FACTS/ISSUES/HELD
ARTICLE 3. DEFINITION OF A FELONY
a. DOLO VS. CULPA
People vs. Ah Chong
FACTS:
• August 14, 1908 About 10 pm: Ah
Chong, a cook was suddenly awakened by some
trying to force open the door of the room. He sat
up in bed and called out twice, "Who is there?"
He heard no answer and was convinced by the
noise at the door that it was being pushed open by
someone bent upon forcing his way into the room.
The defendant, fearing that the intruder was a
robber or a thief, leaped to his feet and called out.
"If you enter the room, I will kill you." At that
moment he was struck just above the knee by the
edge of the chair (thought to be an unlawful
aggression) which had been placed against the
door. Seizing a common kitchen knife which he
kept under his pillow, the defendant struck out
wildly at the intruder who, it afterwards turned
out, was his roommate, Pascual who is a house
boy or muchacho who in the spirit of mischief
was playing a trick on him
• Seeing that Pascual was wounded, he
called to his employers and ran back to his room
to secure bandages to bind up Pascual's wounds.
• There had been several robberies not long
prior to the date of the incident, one of which took
place in a house where he was employed as cook
so he kept a knife under his pillow for his
personal protection.
• trial court held it as simple homicide
ISSUE:
WON defendant can be held criminally
responsible who, by reason of a mistake as to the
facts, does an act for which he would be exempt
from criminal liability if the facts were as he
supposed them to be, but which would constitute
the crime of homicide or assassination if the actor
had known the true state of the facts at the time
when he committed the act.
RULING:
HELD: NO. Trial court should be reversed, and
the defendant acquitted of the crime
People vs. Oanis
FACTS:
• Captain Godofredo Monsod,
Constabulary Provincial Inspector at Cabanatuan,
DOCTRINE
Laws: Article 1 RPC, Art 3 RPC, Article 8 RPC
Culpa:
When the act or omission of the offender is not
malicious. When the act performed is
unintentional. Wrongful act resulted from
imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or lack
of skill.
The defendant at the time acted in good faith,
without malice, or criminal intent, in the belief
that he was doing no more than exercising his
legitimate right of self-defense; that had the facts
been as he believed them to be he would have
been wholly exempt from criminal liability on
account of his act; and that he can not be said to
have been guilty of negligence or recklessness or
even carelessness in falling into his mistake as to
the facts, or in the means adopted by him to
defend himself from the imminent danger which
he believe threatened his person and his property
and the property under his charge.
Article 8 of the Penal Code provides that:
The following are not delinquent and are therefore
exempt from criminal liability:
“4. He who acts in defense of his person or rights,
provided there are the following attendant
circumstances:
(1) Illegal Agression
(2) Reasonable necessity of the means
employed to prevent or repel it.
(3) Lack of sufficient provocation on the part
of the person defending himself.
Under these provisions, we think that the
defendant would be entitled to complete
exemption from criminal liability.
Dolo:
The crime committed by appellants is not merely
criminal negligence, the killing being intentional
and not accidental. In criminal negligence, the
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Nueva Ecija, received from Major Guido a
telegram of the following tenor: "Information
received escaped convict Anselmo Balagtas with
bailarina and Irene in Cabanatuan get him dead or
alive." Captain Monsod accordingly called for his
first sergeant and asked that he be given four men.
• The same instruction was given to the
chief of police Oanis who was likewise called by
the Provincial Inspector.
• Defendants Oanis and Galanta then went
to the room of Irene, and an seeing a man sleeping
with his back towards the door where they were,
simultaneously or successively fired at him with
their .32 and .45 caliber revolvers. Awakened by
the gunshots, Irene saw her paramour already
wounded, and looking at the door where the shots
came, she saw the defendants still firing at him.
Shocked by the entire scene. Irene fainted; it
turned out later that the person shot and killed was
not the notorious criminal Anselmo Balagtas but a
peaceful and innocent citizen named Serapio
Tecson, Irene's paramour.
• According to Appellant Galanta, when he
and chief of police Oanis arrived at the house, the
latter asked Brigida where Irene's room was.
Brigida indicated the place, and upon further
inquiry as to the whereabouts of Anselmo
Balagtas, she said that he too was sleeping in the
same room.
ISSUE: WON they may, upon such fact, be held
responsible for the death thus caused to Tecson.
RULING: YES. appellants are hereby declared
guilty of murder with the mitigating circumstance.
People vs. Pugay
FACTS:
The accused are pronounced by the RTC of
Cavite guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the
crime of murder of Bayani Miranda and
sentencing them to a prison term ranging from 12
years (prison mayor) as mimimum to 20 years
(prison temporal) as maximum and for samson to
be sentenced to reclusion perpetua.
Miranda, a retardate, and the accused Pugay are
friends. Miranda used to run errands for Pugay
and they used to sleep together. On the evening of
May 19, 1982 a town fiesta was held in the public
plaza of Rosario Cavite. Sometime after midnight
accused Pugay and Samson with several
injury caused to another should be unintentional,
it being simply the incident of another act
performed without malice.
"No unnecessary or unreasonable force shall be
used in making an arrest, and the person arrested
shall not be subject to any greater restraint than is
necessary for his detention."
A peace officer cannot claim exemption from
criminal liability if he uses unnecessary force or
violence in making an arrest
According to article 69 of the Revised Penal
Code, the penalty lower by 1 or 2 degrees than
that prescribed by law shall, in such case, be
imposed.
“As they were instructed not to kill Balagtas at
sight but to arrest him , and get him dead or alive
only if resistance or agression is offered by him.”
ART. 3(2) & 8(2) OF THE R.P.C.
Article 3 (2)
“...Felonies are not only committed not only by
means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of fault
(culpa).”
Article 8 (2)
A conspiracy exists when two or more persons
come to an agreement concerning the commission
of a felony and decide to commit it.
CONSPIRACY - is determined when two or more
persons agree to commit a felony and decide to
commit it. Conspiracy must be proven with the
same quantum of evidence as the felony itself,
more specifically by proof beyond reasonable
doubt. It is not essential that there be proof as to
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companions arrived (they were drunk), and they the existence of a previous agreement to commit a
started making fun of Bayani Miranda. Pugay crime. It is sufficient if, at the time of commission
after making fun of the Bayani, took a can of of the crime, the accused had the same purpose
gasoline and poured its contents on the latter, and were united in its execution.
Gabion (principal witness) told Pugay not to do Since there was no animosity between Miranda
the deed. Then Samson set Miranda on fire and the accused, add to that that the meeting at the
making a human torch out of him. They were scene of the incident was purely coincidental, and
arrested the same night and barely a few hours the main intent of the accused is to make fun of
after the incident gave their written statements. miranda.
ISSUE:
WON conspiracy is present in this case to ensure
that murder can be the crime? If not what are the
criminal responsibilities of the accused?
RULING:
There is NO CONSPIRACY.
Since there is no conspiracy that was proven, the
respective criminal responsibility of Pugay and
Samson arising from different acts directed
against Miranda is individual NOT collective and
each of them is liable only for the act that was
committed by him.
Judgment of the lower Court was affirmed with
modifications. Judgment for guilty beyond
reasonable doubt for murder was lowered to the
above judgments.

People vs. Garcia Article 365 of the RPC (Reckless imprudence

FACTS: resulting to homicide.
Garcia was convicted of murder on the decision of
the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City branch Culpa:
87. The court's evaluation of the evidence reveals that
The appellant was unlawfully and feloniously appellant had no intention to kill the victim. As
driving a passenger jeep in a careless, reckless, such he cannot be held liable of intentional felony.
negligent and imprudent manner. Causing as All reasonable doubt intended to demonstrate
consequence of his said carelessness, negligence negligence, and not criminal intent, must be
and impudence hit and bumped Sanilyn Trinidad. resolved in favor of appelant.
The jeepney stopped but as the brother of the
deceased was running towards his sister, the
vehicle suddenly accelerated with its front tire
running over Sanily’s stomach. The appellant
brought Sanily to the hospital, but after 4 days
died.
ISSUE:
WON the appelant be charged with murder.
RULING: NO. Convicting apellant of the crime
of murder is REVERSED and SET ASIDE.
Appellant Renato Garcia y Romano is found
guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime
reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

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The unfortunate incident was more the result of
reckless imprudence than of malicious intent.
Therefore the trial court erredd in convicting the
appelant of the crime of murder qualified bye
evident premodition.
Manuel vs. People “Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit
Facts: Eduardo Manuel was charged with bigamy
rea.”
for contracting a second marriage with Tina For one to be criminally liable for a
Gandalera-Manuel on or about the 22nd day of felony by dolo, there must be a
April, 1996, in the City of Baguio, Philippines, confluence of both an evil act and an
even without the dissolution of his first marriage
Rubylus Gana. They met in Dagupan, as Tina was evil intent.
a student there. Afterwards, Manuel visited her in
Baguio, and one thing led to another, so they went Article 3, paragraph 2 of the Revised
to a motel where, despite Tina’s resistance, Penal Code provides that there is
Eduardo succeeded in having his way with her.
Eduardo proposed marriage on several occasions, deceit when the act is performed with
assuring her that he was single. Eduardo deliberate intent. Indeed, a felony
even brought his parents to Baguio City to meet cannot exist without intent. Since a
Tina’s parents, and was assured by them that their
son was still single. Tina finally agreed to marry
felony by dolo is classified as an
Eduardo sometime in the first week of March intentional felony, it is deemed
1996. The couple was happy during the first three voluntary. Although the words “with
years of their married life. Through their joint malice” do not appear in Article 3 of
efforts, they were able to build their home in
Baguio. However, starting 1999, Manuel started the Revised Penal Code, such phrase is
making himself scarce and went to their house included in the word “voluntary.”
only twice or thrice a year. Tina was jobless, and Malice is a mental state or condition
whenever she asked money from Eduardo, he prompting the doing of an overt act
would slap her. Sometime in January 2001,
Eduardo took all his clothes, left, and did not without legal excuse or justification
return. Worse, he stopped giving financial from which another suffers injury.
support. Tina became curious and asked at the When the act or omission defined by
NSO regarding Manuel where she learned that he
was married at the time that they exchanged their
law as a felony is proved to have been
vows. done or committed by the accused, the
law presumes it to have been
For his defense, Manuel avers that he met Tina at intentional.
a night club where she was working as a GRO,
and they fell in love, and that Tina knew of his
marriage but that she agreed to marry him
nonetheless. Their marital relationship was in
order until this one time when he noticed that she
had a “love-bite” on her neck. He then abandoned
her. Eduardo further testified that he declared he
was “single” in his marriage contract with Tina
because he believed in good faith that his first
marriage was invalid. He did not know that he had
to go to court to seek for the nullification of his

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first marriage before marrying Tina, as Rubylus,
his first wife, was imprisoned. Manuel visited
Rubylus in jail after 3 months and never saw her
again and had not heard from her in 20 years.

After trial, the court rendered judgment finding

Eduardo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of
bigamy. Eduardo then appealed to the CA
wherein he insisted that conformably to Article 3
of the Revised Penal Code, there must be malice
for one to be criminally liable for a felony. He
contends that he married Tina out of the desire to
have a fruitful marriage.

Issue: W/N Manuel can invoke Art 3 of the RPC

as his defense.

Held: No, he cannot. The petitioner is presumed

to have acted with malice or evil intent when he
married the private complainant. The Court rules
that the petitioner’s collective acts of fraud
and deceit before, during and after his marriage
with the private complainant were willful,
deliberate and with malice and caused injury to
the latter.

