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 andsignature of only the
remaining justices shall be required.
: Although the Death sentence is no longer
commutable, this is to be implemented once a
person is convicted

Art. 56.
Penalty to be imposed uponaccomplices in an a
ttempted crime.
-Thepenalty next lower in degree than that
prescribed by law for an attempt to commit
afelony shall be imposed upon the
accomplicesin an attempt to commit the felony.
Art. 57.
Penalty to be imposed uponaccessories of an at
tempted crime.

 Thepenalty lower by two degrees than that

prescribed by law for the attempted felonyshall
be imposed upon the accessories to
theattempt to commit a felony.
Art. 58.
Additional penalty to be imposed upon
certain accessories.
Those accessoriesfalling 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 shallbe 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 tocommit an
offense has already performed
theacts for the execution of the same butnever
theless the crime was not produced byreason
of the fact that the act intended
wasby its nature one of impossibleaccomplish
ment or because the meansemployed by such
person are essentially inadequate to produce
the result desired by him, the court, having
in mind the socia ldanger and the degree of
criminality shown by
the offender, shall impose upon him the
penalty of arresto mayor or a fine from 200
to500 pesos.
: This is with connection to impossible crime,
where the crime
committed and its way of commission is so
impossible.Ex: A brother, on the intent of killing
hisbrother, bought a poison for his brothers
food.But the pharmacist gave him cheese flavo
rpowder instead, which did not kill his
brother.Was an impossible crime committed or
not?A: Yes, there was an impossible crimecom
mitted.An impossible crime is a
commencement of acrime that the means
of committing it is soimpossible that even with
the intent of killingthe person did not affect

the person instead.In the case at bar, the

brother with an intentionon killing his brother
bought poison, but
insteadwas given cheese powder thereby not ki
llinghim.Art. 60.
Exception to the rules established in Articles 50
to 57. The provisions contained in Articles 50
to 57 , inclusive, of this Codeshall not be
applicable to cases in which thelaw expressly
prescribes the penalty providedfor a frustrated
or attempted felony, or to beimposed upon
accomplices or accessories.
Art. 61.Rules for graduating penalties.
Forthe purpose of graduating the penalties
which,according to the provisions of Articles 50
to57, inclusive, of this Code, are to be
imposedupon persons guilty as principals of an
yfrustrated or attempted felony, or asaccompli
ces or accessories, the following rulesshall be
observed:1. When the penalty prescribed for
the
felonyis single and indivisible, the penalty nextl
ower in degrees shall be that
immediatelyfollowing that indivisible penalty in
therespective graduated scale prescribed inArti
cle 71 of this Code.2. When the penalty
prescribed for the crimeis composed of two
indivisible penalties, or of one or more divisible
penalties to be imposeto their full extent, the
penalty next lower indegree shall be that
immediately following
thelesser of the penalties prescribed in theresp
ective graduated scale.3. When the penalty
prescribed for the crimeis composed of one or
two indivisible penaltiesand 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 divisiblepenalty
and the maximum periods of theproper divisibl
e penalty and the maximum period of that
immediately following in saidrespective
graduated scale.4. when the penalty
prescribed for the crimeis 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 thepenal

ty immediately following in the abovementione
d respective graduated scale. 5. When the law
prescribes a penalty for acrime in
some manner not especially providedfor in the
four preceding rules, the
courts,proceeding by analogy, shall imposecorr
esponding penalties upon those guilty as
principals of the frustrated felony, or of attemp
t to commit the same, and uponaccomplices
and accessories.
: This is in connection to the penalties once
thescale has graduated. Either the years get
addedor subtracted.Art. 62.
Effect of the attendance of mitigating or
aggravating circumstances
and of habitual delinquency.
Mitigating oraggravating circumstances and h
abitualdelinquency shall be taken into account
forthe purpose of diminishing or increasing
thepenalty in conformity with the following
rules:1. Aggravating circumstances which inthe
mselves constitute a crime speciallypunishable
by law or which are included bythe law in
defining a crime and prescribing
thepenalty therefor shall not be taken intoacco
unt for the purpose of increasing thepenalty.2.
The same rule shall apply with respect toany
aggravating circumstance inherent in
thecrime to such a degree that it must of neces
sity accompany the commission
thereof.3. Aggravating or mitigating circumstan
ceswhich arise from the moral attributes of
theoffender, or from his private
relations withthe offended party, or from any ot
herpersonal cause, shall only serve to
aggravateor mitigate the liability of the princip
als,accomplices and accessories as to whom
suchcircumstances are
attendant.4. The circumstances which consist i
n thematerial execution of the act, or in
the meansemployed to accomplish it, shall serv
e toaggravate or mitigate the
liability of thosepersons only who had
knowledge of them atthe time of the execution
of the act or theircooperation
therein.5. Habitual delinquency shall have thef
ollowing effects:(a) Upon a third conviction the
culprit shall besentenced to the penalty
provided by law forthe last crime of which he
be found guilty

