ARTICLE 14 – AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES
sanctuary worthy of respect
- Serve to increase the penalty without exceeding the maximum of
the penalty provided by law for the offense.
- Based on the greater perversity of the offender manifested in the
commission if the felony as shown by:
o The motivating power itself;
o The place of commission;
o The means and ways employed;
o The time; or
o The personal circumstances of the offender, or of the
offended party
- Should be specifically alleged in the information and proved as
fully as the crime itself in order to increase the penalty
GENERIC – increases the penalty of the offense to its maximum period but
it cannot be to the next higher degree; can be offset by an ordinary
mitigating circumstance; can generally apply to all crimes: paragraphs 1, 2,
3 (dwelling), 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 18, 19, and 20 (except by means of motor
vehicle)
SPECIFIC – apply only to specific crimes: paragraphs 3 (except dwelling),
15, 16, 17, 21
o Disregard of rank, age, or sex due the offended party = crimes
against persons and honor
o Abuse of superior strength or means be employed to weaken the
defense = crimes against persons
o Treachery = crimes against persons
o Cruelty = crimes against persons
o Ignominy = crimes against chastity
QUALIFYING – change the nature of the crime and the designation of the
offense and resultantly increase the penalty to a higher degree; cannot be
offset by any mitigating circumstance and must be proved as conclusively
as the guilt of the offender because they are elements of the offense
o Treachery or evident premeditation – qualifies the killing of a
person to murder
INHERENT – those which of necessity accompany the commission of the
crime, therefore not considered in increasing the penalty to be imposed
o Evident premeditation – concubinage, robbery, adultery, theft,
estafa
o Abuse of public office – bribery, malversation
o Breaking of a wall or unlawful entry – robbery
o Fraud – estafa
o Deceit – simple seduction
o Ignominy – rape
o Disregard of sex – rape
SPECIAL – those which arise under special conditions to increase the
penalty of the offense and cannot be offset by mitigating circumstances
o Complex crimes
o Unlicensed firearm in homicide or murder
o Taking advantage of public position and membership in an
organized/syndicated crime group
o Error in personae
o Quasi-recidivism
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public
position.
Public officer must use: INFLUENCE; PRESTIGE; ASCENDANCY
2. That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to
the public authorities.
Requisites:
1) That the public authority is engaged in the exercise of his
functions;
2) That the public authority is not the person against whom the
crime is committed;
3) The offender knows him to be a public authority;
4) His presence has not prevented the offender from committing the
criminal act
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 it be committed in the dwelling of the offended
party, if the latter has not given provocation.
*If all of them are present, they have the weight of one aggravating
circumstance only.
Rank, age, sex – crimes against persons or honor
Dwelling – sanctity of privacy exclusively used for rest and comfort;
Provocation in dwelling:
1) Given by the owner of the dwelling;
2) Sufficient;
3) Immediate to the commission of the crime
4. That the act be committed with abuse of confidence or
obvious ungratefulness.
Requisites of abuse of confidence:
1) That the abuse of confidence facilitated the commission of
the crime;
2) That the offender abused such trust by committing a crime
against the offended party;
3) That the offended party trusted the offender
Requisites of obvious ungratefulness:
1) That the offended party trusted the offender;
2) That the offender abused such trust by committing a crime
against the offended party;
3) That the act be committed with obvious ungratefulness
5. That the crime be committed in the palace of the Chief
Executive, or in his presence, or where public authorities are
engaged in the discharge of their duties or in a place
dedicated to religious worship.
6. That the crime be committed in the nighttime or in an
uninhabited place, or by a band, whenever such circumstances
may facilitate the commission of the offense.
Whenever more than three malefactors shall have acted
together in the commission of an offense, it shall be deemed to
have been committed by a band.
When aggravating:
1) Facilitated the commission of the crime;
2) Especially sought for by the offender to insure the commission of
the crime or for the purpose of impunity;
3) The offender took advantage thereof for the purpose of impunity
Requisites of band:
1) Armed men or persons took part in the commission of the crime,
directly or indirectly;
2) The accused availed himself of their aid or relied upon them
when the crime was committed
7. That the crime be committed on the occasion of a
conflagration, shipwreck, earthquake, epidemic, or other
calamity or misfortune.
*Killing a person on the occasion of any of the calamities enumerated
qualifies it to murder.
8. That the crime be committed with the aid of armed men or
persons who insure or afford impunity.