As a general rule, mistake of fact or good faith of

the accused is a valid defense in a prosecution for
a felony by dolo; such defense negates malice or
criminal intent. However, ignorance of the law is
not an excuse because everyone is presumed to
know the law. Ignorantia legis neminem excusat.
People vs. Delim Specific intent is not synonymous with
Facts: Marlon, Manuel and Robert Delim are
motive; Motive generally is referred to
brothers. They are the uncles of Leon Delim and as the reason which prompts the
Ronald Delim. Modesto Manalo Bantas, the accused to engage in a criminal
victim, was an Igorot and a carpenter. He took the activity. Motive is not an essential
surname Delim after he was “adopted” by the
father of Marlon, Manuel and Robert. On a element of a crime and hence the
January evening, around 6:30 PM, prosecution need not prove the same.
Modesto, Rita and Randy were preparing to have As a general rule, proof of motive for
their supper in their home. Joining them were the commission of the offense charged
Modesto and Rita’s two young grandchildren,
aged 5 and 7 years old. They were about to eat does not show guilt and absence of
their dinner when Marlon, Robert proof of such motive does not establish
and Ronald suddenly barged into the house and the innocence of accused of the crime
closed the door. Each of the three intruders was
armed with a short handgun. Marlon poked his
charged such as murder.
gun at Modesto while Robert and Ronald

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simultaneously grabbed and hog-tied the victim.
A piece of cloth was placed in the mouth of
Modesto. Marlon, Robert and Ronald herded
Modesto out of the house on their way towards
the direction of Paldit, Sison, Pangasinan. Rita
and Randy were warned by the intruders not to
leave the house. Leon and Manuel, who
were also armed with short handguns, stayed put
by the door to the house of Modesto and ordered
Rita and Randy to stay where they were. Leon and
Manuel left the house of Modesto only at around
7:00 a.m. the following day. As soon as Leon and
Manuel had left, Randy rushed to the house of his
uncle, Darwin Niño, at Sitio Labayog, informed
the latter of the incident the night before and
sought his help for the retrieval of Modesto.
Randy was advised to report the matter to the
police authorities. However, Randy opted to
first look for his father. He and his other relatives
scoured the vicinity to locate Modesto to no avail.
They proceeded to Paldit, Sison, Pangasinan,
around 200 meters away from Modesto’s house,
to locate Modesto but failed to find him
there. On January 25, 1999, Randy and his
relatives returned to the housing project in Paldit,
Sison, Pangasinan to locate Modesto but again
failed to find him there. On January 26, 1999,
Randy reported the incident to the police
authorities. At around 3:00 in the afternoon of
January 27, 1999, Randy, in the company of his
relatives, Nida Pucal, Pepito Pucal, Bernard Osias
and Daniel Delim, returned to the housing project
in Paldit, Sison, Pangasinan and this time
they found Modesto under thick bushes in a
grassy area. He was already dead. Randy
and his relatives immediately rushed to the police
station to report the incident and to seek
assistance.
Issue: W/N Marlon, Ronald and Leon can be held
criminally liable for the death of the victim even if
prosecution failed to prove motive on the
part of the accused.
Held: The Court ruled that yes, they are criminally
liable.
It is true that the prosecution failed to prove
motive on the part of the malefactors to abduct
and kill Modesto. However, corpus delicti
Where the specific intent of the malefactor is
determinative of the crime charged such specific
intent must be alleged in the information and
proved by the prosecution.
Specific intent is used to describe a state of mind
which exists where circumstances indicate that an
offender actively desired certain criminal
consequences or objectively desired a specific
result to follow his act or failure to act. Specific
intent involves a state of the mind. It is the
particular purpose or specific intention in doing
the prohibited act. Specific intent must be alleged
in the Information and proved by the state in a
prosecution for a crime requiring specific intent.
Kidnapping and murder are specific intent crimes.
Specific intent may be proved by direct evidence
or by circumstantial evidence. It may be inferred
from the circumstances of the actions of the
accused as established by the evidence on record.
In homicide (by dolo) and in murder cases, the
prosecution is burdened to prove: (a) the death of
the party alleged to be dead; (b) that the death was
produced by the criminal act of some other than
the deceased and was not the result of accident,
natural cause or suicide; and (c) that defendant
committed the criminal act or was in some way
criminally responsible for the act which produced
the death. To prove the felony of homicide or
murder, there must be incontrovertible evidence,
direct or circumstantial, that the victim was
deliberately killed (with malice); in other words,
that there was intent to kill. Such evidence may
consist inter alia in the use of weapons by the
malefactors, the nature, location and number of
wounds sustained by the victim and the words
uttered by the male-factors before, at the time or
immediately after the killing of the victim. If
the victim dies because of a deliberate act of the
malefactor, intent to kill is conclusively
presumed.
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includes two things: first, the objective; second,
the subjective element of crimes. In the case at
bar, the prosecution adduced the requisite
quantum of proof of corpus delicti. Modesto
sustained five (5) gunshot wounds. He also
sustained seven (7) stab wounds, defensive in
nature. The use by the malefactors
of deadly weapons, more specifically handguns
and knives, in the killing of the victim as well as
the nature, number and location of the wounds
sustained by said victim are evidence of the intent
by the malefactors to kill the victim with all the
consequences flowing therefrom.

IN LIGHT OF ALL THE FOREGOING, the

decision of the trial court is AFFIRMED with
MODIFICATION. Accused-appellants Marlon
Delim, Ronald Delim and Leon Delim are hereby
found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the
felony of Homicide.
Ivler vs. San Pedro

Facts: Following a vehicular collision in August

2004, petitioner Jason Ivler (petitioner) was
charged before the Metropolitan Trial Court of
Pasig City (MTC), with two separate offenses: (1)
Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Slight Physical
Injuries for injuries sustained by respondent
Evangeline L. Ponce (respondent Ponce); and (2)
Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Homicide and
Damage to Property for the death of respondent
Ponce’s husband Nestor C. Ponce and damage to
the spouses Ponce’s vehicle.

Petitioner posted bail for his temporary release in

both cases. On 2004, petitioner pleaded guilty to
the charge on the first delict and was meted out
the penalty of public censure. Invoking this
conviction, petitioner moved to quash the
Information for the second delict for placing him
in jeopardy of second punishment for the same
offense of reckless imprudence.

The MTC refused quashal, finding no identity of

offenses in the two cases.

The petitioner elevated the matter to the Regional

Trial Court of Pasig City (RTC), in a petition for
certiorari while Ivler sought from the MTC the
suspension of proceedings in criminal case,

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including the arraignment his arraignment as a
prejudicial question.

Without acting on petitioner’s motion, the MTC

proceeded with the arraignment and, because of
petitioner’s absence, cancelled his bail and
ordered his arrest.

Seven days later, the MTC issued a resolution

denying petitioner’s motion to suspend
proceedings and postponing his arraignment until
after his arrest. Petitioner sought reconsideration
but as of the filing of this petition, the motion
remained unresolved.

Issue:

Held: Reason and precedent both coincide in that

once convicted or acquitted of a specific act of
reckless imprudence, the accused may not be
prosecuted again for that same act. For the
essence of the quasi offense of criminal
negligence under article 365 of the Revised Penal
Code lies in the execution of an imprudent or
negligent act that, if intentionally done, would be
punishable as a felony. The law penalizes thus the
negligent or careless act, not the result thereof.
The gravity of the consequence is only taken into
account to determine the penalty, it does not
qualify the substance of the offense. And, as the
careless act is single, whether the injurious result
should affect one person or several persons, the
offense (criminal negligence) remains one and the
same, and can not be split into different crimes
and prosecutions.
Calimutan vs. People Article 3 of the Revised Penal Code
Facts: On 04 February 1996, at around 10:00 a.m.,
classifies felonies according to the
the victim Cantre and witness Sañano, together means by which they are committed, in
with two other companions, had a drinking spree particular: (1) intentional felonies, and
at a videoke bar. From the videoke bar, the victim (2) culpable felonies. These two types
Cantre and witness Sañano proceeded to go home
to their respective houses, but along the way, they of felonies are distinguished from each
crossed paths with petitioner Calimutan and a other by the existence or absence of
certain Michael Bulalacao. Victim Cantre was malicious intent of the offender—In
harboring a grudge against Bulalacao, suspecting intentional felonies, the act or omission
the latter as the culprit responsible for throwing
stones at the Cantre’s house on a previous night. of the offender is malicious. In the
Thus, upon seeing Bulalacao, victim Cantre language of Art. 3, the act is performed
with deliberate intent (with malice).

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suddenly punched him. While Bulalacao ran The offender, in performing the act or
away, petitioner Calimutan dashed towards
the backs of victim Cantre and witness Sañano.
in incurring the omission, has the
Petitioner Calimutan then picked up a stone, intention to cause an injury to another.
which he threw at victim Cantre, hitting him at the In culpable felonies, the act or
left side of his back. When hit by the stone, victim omission of the offender is not
Cantre stopped for a moment and held his back.
Witness Sañano put himself between the victim malicious. The injury caused by the
Cantre and petitioner Calimutan, and attempted to offender to another person is
pacify the two, even convincing petitioner “unintentional, it being simply the
Calimutan to put down another stone he was incident of another act performed
already holding. He also urged victim Cantre and
petitioner Calimutan to just go home. Witness without malice.” (People vs. Sara, 55
Sañano accompanied victim Cantre to the latter’s Phil. 939) As stated in Art. 3, the
house, and on the way, victim Cantre complained wrongful act results from imprudence,
of the pain in the left side of his back hit by the
stone. They arrived at the Cantre’s house at
negligence, lack of foresight or lack of
around 12:00 noon, and witness Sañano left skill.
victim Cantre to the care of the latter’s mother,
Belen. Victim Cantre immediately told his
mother, Belen, of the stoning incident involving
petitioner Calimutan. He again complained of
backache and also of stomachache, and
was unable to eat. By nighttime, victim Cantre
was alternately feeling cold and then warm. He
was sweating profusely and his entire body felt
numb. At around 3:00 a.m. of the following day,
Belen was wiping his son with a piece of
cloth, when victim Cantre asked for some food.
He was able to eat a little, but he also later
vomited whatever he ate. For the last time, he
complained of backache and stomachache, and
shortly thereafter, he died. Autopsy revealed that
the cause of death was a traumatic injury to the
abdomen.

RTC rendered its decision wherein Calimutan was

found to be guilty of homicide. Calimutan
appealed to the CA, but the CA sustained RTC’S
ruling.

Issue: W/N petitioner is guilty beyond reasonable

doubt of the crime of homicide.

Held: No. Court cannot sustain the conviction of

petitioner Calimutan for the intentional crime
of homicide, as rendered by the RTC and affirmed
by the Court of Appeals. Instead, this Court finds
petitioner Calimutan guilty beyond reasonable
doubt of the culpable felony of reckless

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imprudence resulting in homicide under Article
365 of the Revised Penal Code.

Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code expressly

provides for the definition of reckless
imprudence—Reckless imprudence consists in
voluntarily, but without malice, doing or failing to
do an act from which material damage results by
reason of inexcusable lack of precaution on the
part of the person performing or failing to perform
such act, taking into consideration his
employment or occupation, degree of intelligence,
physical condition and other circumstances
regarding persons, time and place. There are
several circumstances that demonstrate petitioner
Calimutan’s lack of intent to kill the
victim Cantre, and conversely, that substantiate
the view of this Court that the death of victim
Cantre was a result of petitioner Calimutan’s
reckless imprudence.

WHEREFORE, the assailed Decision of the Court

of Appeals affirming the Decision of the RTC
is hereby MODIFIED. Petitioner Calimutan is
found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of
reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, under
Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code,

Diego vs. Castillo The error must be gross or patent,

Facts: This is an administrative complaint against
Regional Trial Court Judge Silverio Q. Castillo
for allegedly knowingly rendering an unjust
judgment in a criminal case and/or rendering
judgment in gross ignorance of the law.
Accused Lucena Escoto contracted marriage with
Jorge de Perio, Jr. The couple were both Filipinos.
In the marriage contract, the accused used and
adopted the name Crescencia Escoto, with a civil
status of single. A divorce proceeding was then
instituted between the two by the Family District
Court of Harris County, Texas. Subsequently, on
the same Crescencia Escoto contracted marriage
another marriage and this time, the accused used
and adopted the name Lucena Escoto, again, with
a civil status of single. After trial of the criminal
case for bigamy, respondent Judge promulgated a
decision acquitting the accused, the main basis for
the acquittal was good faith on the part of the
malicious, deliberate or in evident bad
faith. It is only in this latter instance,
when the judge acts fraudulently or
with gross ignorance, that
administrative sanctions are called for
as an imperative duty of this Court. As
a matter of public policy then, the acts
of a judge in his official capacity are
not subject to disciplinary action, even
though such acts are erroneous. Good
faith and absence of malice, corrupt
motives or improper considerations are
sufficient defenses in
which a judge charged with ignorance
of the law can find refuge.

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accused. Complainant herein alleges that the
decision rendered by the respondent Judge is
manifestly against the law and contrary to the
evidence.

Issue: W/N the judge is guilty of knowingly

rendering an unjust judgment defined and
penalized under Article 204 of the Revised Penal
Code.