andto the additional penalty of prisioncorreccio

nal in its medium and maximumperiods;(b)
Upon a fourth conviction, the culprit shallbe
sentenced to the penalty provided for thelast
crime of which he be found guilty and tothe
additional penalty of prision mayor in
itsminimum and medium periods; and(c) Upon
a fifth or additional conviction,
theculprit shall be sentenced to the penaltypro
vided for the last crime of which he befound
guilty and to the additional penalty
of prision mayor in its maximum period toreclu
sion temporal in its minimum
period.Notwithstanding the provisions of this
article,the total of the two penalties to be
imposedupon the offender, in conformity herew
ith,shall in no case exceed 30 years.For the
purpose of this article, a person
shallbe deemed to be habitual delinquent, iswit
hin 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
guiltyof any of said crimes a third time or
oftener.
: This article pertains to when the
aggravatingcircumstance is offset by mitigating
circumstance and thus the computation is
eithercommuted or reduced. This is in the case
of serious physical injury, robbery, estafa,homi
cide and this is referred to recidivists orrepeat
offenders or habitual delinquents.Art. 63.
Rules for the application of indivisible
penalties.
In all cases in whichthe 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
thedeed.In all cases in which the law prescribes
apenalty composed of two indivisible
penalties,the following rules shall be observed
in theapplication thereof:1. When in the
commission of the deed thereis present only
one aggravating circumstance,the greater
penalty shall be applied.
: If the crime committed is in the
aggravatingcircumstance, the greater penalty
is given, thisincludes:1) Reclusion perpetua2)
Reclusion temporal

2. When there are neither mitigating noraggrav

ating circumstances and there is noaggravating
circumstance, the lesser penaltyshall be
applied.
: If both the mitigating
and aggravating aremissing in the element of
the crime, a lesserpenalty shall be applied. This
pertains to:1) Prision mayor2) Arresto mayor3)
Arresto menor
3. When the commission of the act is
attendedby some mitigating circumstances and
there
isno aggravating circumstance, the lesserpenal
ty shall be applied.
: This is in the presence of a mitigatingcircumst
ance but no aggravating, a lesserpenalty is to
be administered.

4. When both mitigating and aggravatingcircu

mstances attended the commission of theact,
the court shall reasonably allow them tooffset
one another in consideration of
theirnumber and importance, for the purpose
of applying the penalty in accordance with
thepreceding rules, according to the result
of such compensation.
: This is in the case where both are
present,then one can offset the other by either
reducingthe number of years.Art. 64.
Rules for the application of
penaltieswhich contain three periods.
In cases inwhich the penalties prescribed by
law containthree periods, whether it be a single
divisiblepenalty or composed of three different
penalties, each one of which forms a period
inaccordance with the provisions of Articles
76and 77, the court shall observe for theapplic
ation of the penalty the following
rules,according to whether there
are or are notmitigating or aggravating
circumstances:1. When there are neither
aggravating
normitigating circumstances, they shall impose
the penalty prescribed by law in its
mediumperiod.

: This is in case neither

the aggravating normitigating is present, the m
edium penalty isgiven.
2. When only a mitigating
circumstances ispresent in the commission of
the act,
theyshall impose the penalty in its minimumper
iod.
: In this case, the minimum period (it may
bearresto menor or bond) that will be given
aspunishment to the accused.
3. When an aggravating circumstance ispresen
t in the commission of the act,
theyshall impose the penalty in its maximumpe
riod.
: Granting in this case that an aggravatingcircu
mstance was present in the commission
of the crime, maximum
is to be implemented:Reclusion perpetua.
4. When both mitigating and aggravatingcircu
mstances are present, the court shallreasonabl
y offset those of one class againstthe other
according to their relative weight.
: In the case at bar, one may offset the
othergranting that both the mitigating andaggr
avating is present in the commencement of the
crime.
5. When there
are two or more mitigatingcircumstances and n
o aggravatingcircumstances are present, the c
ourt shallimpose the penalty next lower to that
prescribed by law, in the period that it
maydeem applicable, according to the number
andnature of such circumstances.
: In the case where there two or moremitigating
circumstances but no aggravatingpresent,
the court shall impose a lower penaltythan that
prescribed by law.
6. Whatever may be the number and nature
of the aggravating circumstances, the courtssh
all not impose a greater penalty than
thatprescribed by law, in its maximum period.
: Death may not be imposed regardless of
howaggravating the circumstances are.

7. Within the limits of each period, the

courtshall determine the extent of the penaltya
ccording to the number and nature of
theaggravating and mitigating circumstances
andthe greater and lesser extent of the
evilproduced by the crime.
: This is in favor of the gravity of the
crimecommenced by the offender.Art. 65.
Rule in cases in which the penalty isnot
composed of three periods.
In cases inwhich the penalty prescribed by
law is notcomposed of three periods, the courts
shallapply the rules contained in the foregoinga
rticles, dividing into three equal portions
of time included in the penalty prescribed,
andforming one period of each of the threeporti
ons.
: Instead of doing three (3) separate periods
of penalty, it will be done consecutively at thes
ame time.Art. 66.
Imposition of fines.
In imposingfines the courts may fix any
amount withinthe limits established by law; in
fixing theamount in each case attention shall
be
given,not only to the mitigating and aggravatin
gcircumstances, but more particularly to thewe
alth or means of the culprit.
: Fines that could be accommodated
by thewealth or means of the culprit are to bea
djusted in case he/she may not be able to
pay.This is to be determined by the courts.Art.
67.
Penalty to be imposed when not
allthe requisites of exemption of the fourthcircu
mstance of Article 12 are present
.When all the conditions required in

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