*Armed men – persons equipped with a weapon; at least 2
Requisites:
1) Armed men or persons took part in the commission of the crime,
directly or indirectly;
2) The accused availed himself of their aid or relied upon them
when the crime was committed
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.
Requisites:
1) That the offender is on trial for an offense;
2) That he was previously convicted by final judgment of another
crime;
3) That the offender is convicted of the new offense;
4) That both the first and second offenses are embraced in the
same title of the Code
10. That the offender has been previously punished for an
offense to which the law attaches an equal or greater
 penalty or for two or more crimes to which it attaches a
lighter penalty.
Requisites of reiteracion or habituality:
1) That the accused is on trial for an offense;
2) That he has previously served sentence for another offense to
which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty, or for two or
more crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty than that for
the new offense.
11. That the crime be committed in consideration of a price,
reward, or promise.
*There must be two or more principals – one who gave or offered the price
or promise, and the one who accepted it.
12. That the crime be committed by means of inundation, fire,
poison, explosion, stranding of a vessel or intentional
damage thereto, derailment of a locomotive, or by the use of
any other artifice involving great waste and ruin.
*Should be considered as generic only if another aggravating circumstance
qualifies the crime.
13. That the act be committed with evident premeditation.
*The essence is cool thought and reflection
Requisites:
The prosecution must prove –
1) The time when the offender determined to commit the crime;
2) An act manifestly indicating that the culprit has clung to his
determination;
3) Sufficient lapse of time between the determination and execution
of the crime, to allow him to reflect upon the consequences of his
act and to allow his conscience to overcome the resolution of his
will.
14. That craft, fraud, disguise be employed.
*Craft – intellectual trickery or cunning on the part of the accused to aid in
the execution of his criminal design; done in order not to arouse the
suspicion of the victim
*Fraud – insidious words or machinations used to induce the victim to act in
a manner which would enable the offender to carry out his design
*Disguise – resorting to any device to conceal identity
15. That advantage be taken of superior strength, or means be
employed to weaken the defense.
*Notorious inequality of forces between the victim
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.
Requisites:
1) That at the time of the attack, the victim was not in a position to
defend himself;
2) That the offender consciously adopted the particular means,
method or form of attacked employed by him
17. That means be employed or circumstances brought about which
add ignominy to the natural effects of the act.
*Humiliation; add to moral suffering
18. That the crime be committed after an unlawful entry.
There is unlawful entry when an entrance is effected by a way
not intended for the purpose.
*No such breaking as by entry through the window
19. That as a means to the commission of the crime, a wall, roof,
floor, door, or window be broken.
*Involves breaking of the enumerated parts of the house
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under
fifteen years of age, or by means of motor vehicle, airships,
or other similar means.
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be
deliberately augmented by causing other wrong not
necessary for its commission.
*There is cruelty when the culprit enjoys and delights in making his victim
suffer slowly and gradually, causing unnecessary physical pain in the
consummation of the criminal act.
*Refers to physical pain
Requisites:
1) That the injury caused be deliberately increased by causing
other wrong;
2) That the other wrong be unnecessary for the execution of the
purpose of the offender
ARTICLE 15 – ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES
- Those taken into consideration as aggravating ot mitigating
according to the nature and effects of the crime and the other
conditions attending its commission
RELATIONSHIP – spouse; ascendant; descendant; legitimate, natural,
adopted brother or sister; relative by affinity in the same degree of the
offender
a. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY
 Mitigating – robbery, usurpation, fraudulent insolvency, arson
 Exempting – theft, estafa, malicious mischief if the offender and
the offended part lives together
b. CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS
 Serious physical injuries - aggravating
 Less serious physical injuries or slight physical injuries
o Mitigating – offended party is a relative of a lower
degree
o Aggravating – offended part is a relative of a higher
degree
 Homicide or murder – aggravating
 Rape – aggravating
c. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY
 Acts of lasciviousness – aggravating
INTOXICATION
 Mitigating
o Not habitual
o Not subsequent to the plan to commit felony
 Aggravating
o Habitual
o Intentional, subsequent to the plan to commit a felony,
drinks fully, knowing its effects, to find a stimulant to
commit a crime or a means to suffocate a remorse
DEGREE OF INSTRUCTION OR EDUCATION – level of intelligence of the
accused; lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the full significance
of one’s acts
 Mitigating – low degree or lack of it
 Aggravating – high degree when the offender took advantage of
his learning in committing the crime
*Lack of sufficient education not mitigating in:
 Crimes against property, chastity
 Treason – love of country should be a natural feeling
 Murder, rape