Held: No. The error must be gross or patent,

malicious, deliberate or in evident bad faith. It is
only in this latter instance, when the judge
acts fraudulently or with gross ignorance, that
administrative sanctions are called for as an
imperative duty of this Court. As a matter of
public policy then, the acts of a judge in his
official capacity are not subject to disciplinary
action, even though such acts are erroneous. Good
faith and absence of malice, corrupt motives or
improper considerations are sufficient defenses in
which a judge charged with ignorance of the law
can find refuge.

WHEREFORE, Regional Trial Court Judge

Silverio Q. Castillo is hereby FINED in the
amount of Ten Thousand Pesos with a STERN
WARNING that a repetition of the same or
similar acts will be dealt with more severely.
b. MALA IN SE VS. MALA PROHIBITA
People v. Bayona The rule is that in acts mala in se there
Facts: Defendant Bayona was within the fence
must be a criminal intent, but in those
surrounding the polling place when Desiderio, a mala prohibita it is sufficient if the
representative of the Department of Interior, took prohibited act was intentionally done.
possession of the revolver the defendant was "Care must be exercised in
carrying. He was arrested for carrying arms within
fifty meters from a polling place, a violation of distinguishing the difference between
the Election Law. However, defendant argues that the intent to commit the crime and the
he was in a public road, where he had a right to intent to perpetrate the act. * * *" (U.
be, when he was arrested. He also contends that S. vs. Go Chico, 14 Phil., 128.)
he was called by a friend and merely approached
him to find out what he wanted and had no
interest in the election; that there were many
people in the public road in front of the polling
place, and the defendant could not leave his
revolver in his automobile, which he himself was
driving, without running the risk of losing it and
thereby incurring in a violation of the law.

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 11

Issue: W/N accused is guilty of violating the
Election Law.

Held: Yes. Just by being on the fence with his

revolver, he committed it willfully. The act
prohibited by the Election Law was complete. The
intention to intimidate the voters or to interfere
otherwise with the election is not made an
essential element of the offense. Unless such an
offender actually makes use of his revolver, it
would be extremely difficult, if not impossible,
to prove that he intended to intimidate the voters.
US v. Chico In mala in se, it is not necessary that
Facts: Appellant Go Chico displayed in one of the
the appellant should have acted with
windows and one of the show cases of his store, criminal intent. In many crimes, made
No. 89 Calle Rosario, a number of medallions, in such by statutory enactment, the
the form of a small button, upon the faces of intention of the person who commits
which were imprinted in miniature the picture of
Emilio Aguinaldo, and the flag or banner or the crime is entirely immaterial. This is
device used during the late insurrection in the necessarily so. If it were not, the statute
Philippine Islands to designate and identify those as a deterrent influence would be
in armed insurrection against the United States. substantially worthless. It would be
Appellant was arranging his stock of goods for the
purpose of displaying them to the public and in so impossible of execution. In many cases
doing placed in his showcase and in one of the the act complained of is itself that
windows of his store the medallions described. which produces the pernicious effect
The appellant was ignorant of the existence of
section 1 of Act No. 1696 of the Philippine
which the statute seeks to avoid. In
Commission, a law against the display of the those cases the pernicious effect is
medallions in question and had consequently no produced with precisely the same force
corrupt intention. Appellant avers that before a and result whether the intention of the
conviction under the law cited can be had, a
criminal intent upon the part of the accused must person performing the act is good or
be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. bad.
Issue: W/N appellant is guilty of violating 1 of
Act No. 1696 of the Philippine Commission.

Held: Yes. It is not necessary that the appellant

should have acted with criminal intent. In many
crimes, made such by statutory enactment, the
intention of the person who commits the crime is
entirely immaterial. This is necessarily so. If it
were not, the statute as a deterrent influence
would be substantially worthless. It would be
impossible of execution. In many cases the act
complained of is itself that which produces the
pernicious effect which the statute seeks to avoid.
In those cases the pernicious effect is produced

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 12

with precisely the same force and result whether
the intention of the person performing the act is
good or bad. The case at bar is a perfect
illustration of this. The display of a flag or
emblem used, particularly within a recent period,
by the enemies of the Government tends to incite
resistance to governmental functions and
insurrection against governmental authority
just as effectively if made in the best of good faith
as if made with the most corrupt intent. The
display itself, without the intervention of any
other factor, is the evil.
Estrada v. Sandiganbayan For when the acts punished are
FACTS: Former President Estrada and co-accused
were charged for Plunder under RA 7080 (An Act
inherently immoral or inherently
Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder), as wrong, they are
amended by RA 7659. mala in se.
On the information, it was alleged that Estrada
have received billions of pesos through any or a
combination or a series of overt or criminal acts, or
similar schemes or means thereby unjustly
enriching himself or themselves at the expense and
to the damage of the Filipino people and the
Republic of the Philippines.

Estrada questions the constitutionality of the

Plunder Law since for him:

1. it suffers from the vice of vagueness

2. it dispenses with the "reasonable doubt" standard

in criminal prosecutions

3. it abolishes the element of mens rea in crimes

already punishable under The Revised Penal Code.

Office of the Ombudsman filed before the

Sandiganbayan 8 separate Informations against
petitioner.

Estrada filed an Omnibus Motion on the grounds

of lack of preliminary investigation,
reconsideration/reinvestigation of offenses and
opportunity to prove lack of probable cause but
was denied.

Later on, the Sandiganbayan issued a Resolution in

Crim. Case No. 26558 finding that a probable

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 13

cause for the offense of plunder exists to justify the
issuance of warrants for the arrest of the accused.

Estrada moved to quash the Information in

Criminal Case No. 26558 on the ground that the
facts alleged therein did NOT constitute an
indictable offense since the law on which it was
based was unconstitutional for vagueness and that
the Amended Information for Plunder charged
more than one offense. Same was denied.

ISSUE: Whether Plunder as defined in RA 7080 is

a malum prohibitum.

HELD: No. It is malum in se. The legislative

declaration in RA No. 7659 that plunder is a
heinous offense implies that it is a malum in se. For
when the acts punished are inherently immoral or
inherently wrong, they are mala in se and it does
not matter that such acts are punished in a special
law, especially since in the case of plunder that
predicate crimes are mainly mala in se.

Its abomination lies in the significance and

implications of the subject criminal acts in the
scheme of the larger socio-political and economic
context in which the state finds itself to be
struggling to develop and provide for its poor and
underprivileged masses. Reeling from decades of
corrupt tyrannical rule that bankrupted the
government and impoverished the population, the
Philippine Government must muster the political
will to dismantle the culture of corruption,
dishonesty, green and syndicated criminality that
so deeply entrenched itself in the structures of
society and the psyche of the populace. [With the
government] terribly lacking the money to
provide even the most basic services to its people,
any form of misappropriation or misapplication of
government funds translates to an actual threat to
the very existence of government, and in turn, the
very survival of people it governs over.
ARTICLE 4. CRIMINAL LIABILITY
People v. Iligan Under Article 4 of the Revised Penal
Facts: At around 2:00 o’clock in the morning
Code, criminal liability shall be
Esmeraldo Quiñones, Jr. and his companions, incurred “by any person committing a
Zaldy Asis and Felix Lukban, were walking home felony (delito) although the wrongful
from barangay Sto. Domingo, Vinzons, act done be different from that which
Camarines Norte after attending a barrio
fiesta dance. In front of the ricemill of a certain he intended.” Based on the doctrine
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 14
Almadrones, they met the accused Fernando that “el que es causa de la causa es
Iligan, his nephew, Edmundo Asis, and Juan
Macandog. Edmundo Asis pushed (“winahi”)
causa del mal causado” (he who is the
them aside thereby prompting Zaldy Asis to box cause of the cause is the cause of the
him. Felix Lukban quickly told the group evil caused), the essential requisites of
of the accused that they had no desire to fight. Article 4 are: (a) that an intentional
Fernando Iligan, upon seeing his nephew fall,
drew from his back a bolo and hacked Zaldy Asis felony has been committed, and (b) that
but missed. Terrified, the trio ran pursued by the the wrong done to the aggrieved party
three accused. They ran for about half an hour, be the direct, natural and logical
passing by the house of Quiñones, Jr. They consequence of the felony committed by
stopped running only upon seeing that they were
no longer being chased. After resting for a short the offender.
while, Quiñones, Jr. invited the two to accompany
him to his house so that he could change to his
working clothes and report for work as a bus
conductor. While the trio were walking towards
the house of Quiñones, Jr., the three accused
suddenly emerged on the roadside and without a
word, Fernando Iligan hacked Quiñones, Jr. with
his bolo hitting him on the forehead and
causing him to fall down. Horrified, Felix Lukban
and Zaldy Asis fled to a distance of 200 meters,
but returned walking after they heard shouts of
people. Zaldy Asis specifically heard someone
shout “May nadale na.” On the spot where
Quiñones, Jr. was hacked, Zaldy Asis
and Felix Lukban saw him already dead with his
head busted. They helped the brother of Quiñones,
Jr. in carrying him to their house. That same day,
the body of Quiñones, Jr. was autopsied at the
Funeraria Belmonte in Labo, Camarines Norte by
the municipal health officer, Dr. Marcelito E.
Abas. The postmortem examination report
which is found at the back of the death certificate
reveals that Quiñones, Jr. died of “shock and
massive cerebral hemorrhages due to a vehicular
accident.” Accused now contends that he is not
guilty of the crime charged, as the victim did not
die because if the hacking, but because of a
vehicular accident.

Issue: W/N Iligan is guilty of the crime of murder.

Held: Yes. Under these circumstances, we hold

that while Iligan’s hacking of Quiñones, Jr.’s head
might not have been the direct cause, it was
the proximate cause of the latter’s death.
Proximate legal cause is defined as “that acting
first and producing the injury, either immediately
or by setting other events in motion, all
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 15
constituting a natural and continuous chain of
events, each having a close causal connection
with its immediate predecessor, the final event
in the chain immediately effecting the injury as a
natural and probable result of the cause which
first acted, under such circumstances that the
person responsible for the first event should, as an
ordinarily prudent and intelligent person, have
reasonable ground to expect at the moment of his
act or default that an injury to some person might
probably result therefrom.” In other words, the
sequence of events from Iligan’s assault on
him to the time Quiñones, Jr. was run over by a
vehicle is, considering the very short span of time
between them, one unbroken chain of events.
Having triggered such events, Iligan cannot
escape liability.
People v. Mananquil

Quinto vs. Andres Article 4 RPC (Criminal Liability)

FACTS:
November 13, 1995 7:30 am: Edison Garcia, 11
year-old and Grade 4 elementary school pupil,
and his playmate, Wilson Quinto saw Dante
Andres and Randyver Pacheco by the mouth of a
drainage culvert.
Andres and Pacheco invited Wilson to go fishing
with them inside the drainage culvert. Wilson
agreed while Garcia seeing that it was dark inside,
opted to remain seated in a grassy area about two
meters from the entrance of the drainage system
Only Pacheco had a flashlight. Pacheco, who was
holding a fish, came out of the drainage system
and left without saying a word. Then, Andres
came out, went back inside, and emerged again
carrying Wilson who was already dead. He laid
his body down in the grassy area.
Garcia, shocked, fled from the scene. Andres
went to the house of Melba Quinto, Wilson’s
mother, and informed her that her son had died.
They rushed to the drainage culvert. Wilson was
buried without any complaints filed.
November 28, 1995: National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) took the sworn statements of
Pacheco, Garcia and Quinto
Pacheco alleged that he had never been to the
drainage system catching fish with Andres and
Wilson
YES. petition is DENIED. There is no criminal
nor civil liability. The petition has no merit.
Every person criminally liable for a felony is also
civilly liable.
GR: When a criminal action is instituted, the civil
action for the recovery of civil liability arising
from the offense charged shall be deemed
instituted with the criminal action
o While the prosecution must prove the guilt of
the accused beyond reasonable doubt for the
crime charged, it is required to prove the cause of
action of the private complainant against the
accused for damages and/or restitution.
o Insofar as the civil aspect of the case is
concerned, the prosecution or the private
complainant is burdened to adduce preponderance
of evidence or superior weight of evidence. –
failed
-That the deceased fell or slipped cannot be totally
foreclosed because even Garcia testified that the
drainage culvert was dark, and that he himself was
so afraid that he refused to join respondents
Andres and Pacheco inside
- failed to adduce proof of any ill-motive on the
part of either respondent to kill the deceased
before or after the latter was invited to join them
in fishing

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 16

Dr. Dominic Aguda of the NBI’s autopsy showed
that the cause death is drowning with traumatic
head injuries as contributory
NBI filed a criminal complaint for homicide
against Andres and Pacheco with the RTC.
Dr. Dominic Aguda testified that Wilson could
have fallen, and that the occipital portion of his
head could have hit a blunt object, That the 14x7-
centimeter hematoma at the back of Wilson’s
head could have rendered the him unconscious so
he drowned. The 4x3-centimeter abrasion on the
right side of Wilson’s face could have also been
caused by rubbing against a concrete wall or
pavement, or by contact with a rough surface. He
also stated that the trachea region was full of mud,
but that there was no sign of strangulation.
RTC: granted demurer to evidence on the ground
of insufficiency of evidence
CA: Affirmed RTC.
ISSUE: WON Acquittal in criminal case bars a
civil action where the judgment of acquittal holds
that the accused did not commit the criminal acts
imputed to them.
RULING: YES. The Petition is denied for lack of
merit.
■ GR: The extinction of the penal action
does not carry with it the extinction of the
civil action.
EX: civil action based on delict shall be deemed
extinguished if there is a finding in a final
judgment in the civil action that the act or
omission from where the civil liability may arise
does not exist
■ a person committing a felony is
criminally liable for all the natural and
logical consequences resulting therefrom
although the wrongful act done be
different from that which he intended
o Natural - an occurrence in the ordinary course
of human life or events
o Logical - a rational connection between the act
of the accused and the resulting injury or damage
■ The felony committed must be the
proximate cause of the resulting injury
o Proximate cause
-cause which in natural and continuous sequence,
unbroken by an efficient intervening cause,
produces the injury, and without which the result
would not have occurred
- acting first and producing the injury, either
immediately, or by setting other events in motion,
all constituting a natural and continuous chain of
events, each having a close causal connection
with its immediate predecessor.
- There must be a relation of “cause and effect,”
-cause = felonious act of the offender
-effect = resultant injuries and/or death of the
victim.
■ Not the proximate cause of the resulting
injury when:
1. there is an active force that intervened
between the felony committed and the resulting
injury, and the active force is a distinct act or fact
absolutely foreign from the felonious act of the
accused; or
2. the resulting injury is due to the intentional
act of the victim
■ 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.
■ the prosecution was burdened to prove the
corpus delicti which consists of two
things:
1. first, the criminal act - objective
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 17

People v. Quianzon
FACTS:Charged with and convicted of the crime
of homicide in the Court of First Instance of
Ilocos Norte, and sentenced to an indeterminate
penalty of from six years and one day of prision
mayor, as minimum to fourteen years, seven
months and one day of... reclusion temporal, as
maximum, Juan Quianzon appeals to this court for
the review of the case.
On February 1, 1934, a novena for the suffrage of
the soul of a deceased person was being held in
the house of Victorina Cacpal... municipality of
Paoay, Ilocos Norte,... It was the second or third
time that Aribuabo approached Quianzon with the
same purpose whereupon the latter, greatly
peeved, took hold of a firebrand and applied it to
the neck of the man who so pestered him.
Aribuabo died as a result of this wound
There is no conflict between the prosecution and
the defense as regards the foregoing facts
Gregorio Dumlao, a barrio lieutenant, who, upon
being informed of the incident, forthwith
conducted an investigation, questioned Aribuabo
and the latter... told him that it was the accused
who had wounded him. He likewise questioned
the accused and the latter, in turn, stated that he
had wounded the deceased with a bamboo spit.
Upon being brought before Julian Llaguno, chief
of police of Paoay, for questioning, Quianzon
confessed... to Llaguno that he had applied a
firebrand to Aribuabo's neck and had later
wounded him with a bamboo spit. Before the
chief of police could put this confession of
Quianzon in writing, the latter retracted, denying
2. second, defendant’s agency in the
commission of the act - subjective element of
crimes
In homicide (by dolo) and in murder cases, the
prosecution is burdened to prove:
1. the death of the party alleged to be dead
2. that the death was produced by the criminal
act of some other than the deceased and was not
the result of accident, natural cause or suicide
3. that defendant committed the criminal act or
was in some way criminally responsible for the
act which produced the death
The defense of the accused consisted simply in
denying that he had wounded the deceased and
that he had confessed his guilt to the witnesses
Bagabay, Dumlao and Llaguno. But such denial
cannot prevail against the adverse testimony of
these three veracious and disinterested...
witnesses, all the more because neither the
accused nor any other witness for the defense has
stated or insinuated that another person, not the
accused, might be the author of the wound which
resulted in Aribuabo's death, and because it is
admitted by the defense that it was the... accused,
whom Aribuabo had been pestering with request
for food, who attacked the latter, burning his neck
with a firebrand, after which Aribuabo appeared
wounded in the abdomen, without the accused and
the witnesses for the defense explaining how and
by whom the aggression had... been made.
It is contended by the defense that even granting
that it was the accused who inflicted the wound
which resulted in Aribuabo's death, he should not
be convicted of homicide but only of serious
physical injuries because said wound was not
necessarily fatal and the deceased would... have
survived it had he not twice removed the drainage
which Dr. Mendoza had placed to control or
isolate the infection. This contention is without
merit., According to the physician who examined
and attended him, the "wound of the deceased was
very serious and it was difficult... to determine
whether he could survive or not." It was a wound
in the abdomen which occasionally results in
traumatic peritonitis. The infection was caused by
the fecal matter from the large intestine which had
been perforated. The possibility, admitted by said
physician, that... the patient might" have survived
said wound had he not removed the drainage, does
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 18
that he had wounded Aribuabo, for which reason
in the affidavit
Exhibit B the fact of having applied a firebrand to
Aribuabo's neck appears admitted by Quianzon
but not that of having wounded the deceased with
a bamboo spit.
in the extra judicial confession of the accused to
the barrio lieutenant, Dumlao, and later to the
chief of police Llaguno, in... the same afternoon
of the crime, that he was the author of Aribuabo's
wound and that he had inflicted it by means of a
bamboo spit. Inasmuch as this confession,
although extrajudicial, is strongly corroborated
and appears to have been made by the accused
freely and voluntarily,... it constitutes evidence
against him relative to his liability as author of the
crime charged... it does not appear that the patient,
in removing the drainage, had acted voluntarily
and with the knowledge that he was performing
an act prejudicial to his health.
ISSUE: WON Quianzon wounded Aribuabo.
RULING: YES. Inasmuch as the mitigating
circumstances of lack of instruction and of
intention to commit so grave a wrong as that
committed should be taken into consideration in
favor of the appellant, without any aggravating
circumstances adverse to him, we modify the
appealed judgment by... sentencing him to an
indeterminate penalty with a minimum of four
years of prision correctional and a maximum of
eight years of prision mayor, affirming it in all
other respects, with costs to said appellant.
not mean that that act of the patient was the real
cause of his death. Even without said act the fatal
consequence could have followed, and the fact
that the patient had so acted in a paroxysm of...
pain does not alter the juridical consequences of
the punishable act of the accused.
"One who inflicts an injury on another is deemed
by the law to be guilty of homicide if the injury
contributes mediately or immediately to the death
of such other. The fact that other causes contribute
to the death does not relieve the actor of
responsibility
The Supreme Court of Spain, in a decision of
April 3, 1879, said in a case similar to the present,
the following:
"Inasmuch as a man is responsible for the
consequences of his act and... in this case the
physical condition and temperament of the of
fended party nowise lessen the evil, the
seriousness whereof is to be judged, not by the
violence of the means employed, but by the result
actually produced; and as the wound which the
appellant inflicted upon the... deceased was the
cause which determined his death, without his
being able to counteract its effects, it is evident
that the act in question should be qualified as
homicide, etc."
"While the courts may have vacilated from time to
time it may be taken to be the settled rule of the
common law that one who inflicts an injury on
another will be held responsible for his death,
although it may appear that the deceased might
have recovered if he had... taken proper care of
himself, or submitted to a surgical operation, or
that unskilled or improper treatment aggravated
the wound and contributed to the death, or that
death was immediately caused by a surgical
operation rendered necessary by the condition of
the wound. The... principle on which this rule is
founded is one of universal application, and lies at
the foundation of all criminal jurisprudence. It is,
that every person is to be held to contemplate and
to be responsible for the natural consequences of
his own acts.
If a person inflicts a... wound with a deadly
weapon in such a manner as to put life in
jeopardy, and death follows as a consequence of
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 19

Urbano vs. IAC
Facts:
On October 23, 1980, petitioner Filomeno Urbano
was on his way to his ricefield. He found the place
where he stored palay flooded with water coming
from the irrigation canal. Urbano went to the
elevated portion to see what happened, and there
he saw Marcelino Javier and Emilio Efre cutting
grass. Javier admitted that he was the one who
opened the canal. A quarrel ensued, and Urbano
hit Javier on the right palm with his bolo, and
again on the leg with the back of the bolo. On
October 27, 1980, Urbano and Javier had an
amicable settlement. Urbano paid P700 for the
medical expenses of Javier. On November 14,
1980, Urbano was rushed to the hospital where he
had lockjaw and convulsions. The doctor found
the condition to be caused by tetanus toxin which
infected the healing wound in his palm. He died
the following day. Urbano was charged with
homicide and was found guilty both by the trial
court and on appeal by the Court of Appeals.
Urbano filed a motion for new trial based on the
affidavit of the Barangay Captain who stated that
he saw the deceased catching fish in the shallow
irrigation canals on November 5. The motion was
denied; hence, this petition.
ISSUE:
Whether the wound inflicted by Urbano to Javier
was the proximate cause of the latter’s death.
RULING: NO. The instant Petition is hereby
Granted. The questioned decision of then
intermediate Court, now Court of Appeals, is
reversed and set aside. The petitioner is acquitted
of the crime homicide.
this felonious and wicked act, it does not alter its
nature or diminish its criminality to prove that
other causes co-operated in producing the fatal
result.
Amid the... conflicting theories of medical men,
and the uncertainties attendant upon the treatment
of bodily ailments and injuries, it would be easy
in many cases of homicide to raise a doubt as to
the immediate cause of death, and thereby to open
a wide door by which persons guilty of the...
highest crime might escape conviction and
punishment."
A satisfactory definition of proximate cause is...
"that cause, which, in natural and continuous
sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening
cause, produces the injury, and without which the
result would not have occurred."And more
comprehensively, "the proximate legal cause is
that acting first and producing the injury, either
immediately or by setting other events in motion,
all constituting a natural and continuous chain of
events, each having a close causal connection
with its immediate predecessor, the final event in
the chain immediately effecting the injury as a
natural and probable result of the cause which
first acted, under such circumstances that the
person responsible for the first event should, as an
ordinarily prudent and intelligent person, have
reasonable ground to expect at the moment of his
act or default that an injury to some person might
probably result therefrom."
If the wound of Javier inflicted by the appellant
was already infected by tetanus germs at the time,
it is more medically probable that Javier should
have been infected with only a mild cause of
tetanus because the symptoms of tetanus appeared
on the 22nd day after the hacking incident or more
than 14 days after the infliction of the wound.
Therefore, the onset time should have been more
than six days. Javier, however, died on the second
day from the onset time. The more credible
conclusion is that at the time Javier's wound was
inflicted by the appellant, the severe form of
tetanus that killed him was not yet present.
Consequently, Javier's wound could have been
infected with tetanus after the hacking incident.
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 20

IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES
Intod v. Court of Appeals
FACTS: In the morning of February 4, 1979,
Sulpicio Intod, Jorge Pangasian, Santos Tubio and
Avelino Daligdig went to Salvador Mandaya's
house... and asked him to go with them to the
house of Bernardina Palangpangan.
Thereafter, Mandaya and
Intod, Pangasian, Tubio and Daligdig had a
meeting with Aniceto Dumalagan. He told
Considering the circumstance surrounding Javier's
death, his wound could have been infected by
tetanus 2 or 3 or a few but not 20 to 22 days
before he died.
The rule is that the death of the victim must be the
direct, natural, and logical consequence of the
wounds inflicted upon him by the accused. And
since we are dealing with a criminal conviction,
the proof that the accused caused the victim's
death must convince a rational mind beyond
reasonable doubt. The medical findings, however,
lead us to a distinct possibility that the infection of
the wound by tetanus was an efficient intervening
cause later or between the time Javier was
wounded to the time of his death. The infection
was, therefore, distinct and foreign to the crime.
There is a likelihood that the wound was but the
remote cause and its subsequent infection, for
failure to take necessary precautions, with tetanus
may have been the proximate cause of Javier's
death with which the petitioner had nothing to do.
"A prior and remote cause cannot be made the be
of an action if such remote cause did nothing
more than furnish the condition or give rise to the
occasion by which the injury was made possible,
if there intervened between such prior or remote
cause and the injury a distinct, successive,
unrelated, and efficient cause of the injury, even
though such injury would not have happened but
for such condition or occasion. If no danger
existed in the condition except because of the
independent cause, such condition was not the
proximate cause. And if an independent negligent
act or defective condition sets into operation the
instances which result in injury because of the
prior defective condition, such subsequent act or
condition is the proximate cause."
Articles 4 (2) and 59 of the RPC
Art. 4 (2): “Criminal liability shall be
incurred...by any person performing an act which
would be an offense against persons property,
were it not for the inherent impossibility of its
accomplishment or on account of the employment
of inadequate or ineffectual means.”
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 21
Mandaya that he wanted Palangpangan to be Art. 59: “Penalty to be imposed in case of failure
killed because of a land dispute between them and to commit the crime because the means employed
that Mandaya should accompany the four (4) men, or the aims sought are impossible...shall impose
otherwise, he would also be killed. upon him the penalty of arresto mayor or fine
ranging from 200-500 pesos.”
At about 10:00 o'clock in the evening of the same
day,... Mandaya, Pangasian, Tubio and Daligdig, The Revised Penal Code, inspired by the
all armed with firearms, arrived at Palangpangan's Positivist School, recognizes in the offender his
house formidability,[7] and... now penalizes an act
which were it not aimed at something quite
At the instance of his companions, Mandaya impossible or carried out with means which prove
pointed the location... of Palangpangan's bedroom. inadequate, would constitute a felony against
Thereafter, Petitioner, Pangasian, Tubio and person or against property.[8] The rationale of
Daligdig fired at said room. It turned out; Article 4(2) is to... punish such criminal
however, that Palangpangan was in another City tendencies.
and her home was then occupied by her son-in-
law and his family. No one was in the room when Legal impossibility occurs where the intended
the accused fired the... shots. No one was hit by acts, even if completed, would not amount to a
the gun fire. crime.[13] Thus:
After trial, the Regional Trial Court convicted Legal impossibility would apply to those
Intod of attempted murder. circumstances where (1) the motive, desire and
expectation is to perform an act in violation of the
Petitioner seeks from this Court a modification of law; (2) there is intention to perform the physical
the judgment by holding him liable only for an act; (3) there is a performance of the intended
impossible crime. physical act; and (4) the... consequence resulting
ISSUE: WON Palangpangan's absence from her from the intended act does not amount to a crime.
room on the night he and his companions riddled The impossibility of killing a person already
it with bullets made the crime inherently dead[15] falls in this category.
impossible.
On the other hand, factual impossibility occurs
RULING: YES. aThe decision of Respondent when extraneous circumstances unknown to the
Court of Appeals holding Petitioner guilty of actor or beyond his control prevent the
Attempted Murder is hereby modified. We hereby consummation of the intended crime.[16] One
hold the petitioner guilty of an impossible crime example is the man who puts his hand in the
as defined and penalized in articles 4 (2), 59 of the coat... pocket of another with the intention to steal
RPC. Having in mind the social danger and the latter's wallet and finds the pocket empty.
degree of criminality shownbyt Petitioner, this
Court hereby sentences him to suffer the penalty The case at bar belongs to this category. Petitioner
of 6 months of arresto Mayor, together with the shoots the place where he thought his victim
accessory penalties provided by the law. would be, although in reality, the victim was not
present in said place and thus, the petitioner failed
to accomplish his end.
In the Philippines, the Revised Penal Code, in
Article 4(2), expressly provided for impossible
crimes and made them punishable.
WE hereby hold Petitioner guilty of an impossible
crime
Having in mind the social danger and degree of
criminality shown by Petitioner, this Court

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 22

 sentences him to suffer the penalty of six (6)
months of arresto mayor, together with the
accessory penalties... provided by the law, and to
pay the costs.

People v. Domasian The act cannot be considered an

Facts: In the morning of March 11, 1982, while
impossible crime when there is no
Enrico was walking with a classmate along Roque inherent improbability of its
street in the poblacion of Lopez, Quezon, he was accomplishment or the employment of
approached by a man who requested his assistance inadequate or ineffective means.
in getting his father's signature on a medical
certificate. Enrico agreed to help and rode with
the man in a tricycle to Calantipayan, where he
waited outside while the man went into a building
to get the certificate. Enrico became apprehensive
and started to cry when, instead of taking him to
the hospital, the man flagged a minibus and
forced him inside, holding him firmly all the
while. The man told him to stop crying or he
would not be returned to his father. When they
alighted at Gumaca, they took another tricycle,
this time bound for the municipal building
from where they walked to the market. Here the
man talked to a jeepney driver and handed him an
envelope addressed to Dr. Enrique Agra, the boy's
father. The two then boarded a tricycle headed for
San Vicente, with the man still firmly holding
Enrico, who continued crying. This aroused the
suspicion of the driver, Alexander Grate, who
asked the man about his relationship with the boy.
The man said he and the boy were brothers,
making Grate doubly suspicious because of the
physical differences between the two and the wide
gap between their ages. Grate immediately
reported the matter to two barangay tanods when
his passengers alighted from the tricycle. Grate
and the tanods went after the two and saw the man
dragging the boy. Noticing that they were
being pursued, the man told Enrico to run fast as
their pursuers might behead them. Somehow, the
man managed to escape, leaving Enrico behind.
Enrico was on his way home in a passenger jeep
when he met his parents, who were riding in the
hospital ambulance and already looking for him.
At about 1:45 in the afternoon of the same day,
after Enrico's return, Agra received an envelope
containing a ransom note. The note demanded P1

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 23

million for the release of Enrico and warned that
otherwise the boy would be killed. Agra thought
the handwriting in the note was familiar. After
comparing it with some records in the hospital, he
gave the note to the police, which referred it to
the NBI for examination. The test showed that it
had been written by Dr. Samson Tan. On the other
hand, Enrico was shown a folder of pictures in the
police station so he could identify the man
who had detained him, and he pointed to the
picture of Pablito Domasian. Domasian and Tan
were subsequently charged with the crime of
kidnaping with serious illegal detention in the
Regional Trial Court of Quezon. After trial, RTC
found both accused guilty as charged. In the
present appeal, Tan avers that there was no illegal
detention, as the boy was detained for only about
three hours and was released even before his
parents received the ransom note, and that sending
of the ransom note was an impossible crime
which he contends is not punishable.

Issue: W/N the crime committed is an impossible

crime.

Held: No. Even before the ransom note was

received, the crime of kidnaping with serious
illegal detention had already been
committed. The act cannot be considered an
impossible crime because there was no inherent
improbability of its accomplishment or the
employment of inadequate or ineffective means.
The delivery of the ransom note after the
rescue of the victim did not extinguish the
offense, which had already been consummated
when Domasian deprived Enrico of his liberty.
The sending of the ransom note would have had
the effect only of increasing the penalty to death
under the last paragraph of Article 267 although
this too would not have been possible under the
new Constitution.

ARTICLE 6. STAGES OF FELONIES

A. SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE PHASE
OF A FELONY
U.S. v. Eduave A felony is frustrated when the offender performs
all the acts of execution which should produce the
Facts: The accused rushed upon the girl felony as a consequence, but which, nevertheless,
do not produce it by reason of causes independent
of the will of the perpetrator.

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 24

suddenly and struck her from behind, in part at
least, with a sharp bolo, producing a frightful gash
in the lumbar region and slightly to the side,
severing all of the muscles and tissues of that part.
The motive of the crime was that the accused was
incensed at the girl for the reason that she had
charged him criminally before the local officials
with having raped her and with being the cause of
her pregnancy. He was her mother's querido and
was living with her as such at the time the crime
here charged was committed. Accused avers that,
since the victim did not die, it is homicide that
was committed and not murder and that since
death did not result, it is attempted murder and not
frustrated.
Issue: W/N the crime committed is attempted
murder.
Held: No, it is frustrated murder. The crime
cannot be attempted murder. This is clear from
the fact that the defendant performed all of the
acts which should have resulted in the
consummated crime and voluntarily desisted from
further acts.
A crime cannot be held to be attempted unless the
offender, after beginning the commission of the
crime by overt acts, is prevented, against his will,
by some outside cause from performing all
of the acts which should produce the crime. In
other words, to be an attempted crime the purpose
of the offender must be thwarted by a foreign
force or agency which intervenes and compels
him to stop prior to the moment when he has
performed all of the acts which should produce
the crime as a consequence, which acts it is his
intention to perform. If he has performed all of the
acts which should result in the consummation of
the crime and voluntarily desists from proceeding
further, it can not be an attempt.
The essential element which distinguishes
attempted from frustrated felony is that, in the
latter, there is no intervention of a foreign or
extraneous cause or agency between the
beginning of the commission of the crime and the
moment when all of the acts have been performed
which should result in the consummated crime;
while in the former there is such intervention and
the offender does not arrive at the point of
There is an attempt when the offender
commences the commission of the
felony directly by overt acts, and does
not perform all the acts of execution
which constitute the felony by reason of
some cause or accident other than his
own voluntary desistance. In case of an
attempt the offender never passes the
subjective phase of the offense. He is
interrupted and compelled to desist by
the intervention of outside causes
before the subjective phase is passed.
In case of frustrated crimes the subjective phase is
completely passed. Subjectively the crime is
complete. Nothing interrupted the offender while
he was passing through the subjective phase. The
crime, however, is not consummated by reason of
the intervention of causes independent of the will
of the offender. He did all that was necessary to
commit the crime. If the crime did not result as a
consequence it was due to something beyond his
control.
The subjective phase is that portion of the acts
constituting the crime included between the act
which begins the commission of the crime and the
last act performed by the offender which, with the
prior acts, should result in the consummated
crime. From that time forward the phase is
objective. It may also be said to be that period
occupied by the acts of the offender over which,
he has control—that period between the point
where he begins and the point where he
voluntarily desists. 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 attempt. If
he is not so stopped but continues until he
performs the last act, it is frustrated.
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 25
performing all of the acts which should produce
the crime. He is stopped short of that point by
some cause apart f rom his voluntary desistance.
B. RAPE
People v. Orita
FACTS:
March 20, 1983 Early Morning: Cristina S.
Abayan, 19-year old freshman student at the St.
Joseph's College, arrived at her boarding house
after her classmates brought her home from a
party. She knocked at the door of her boarding
house when a frequent visitor of another boarder
held her and poked a knife to her neck. Despite
pleading for her release, he ordered her to go
upstairs with him. Since the door which led to the
1st floor was locked from the inside, they used the
back door to the second floor. With his left arm
wrapped around her neck and his right hand
poking a "balisong" to her neck, he dragged her
up the stairs. When they reached the second floor,
he commanded herwith the knife poked at her
neck, to look for a room. They entered Abayan's
room. He then pushed her hitting her head on the
wall. With one hand holding the knife, he
undressed himself. He then ordered her to take off
her clothes. Scared, she took off her T-shirt, bra,
pants and panty. He ordered her to lie down on
the floor and then mounted her. He made her hold
his penis and insert it in her vagina. Still poked
with a knife, she did as told but since she kept
moving, only a portion of his penis entered her.
He then laid down on his back and commanded
her to mount him. Still only a small part of his
penis was inserted into her vagina. When he had
both his hands flat on the floor. She dashed out to
the next room and locked herself in. When he
pursued her and climbed the partition, she ran to
another room then another then she jumped out
through a window.
Still naked, she darted to the municipal building,
18 meters in front of the boarding house and
knocked on the door. When there was no answer,
she ran around the building and knocked on the
back door. When the policemen who were inside
the building opened the door, they found her
naked sitting on the stairs crying. Pat. Donceras,
took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Pat.
Donceras and two other policemen rushed to the
boarding house where they heard and saw
Correlating Art. 335 and Art. 6, there is no debate
that the attempted and consummated stages apply
to the crime of rape.
Requisites of a frustrated felony are:
(1) that the offender has performed all the acts of
execution which would produce the felony
(2) that the felony is not produced due to causes
independent of the perpetrator's will.
Attempted crime the purpose of the offender must
be thwarted by a foreign force or agency which
intervenes and compels him to stop prior to the
moment when he has performed all of the acts
which should produce the crime as a consequence,
which acts it is his intention to perform
If he has performed all of the acts which should
result in the consummation of the crime and
voluntarily desists from proceeding further, it can
not be an attempt.
in the crime of rape, from the moment the
offender has carnal knowledge of his victim he
actually attains his purpose and, from that
moment also all the essential elements of the
offense have been accomplished. Any penetration
of the female organ by the male organ is
sufficient. Entry of the labia or lips of the female
organ, without rupture of the hymen or laceration
of the vagina is sufficient to warrant conviction.
Necessarily, rape is attempted if there is no
penetration of the female organ
The fact is that in a prosecution for rape, the
accused may be convicted even on the sole basis
of the victim's testimony if credible. Dr. Zamora
did not rule out penetration of the genital organ of
the victim.
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 26
somebody running away but failed to apprehend
him due to darkness. She was taken to Eastern
Samar Provincial Hospital where she was
physically examined.

Her vulva had no abrasions or discharges.

RTC: frustrated rape

ISSUE: WON there is frustrated rape.

RULING: NO. RTC MODIFIED. guilty beyond

reasonable doubt of the crime of rape and
sentenced to reclusion perpetua as well as to
indemnify the victim in the amount of P30,000.
People v. Campuhan
Facts: Ma. Corazon P. Pamintuan, mother of four
(4)-year old Crysthel Pamintuan, went down from
the second floor of their house to prepare Milo
chocolate drinks for her two (2) children. At
the ground floor she met Primo Campuhan who
was then busy filling small plastic bags with water
to be frozen into ice in the freezer located at the
second floor. As Corazon was
busy preparing the drinks, she heard one of her
daughters cry, “Ayo’ko, ayo’ko!” prompting
Corazon to rush upstairs. She saw Primo
Campuhan inside her children’s room kneeling
before Crysthel whose pajamas or “jogging
pants” and panty were already removed, while his
short pants were down to his knees.
According to Corazon, Primo was forcing his
penis into Crysthel’s vagina. She then cried for
help. Seconds later, Primo was apprehended by
those who answered Corazon’s call for
help. They held the accused at the back of their
compound until they were advised by their
neighbors to call the barangay officials instead of
detaining him for his misdeed. Physical
examination of the victim yielded negative results.
No evident sign of extra-genital physical injury
was noted by the medico-legal officer on
Crysthel’s body as her hymen was intact and its
orifice was only 0.5 cm. in diameter.
Touching when applied to rape cases
does not simply mean mere epidermal
contact, stroking or grazing of organs,
a slight brush or a scrape of
the penis on the external layer of the
victim’s vagina, or the mons pubis—
there must be sufficient and convincing
proof that the penis indeed touched the
labias or slid into the female organ,
and not merely stroked the external
surface thereof, for an accused to be
convicted of consummated rape. As the
labias, which are required to be
“touched” by the penis, are by
their natural situs or location beneath
the mons pubis or the vaginal surface,
to touch them with the penis is to attain
some degree of penetration beneath the
surface, hence, the conclusion
that touching the labia majora or the
labia minora of the pudendum
constitutes consummated rape.

Primo Campuhan had only himself for a witness

in his defense. He maintained his innocence and
assailed the charge as a mere scheme of
Crysthel’s mother who allegedly harbored ill will

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 27

against him for his refusal to run an errand for her.
He asserted that in truth Crysthel was in a playing
mood and wanted to ride on his back when she
suddenly pulled him down causing both of them
to fall down on the floor. It was in this fallen
position that Corazon chanced upon them
and became hysterical. Corazon slapped him and
accused him of raping her child. He got mad but
restrained himself from hitting back when he
realized she was a woman. Corazon called for
help from her brothers to stop him as he ran down
from the second floor. Primo pleaded for a chance
to explain as he reasoned out that the accusation
was not true. But Vicente kicked him instead.
When Primo saw Vicente holding a piece of lead
pipe, Primo raised his hands and turned his back
to avoid the blow. At this moment, the relatives
and neighbors of Vicente prevailed upon him to
take Primo to the barangay hall instead, and not to
maul or possibly kill him. Trial court found him
guilty and sentenced him with the death penalty
Hence, this appeal.

Issue: W/N the rape was consummated.

Held: No. A review of the records clearly

discloses that the prosecution utterly failed to
discharge its onus of proving that Primo’s penis
was able to penetrate Crysthel’s vagina
however slight. In cases where penetration was
not fully established, the Court had anchored its
conclusion that rape nevertheless was
consummated on the victim’s testimony that she
felt pain, or the medico-legal finding of
discoloration in the inner lips of the vagina, or the
labia minora was already gaping with redness, or
the hymenal tags were no longer visible. None
was shown in this case.

Accused instead found guilty of ATTEMPTED

RAPE.
Baleros v. People
FACTS:
Martina Lourdes Albano (Malou), a medical
student of the University of Sto. Tomas, stayed at
Room 307 with her maid Marvilou.
December 12 10:30 pm: Malou slept. Her maid
Marvilou slept on a folding bed right in front of
her bedroom door.
Under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code,
rape is committed by a man who has carnal
knowledge or intercourse with a woman under
any of the following circumstances: (1) By using
force or intimidation; (2) When the woman is
deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious; and
(3) When the woman is under twelve years of age
or is demented.

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 28

December 13, 1991 1:00 am: Chito left the Under Article 6, in relation to the aforementioned
fraternity party with Robert Chan and Alberto article of the same code, rape is attempted when
wearing a barong tagalog, with t-shirt inside, with the offender commences the commission of rape
short pants with stripes lent by Perla Duran and directly by overt acts and does not perform all the
leather shoes. acts of execution which should produce the crime
of rape by reason of some cause or accident other
December 13, 1991 1:30 am: Chito arrived at the than his own spontaneous desistance.
Building wearing a white t-shirt with fraternity
symbols and black shorts with the brand name whether or not the act of the petitioner, i.e., the
“Adidas” from a party. He requested permission pressing of a chemical-soaked cloth while on top
from S/G Ferolin to go up to Room 306 leased by of Malou, constitutes an overt act of rape.
Ansbert Co but at that time only Joseph Bernard
Africa was there. Although Chito could not Overt or external act has been defined as some
produce the required written authorization, he let physical activity or deed, indicating the intention
him in because he will be a tenant in the coming to commit a particular crime, more than a mere
summer break. Joseph was awaken by Chito’s planning or preparation, which if carried out to its
knock so he glanced the alarm clock and let him. complete termination following its natural course,
He saw him wearing dark-colored shorts and without being frustrated by external obstacles nor
white T-shirt. by the voluntary desistance of the perpetrator, will
logically and necessarily ripen into a concrete
December 13, 1991 1:50 am: Renato Baleros, Jr. y offense
David (Chito) forcefully covered the face of
Martina Lourdes T. Albano with a piece of cloth Chito was fully clothed and that there was no
soaked in chemical with dizzying effects. This attempt on his part to undress Malou, let alone
awakened Malou. She struggled but could not touch her private part
move because she was tightly held and pinned
down on the bed. She kicked him and got her Verily, while the series of acts committed by the
right hand free to squeeze his sex organ causing petitioner do not determine attempted rape, they
him to let her go. She went for the bedroom door constitute unjust vexation punishable as light
and woke up Marvilou. She also intercommed coercion under the second paragraph of Article
S/G Ferolin saying: "may pumasok sa kuarto ko 287 of the Revised Penal Code.
pinagtangkaan ako". Malou proceed to Room 310
where her classmates Christian Alcala, Bernard As it were, unjust vexation exists even without the
Baptista, Lutgardo Acosta and Rommel Montes element of restraint or compulsion for the reason
were staying and seeked help. She saw her bed in that this term is broad enough to include any
a mess and noticed that her nightdress was stained human conduct which, although not productive of
with blue. Aside from the window with grills some physical or material harm, would unjustly
which she had originally left opened, another annoy or irritate an innocent person
window inside her bedroom which leads to Room
306 was now open. That Malou, after the incident in question, cried
while relating to her classmates what she
December 13, 1991 3:30 pm: Christian and his perceived to be a sexual attack and the fact that
roommates, Bernard and Lutgardo were asked by she filed a case for attempted rape proved beyond
the CIS people to look for anything not belonging cavil that she was disturbed, if not distressed
to them in their Unit when Rommel Montes went
inside and found a grey bag.

Christian knew right away that it belonged to

Chito. It contained white t-shirt with fraternity
symbol, a Black Adidas short pants, a
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 29
handkerchief , 3 white T-shirts, an underwear and
socks.

Chito pleaded NOT Guilty

13 witnesses including Malou and her classmates,

Joseph Bernard Africa, Rommel Montes, Renato
Alagadan and Christian Alcala

Malou: Chito was her classmate whom he rejected

a week before

Chito: He only slept and at about 6 to 6:30, Joseph

told him that something had happened and asked
him to follow him to Room 310 carrying his gray
bag and since no one was there they went to
Room 401 where Renato Alagadan was. He left
his grey bag at Room 306 the day before.

handkerchief and Malou’s night dress both

contained chloroform, a volatile poison which
causes first degree burn exactly like what Malou
sustained on that part of her face where the
chemical-soaked cloth had been pressed

RTC: guilty of attempted rape

CA: Affirmed

ISSUE: WON Chito is guilty of attempted rape

RULING: NO. REVERSED and SET ASIDE.

ACQUITTING Renato D. Baleros, Jr. of the
charge for attempted rape. GUILTY of light
coercion and is accordingly sentenced to 30 days
of arresto menor and to pay a fine of P200.00,
with the accessory penalties thereof and to pay the
costs.
Cruz v. People The basic element of rape then and now is carnal
knowledge of a female. Carnal knowledge is
Facts: Norberto and Belinda Cruz employed AAA defined simply as “the act of a man having sexual
and BBB to help them in selling their wares in bodily connections with a woman,” which
Bangar, La Union which was then celebrating its explains why the slightest penetration of the
fiesta. They reached Bangar and two tents were female genitalia consummates the rape. In other
fixed in order that they will have a place to sleep. words, rape is consummated once the penis
Belinda and the driver proceeded to Manila in capable of consummating the sexual
order to get more goods to be sold. At around 1:00 act touches the external genitalia of the female.
o’clock in the morning, AAA and BBB went to
sleep. Less than an hour later, AAA was As the evolving case law on rape stands,
therefore, rape in its frustrated stage is a

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 30

awakened when she felt that somebody was on
top of her. Norberto was mashing her breast and
touching her private part. AAA realized that she
was divested of her clothing and that she
was totally naked. Norberto ordered her not to
scream or she’ll be killed. AAA tried to push
Norberto away and pleaded to have pity
on her but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She fought
back and kicked Norberto twice.
Norberto was not able to pursue his lustful
desires. Norberto offered her money and told her
not to tell the incident to her mother otherwise,
she will be killed. AAA went out of the tent to
seek help from Jess (the house boy) but she failed
to wake him up. Thirty minutes later, when AAA
returned to their tent, she saw Norberto touching
the private parts of BBB. AAA saw her
companion awake but her hands were shaking.
When she finally entered the tent, Norberto left
and went outside. Later that day, AAA and BBB
narrated to Jess the incident that took place that
early morning. They went to the police and
reported the incident. The petitioner was charged
in the RTC with attempted rape and acts of
lasciviousness involving different victims. At
arraignment, he pleaded not guilty. After the joint
trial of the two criminal cases, the RTC
rendered its judgment finding the
petitioner guilty beyond reasonable doubt of
attempted rape and acts of lasciviousness. Upon
appeal to the CA, CA affirmed his conviction for
attempted rape but acquitted him for acts of
lasciviousness due to insufficient evidence. The
case at bar was filed due to the alleged failure of
the prosecution to prove guilt beyond reasonable
doubt.
Issue: W/N accused is guilty of attempted rape.
Held: No. It is obvious that the fundamental
difference between attempted rape and acts of
lasciviousness is the offender’s intent to lie with
the female. In rape, intent to lie with the
female is indispensable, but this element is not
required in acts of lasciviousness. Attempted rape
is committed, therefore, when the “touching” of
the vagina by the penis is coupled with the intent
to penetrate. The intent to penetrate is manifest
only through the showing of the penis capable
of consummating the sexual act touching the
external genitalia of the female. Without such
physical impossibility, considering that the
requisites of a frustrated felony under Article 6 of
the Revised Penal Code are that: (1) the offender
has performed all the acts of execution which
would produce the felony; and (2) that the felony
is not produced due to causes independent of the
perpetrator’s will. Obviously, the
offender attains his purpose from the moment he
has carnal knowledge of his victim, because from
that moment all the essential elements of the
offense have been accomplished, leaving
nothing more to be done by him.
In attempted rape, the concrete felony is rape, but
the offender does not perform all the acts of
execution of having carnal knowledge. If the
slightest penetration of the female genitalia
consummates rape, and rape in its attempted stage
requires the commencement of the commission of
the felony directly by overt acts without the
offender performing all the acts of execution that
should produce the felony, the only means by
which the overt acts performed by the accused can
be shown to have a causal relation to rape as the
intended crime is to make a clear showing of his
intent to lie with the female.
“The gauge in determining whether the crime of
attempted rape had been committed is the
commencement of the act of sexual intercourse,
i.e., penetration of the penis into the vagina,
before the interruption.”
Based on Article 336 of the Revised
Penal Code, the felony of acts of
lasciviousness is consummated when
the following essential elements
concur, namely: (a) the offender
commits any act of lasciviousness or
lewdness upon another person of either
sex; and (b) the act of lasciviousness or
lewdness is committed either (i) by
using force or intimidation; or (ii)
when the offended party is deprived of
reason or is otherwise unconscious; or
(iii) when the offended party is under
12 years of age. In that regard, lewd is
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 31
showing, only the felony of acts of lasciviousness
is committed.
The information charged that the petitioner
“remove[d] her panty and underwear and la[id] on
top of said AAA embracing and touching her
vagina and breast.” With such allegation of the
information being competently and
satisfactorily proven beyond a reasonable doubt,
he was guilty only of acts of lasciviousness, not
attempted rape. His embracing her and touching
her vagina and breasts did not directly manifest
his intent to lie with her. The lack of evidence
showing his erectile penis being in the position to
penetrate her when he was on top of her deterred
any inference about his intent to lie with her.
Accused is guilty of acts of lasciviousness.
THEFT
Valenzuela vs. People
FACTS: Petitioner and Jovy Calderon were
sighted outside the Super Sale Club, a
supermarket within the ShoeMart (SM) complex
along North EDSA, by Lorenzo Lago (Lago), a
security guard who was then manning his post at
the open parking area of the supermarket. Lago
saw petitioner, who was wearing an identification
card with the mark Receiving Dispatching Unit
(RDU), hauling a pushcart with cases of detergent
of the well-known Tide brand. Petitioner unloaded
these cases in an open parking space, where
Calderon was waiting. Petitioner then returned
inside the supermarket, and after five (5) minutes,
emerged with more cartons of Tide Ultramatic
and again unloaded these boxes to the same area
in the open parking space. When Lago asked
petitioner for a receipt of the merchandise,
petitioner and Calderon reacted by fleeing on foot,
but Lago fired a warning shot to alert his fellow
security guards of the incident. Petitioner and
Calderon were apprehended at the scene, and the
stolen merchandise recovered. Before the Court of
Appeals, petitioner argued that he should only be
convicted of frustrated theft since at the time he
was apprehended, he was never placed in a
position to freely dispose of the articles stolen.
ISSUE: Is the crime committed frustrated or
consummated theft?
RULING: Consummated Theft. The petition is
denied, costs against Petitioner.
defined as obscene, lustful, indecent,
lecherous; it signifies that form of
immorality that has relation to moral
impurity; or that which is carried on a
wanton manner
The crime is consummated. The following
elements of theft as provided for in Article 308 of
the Revised Penal Code, namely: (1) that there be
taking of personal property; (2) that said property
belongs to another; (3) that the taking be done
with intent to gain; (4) that the taking be done
without the consent of the owner; and (5) that the
taking be accomplished without the use of
violence against or intimidation of persons or
force upon things. There was no need of an intent
to permanently deprive the owner of his property
to constitute an unlawful taking.
So long as the descriptive circumstances that
qualify the taking are present, including animo
lucrandi and apoderamiento, the completion of the
operative act that is the taking of personal
property of another establishes, at least, that the
transgression went beyond the attempted stage.
Insofar as we consider the present question,
unlawful taking is most material in this respect.
Unlawful taking, which is the deprivation of one’s
personal property, is the element which produces
the felony in its consummated stage. At the same
time, without unlawful taking as an act of
execution, the offense could only be attempted
theft, if at all. With these considerations, we can
only conclude that under Article 308 of the
Revised Penal Code, theft cannot have a frustrated
stage. Theft can only be attempted or
consummated.
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 32
ROBBERY
People v. Lamahang In order that a simple act of entering
Facts: Jose Tomambing, a police officer, caught
by means of force or violence another
the accused in the act of making an opening with person's dwelling may be considered as
an iron bar on the wall of a store of cheap goods attempted robbery, it must be shown
located on the last named street. At that time the that the offender clearly intended to
owner of the store, Tan Yu, was sleeping inside
with another Chinaman. The accused had only take possession, for the purpose of
succeeded in breaking one board and in gain, of some personal property
unfastening another from the wall, when the belonging to another.
policeman showed up, who instantly arrested him
and placed him under custody.
The fact above stated was considered and declared
unanimously by the provincial fiscal of Iloilo, the
trial judge and the Solicitor-General, as
constituting attempted robbery, hence, this appeal.

Issue: W/N the crime committed constitutes

attempted robbery.

Held: No. it is not sufficient, for the purpose of

imposing penal sanction, that an act objectively
performed constitute a mere beginning of
execution; it is necessary to establish its
unavoidable connection, like the logical and
natural relation of the cause and its effect, with
the deed which, upon its consummation, will
develop into one of the offenses defined and
punished by the Code; it is necessary to prove that
said beginning of execution, if carried to its
complete termination following 'its natural course,
without being frustrated by external obstacles nor
by the voluntary desistance of the perpetrator, will
logically and necessarily ripen into a concrete
offense. Thus, in case of robbery, in order that the
simple act of entering by means of force or
violence another person's dwelling may be
considered an attempt to commit this offense, it
must be shown that the offender clearly intended
to take possession, for the purpose of gain, of
some personal property belonging to another. In
the instant case, there is nothing in the record
from which such purpose of the accused may
reasonably be inferred.

Wherefore, the sentence appealed from is revoked

and the accused is hereby held guilty of attempted
trespass to dwelling,

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 33

People v. Salvillam
FACTS:
The accused Bienvenido Salvilla together with his
co-accused armed with homemade guns and hand
grenade robbed Rodita Habiero in the latter’s
office. In the office of Rodita; her two daughters
Mary and Mimmie were also inside. One of the
accused asks Mary to get the paper bag which
contained money. All accused held victims as
hostage when the police and military authorities
had surrounded the lumber yard. After the
negotiation fails to proceed, the police makes their
move in assaulting the robbers thus Mary and
Mimmie are injured as well the accused also got
an injury.
ISSUE: Whether or not the crime of robbery was
consummated.
RULING: YES. Wherefore, The judgment
appealed from is hereby affirmed.
MURDER
Epifanio vs. People
Facts: At around 9:00 o’clock in the evening,
Crisaldo Alberto (Crisaldo) and his cousin, Allan
Perez (Allan), were walking to their respective
homes. Since the pavement going to Crisaldo’s
house followed a narrow pathway along the
local shrubs called banganga, Allan walked ahead
of Crisaldo at a distance of about three (3) meters.
Suddenly, Crisaldo felt the piercing thrust of a
bladed weapon on his back, which caused him to
cry out in pain. He made a quick turnaround and
saw his attacker, petitioner, also known as
“Iyo (Uncle) Kingkoy.” Petitioner stabbed
Crisaldo again but only hit the latter’s left arm.
When Allan heard Crisaldo’s outcry, he rushed to
Crisaldo’s side which caused petitioner to run
away. Allan then brought Crisaldo to his father’s
house where Crisaldo’s wounds were wrapped in
a blanket. Crisaldo was then brought to the where
he stayed for three weeks to recuperate from his
wounds. The accused denied the accusations.
Accused was found guilty of frustrated murder in
the RTC and CA; hence, this petition.
Issue: W/N the guilt of the accused for the crime
of frustrated murder is beyond reasonable doubt.
From the moment the offender gained possession
of the thing, even if the culprit had no opportunity
to dispose of the same, the unlawful taking is
complete.
In case of an attempted crime, the offender never
passes the subjective phase in the commission of
the crime. The offender does not arrive at the
point of performing all of the acts of execution
which should produce the crime.
A crime is frustrated when the offender has
performed all the acts of execution which
should result in the consummation of the crime.
The offender has passed the subjective phase in
the commission of the crime. Subjectively, the
crime is complete. Nothing interrupted the
offender while passing through the subjective
phase. He did all that was necessary to
consummate the crime; however, the crime is not
consummated by reason of the intervention of
causes independent of the will of the offender.
In homicide cases, the offender is said to have
performed all the acts of execution if the wound
inflicted on the victim is mortal and could cause
the death of the victim barring medical
intervention or attendance. If one inflicts physical
injuries on another but the latter survives, the
crime committed is either consummated physical
injuries, if the offender had no intention to kill the
victim; or frustrated or attempted homicide or
frustrated murder or attempted murder if the
offender intends to kill the victim.
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 34
Held: No. In the present case, the intent to kill is
very evident and was established beyond
reasonable doubt through the unwavering
testimony of Crisaldo on the manner of
execution of the attack as well as the number of
wounds he sustained. The treacherous manner in
which petitioner perpetrated the crime is shown
not only by the sudden and unexpected attack
upon the unsuspecting victim but also by the
deliberate manner in which the assault was
perpetrated. However, the subjective phase of the
crime had not been completed. Moreover, no
evidence in this case was introduced to prove that
Crisaldo would have died from his wound without
timely medical attendance.

WHEREFORE, the Decision is MODIFIED to

the effect that petitioner is found GUILTY of
ATTEMPTED MURDER
People v. Sy Pio
FACTS: Sy Pio shot three people early in the
morning of September 3, 1949. Tan Siong Kiap,
Ong Pian and Jose Sy.
Sy Pio entered the store at 511 Misericordia Sta
Cruz Manila and started firing with a .45 caliber
pistol. First to be shot was Jose Sy. Upon seeing
Sy Pio fire at Jose Sy, Tan asked ―what is the
idea?‖ th
ereupon, Sy Pio turned around and fired at him as
well. Tan was shot at his right shoulder and it
passed through his back. He ran to a room behind
the store to hide. He was still able to hear
gunshots from Sy Pio‘s pistol, but afterwards, Sy
Pio ran away.
Tan Siong Kiap was brought to the Chinese
General Hospital where his wound was treated.
He stayed there from
Septenber 3-12, 1949. He was released upon his
request and against physician‘s advice and was
requested to return for further treatment which he
did 5 times in a period of 10 days. His wound was
completely healed; he spent P300
for hospital and doctor‘s fees.
1. Sy Pio had to turn around to shoot Tan
Siong Kiap.
2. 2. There is sufficient proof.
(Uncontradicted testimony of the victim,
admissions made to Lomotan, testimony
ofphysician, etc.)
3. 3. Assignment of error must be dismissed.
Offended party spent P300 for the
hospital fees.
The fact that he was able to escape which
appellant must have seen, must have produced in
the mind of the defendant-appellant that he was
not able to hit his victim at a vital part of the
body. The defendant appellantknew that he had
not actually performed all acts of execution
necessary to kill his victim. Under
thesecircumstances, it cannot be said that the
subjective phase of the acts of execution had been
completed

Sy Pio was found by the Constabulary in Tarlac.

Lomotan, a police from Manila Police Department
went to Tarlac to get Sy Pio. He admitted to
Lomotan that he shot the victims and handed him
the pistol used in the shooting.

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 35

 According to Sy Pio‘s declaration, some months
prior to the incident, he was employed in a
restaurant owned by Ong Pian. Sy Pio‘s wife,
Vicenta was also employed by Ong Pian‘s
partner. When he tried to borrow money from
Ong Pian for his wife‘s sick father, Ong Pian only
lent him P1. his wife was able to borrow P20 from
her employer. Afterwards, defendant-appellant
was dismissed from his work. Ong Pian presented
a list of Sy Pio‘s debts and thesewere deducted
from his wife‘s monthly salary. Sy Pio could not
remember incurring such debts. As such, he
wasresentful of Ong Pian‘s conduct.In Tan Siong
Kiap‘s case, a few months before Sept3, Sy Pio
was able to realize the sum o
f P70 and he put hismoney in a place in his room.
The next day, Sy Pio found that his money was
gone. Tan tolf Sy Pio that he hadprobably given
the money to his wife. Thereafter, Sy Pio could
hear that he had lost his money gambling. ASo
early inthe morning of Sept 3, while Ngo Cho, a
Chinaman who has a pistol was away, he got his
pistol and went to arestaurant in Ongpin where
Ong Pian worked and shot him. Afterwards he
went to Sta Cruz and shot Jose Sy andTan.
Trial court erred in not finding that Tan received
the shot accidentally from the same bullet that had
been fired at Jose Sy.
The evidence is not sufficient to sustain the
judgment of conviction.Lower court erred in
sentencing him to pay an indemnity of P350.
Defendant-appellant should only be found guilty
of less serious physical injuries instead of
frustrated murder.
ISSUE:
WON the defendant-appelant is guilty of
attempted Murder.
RULING:
YES. Judgment is Modified, the defendant-
appelant is found guilty of the crime of attempted
murder.

People v. Ravelo In a crime of murder or an attempt of frustration

FACTS: The accused-appellants are members of
the Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF)
stationed at a checkpointnear the airport of
Tandag. At approximately 6:30 PM of May 21,
1984, accused-appellants allegedly kidnapped
bymeans of force one Reynaldo Gaurano. They
then detained Gaurano at the house of Pedro
thereof, the offender must have the intent or the
actual designto kill which must be manifested by
external acts. A verbal expression is not sufficient
to show an actual design toperpetrate the act.
Intent must be shown not only by a statement of
the aggressor, but also by the execution of allacts
and the use of means necessary to deliver a fatal

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 36

Ravelo, one of theaccused. Thereafter, they blow while the victim is not placed in a position
assaulted, attacked, and burned Gaurano, with the to defend himself.
intent of killing the latter. ReynaldoGaurano died
on May 22. At about 1AM of May 22, the
accused-appellants also kidnapped by means of
force Joey Lugatiman. The latter wasalso brought
to Ravelo's house where he was tortured. At 5AM,
Lugatiman was transferred to the house of
accused-appellant Padilla. There he was tied to
the wall with a nylon line and was told he would
be killed at 9AM. Shortly after,accused-appellants
had to attend to Gaurano; Lugatiman was thus left
alone. He was able to escape.He reported what
happened to him and to Gaurano to the police
authorities. RTC convicted the accused-appellants
ofmurder of Gaurano and frustrated murder of
Lugatiman.In this appeal, counsel for the accused
aver that the lower court erred in finding that
accused-appellants are guilty offrustrated murder.
Counsel further contends that there can be no
frustrated murder absent any proof of intent to
kill,which is an essential element of the offense of
frustrated murder. The trial court merely relied on
the statement of theaccused-appellants stating
they would kill Lugatiman to establish intent to
kill.
ISSUE: Whether the statement by the accused
stating that Lugatiman would be killed is
sufficient proof of intent toconvict a person of
frustrated murder.
RULING: NO. WHEREFORE, the appealed
judgments in Criminal Cases Nos. 1187 and 1194
are hereby, respectively, affirmed and modified as
to the crime proven.
The accused-appellants PEDRO RAVELO,
BONIFACIO "PATYONG" PADILLA, ROMEO
ASPIRIN, NICOLAS GUADALUPE and
HERMIE PAHIT are hereby sentenced:
(1) To serve the penalty of reclusion perpetua and
to pay the increased indemnity of FIFTY
THOUSAND PESOS (P50,000.00) in Criminal
Case No. 1187 solidarily; and
(2) To serve the penalty of arresto menor in
Criminal Case No. 1194.
Velasco v. People
FACTS:
April 19, 1998 7:30 am: Frederick Maramba was
cleaning and washing his owner type jeep in front
of his house when a motorized tricycle stopped
near him. Rodolfo C. Velasco dashed out of the

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 37

tricycle, approached the complainant and fired at
him several times with a .45 caliber pistol.
Velasco missed his first shot but the second one
hit the complainant at the upper arm, causing him
to stumble on the ground. But, Frederick stood up
and ran, while Velasco fired 6 more but missed.

After being reported as wearing a vest or a

“chaleco”, the police, composed of SPO4 Romulo
Villamil, PO3 Rolando Alvendo, and SPO1
Soliven pursued and caught Velasco who was on
board a motorized tricycle to the highway going
to Barangay Banaoang in Calasiao town with a
firearm protruding from the waistline

Velasco’s Alibi: April 18, 1998, he spent the night

at a friend’s house in Lingayen, Pangasinan and
between 6:00-7:00am, he left Lingayen riding in
the Volkswagen car of Berting Soriano then
alighted at the corner of Banaoang diversion road
to ride a tricycle where he heard a jeep behind
him blowing its horn and when he looked back he
saw three men on board pointing their guns at
him.

RTC: guilty of attempted murder appreciating

treachery in the commission of the crime
sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of
Four (4) years of prision correccional, as
minimum to Eight (8) years and One (1) day of
prision mayor, as maximum and to pay P2,696 as
actual damages

CA: Affirmed RTC

Velasco filed a petition for certiorari

he had no motive to harm, much less kill, the

victim for he was total stranger and since the
identity of the assailant is in doubt, motive
becomes important and his alibi gains weight and
value and that the testimony of Armando
Maramba is not credible, he being a relative of the
victim

ISSUE: WON Velasco is guilty of attempted

murder
People v. Almazan For the charge of frustrated murder to
flourish, the victim should sustain a
fatal wound that could have caused his
D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 38
Facts: Vicente Madriaga and a certain Allan death were it not for timely medical
played chess in front of the former’s house. One
of the spectators was Vicente’s son, Noli, who
assistance.
was carrying his 2-year old daughter and Angel.
While the game was underway, Henry Almazan
unexpectedly arrived and brandished a .38 caliber
revolver in front of the group. Almazan’s fighting
cocks had just been stolen and he suspected
Angel, one of the spectators, to be the culprit.
Thus he said, “manos-manos na lang tayo” aimed
his gun at Angel and pulled the trigger. It did not
fire. He tried again, but again it failed. At this
juncture, Vicente Madriaga stood up and tried to
calm down Henry, but the latter refused to be
pacified. Angel ran away and Henry aimed his
gun instead at Noli. Henry shot Noli at the left
side of his stomach sending him immediately to
the ground. He then turned on Noel and shot him
on the left thigh. Noel managed to walk lamely
only toeventually fall to the ground. Thereafter,
Vicente Madriaga called on his neighbors who
brought Noli and Noel to the hospital. Noli
however died before reaching the hospital, while
Noel survived his injuries. Almazan was charged
and eventually found guilty of murder and
frustrated murder.

Issue: W/N Almazan is guilty of frustrated

murder.

Held: No. For the charge of frustrated murder to

flourish, the victim should sustain a fatal wound
that could have caused his death were it not for
timely medical assistance. This is not
the case before us. The court a quo anchored its
ruling on the statement of Dr. Ticman on cross-
examination that the wound of Noel could catch
infection or lead to his death if not timely and
properly treated. However, in his direct
testimony, Dr. Ticman declared that the wound
was a mere minor injury for which Noel, after
undergoing treatment, was immediately advised to
go home. He even referred to the wound as a
slight physical injury that would heal within a
week and for which, the victim was in no danger
of dying.
HOMICIDE
People v. Listerio

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 39

Facts: Brothers Jeonito and Marlon were walking
when they met a group composed of men who
blocked their path and attacked them with lead
pipes and bladed weapons. One stabbed Jeonito
from behind. Jeonito‘s brother, Marlon, was hit on
the head. Jeonito sustained three (3) stab wounds
on the upper right portion of his back, another
on the lower right portion and the third on the
middle portion of the left side of his back causing
him to fall down. Marlon Araque was hit on the
head by Samson dela Torre and Bonifacio
Bancaya with lead pipes and momentarily lost
consciousness. When he regained his senses three
(3) minutes later, he saw that Jeonito was already
dead. Their assailants then fled after the incident.
Marlon Araque who sustained injuries in the arm
and back, was thereafter brought to a hospital
for treatment.

Issue: W/N accused is guilty of attempted

homicide.

Held: No. It is not the gravity of the wounds

inflicted which determines whether a felony is
attempted or frustrated but whether or not the
subjective phase in the commission of an offense
has been passed. In relation to the foregoing, it
bears stressing that intent to kill determines
whether the infliction of injuries should be
punished as attempted or frustrated murder,
homicide, parricide or consummated physical
injuries. Homicidal intent must be evidenced by
acts which at the time of their execution are
unmistakably calculated to produce the death
of the victim by adequate means. It also can not
be denied that the crime is a frustrated felony not
an attempted offense considering that after being
stabbed and clubbed twice in the head as a result
of which he lost consciousness and fell, Marion’s
attackers apparently thought he was already dead
and fled.

The Court finds the accused guilty of frustrated

homicide.
People v. Kalalom
FACTS:
On November 10, 1932, the appellants namely,
Felipe Kalalo, Marcelo Kalalo, Juan Kalalo, and
Gregorio Ramos, were tried in the Batangas
jointly with Alejandro Garcia, Fausta Abrenica

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 40

and Alipia Abrenica in criminal cases Nos. 6858,
6859 and 6860, the first two for murder, and the
last for frustrated murder. Upon agreement of the
parties said three cases were tried together and
after the presentation of their respective evidence,
the said court acquitted Alejandro Garcia, Fausta
Abrenica and Alipia Abrenica, and sentenced the
other appellants.
ISSUE: W/O accused-appellants are liable of the
crimes of murder and discharge of firearms?
RULING: In all other respects, the appealed
sentences in the said three cases are hereby
affirmed without prejudice to crediting the
appellants therein with one-half of the time during
which they have undergone preventive
imprisonment, in accordance with article 29 of the
Revised Penal Code. So ordered.

The first case is, for the alleged murder of

Marcelino Panaligan, to seventeen years, four
months and one day of reclusion temporal, with
the corresponding accessory penalties, and to
indemnify the heirs of the said deceased
Marcelino Panaligan in the sum of P1,000, with
the costs.

The second case is, for the alleged murder of

Arcadio Holgado, to seventeen years, four months
and one day of reclusion temporal, with the
corresponding accessory penalties, and to
indemnify the heirs of the aforesaid victim, the
deceased Arcadio Holgado, in the sum of P1,000,
with the costs.

In the third case, that is, the court held that the
crime committed was simply that of discharge of
firearm, not frustrated murder, the appellant
Marcelo Kalalo was sentenced to one year, eight
months and twenty-one days of prision
correccional and to pay the proportionate part of
the costs of the proceedings. Felipe Kalalo and
Juan Kalalo, as well as their co-accused Fausta
and Alipia Abrenica, Gregorio Ramos and
Alejandro Garcia, were acquitted of the charges
therein.
ESTAFA
US v. Dominguez

Facts: Accused who was a salesman at the

Philippine Education Co., Inc. did then and there

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 41

receive the sum of seven pesos and fifty centavos
(P7.50) from one Lamberto Garcia as payment for
five copies of Sams' 'Practical Business Letters'
bought from the store of the said company, which
amount should have been turned over and
delivered by him (accused) to the company's
cashier or his authorized representative
therein; that instead of delivering the said amount
to the said cashier or his representative therein,
which he knew it was his obligation to do, the said
accused did then and there willfully, unlawfully
and criminally misappropriate and convert it to his
own personal use to the damage and prejudice of
the said Philippine Education Co., Inc. in the
sum of seven pesos and fifty centavos (P7.50). He
only returned the amount upon discovery of his
deceit.

Issue: W/N the actions of the accused constitute a

consummated offense of estafa.

Held: No. The accused is guilty of frustrated

offense of estafa of 37½ pesetas, inasmuch as he
performed all the acts of execution which should
produce the crime as a consequence, but which,
by reason of causes independent of his will, did
not produce- it, no appreciable damage having
been caused to the offended party, such damage
being one of the essential elements of the crime,
due to the timely discovery of the acts prosecuted.
BRIBERY
Pozar v. CA
FACTS: Petitioner, an American citizen and a
permanent resident of the Philippines,was charged
in an Information, with the crime of Corruption of
a Public Official. As stated in the Information,
petitioner "did then and there willfully,
unlawfully, andfeloniously give to the
complainant, Mr. Danilo Ocampo, the City
Probation Officer, thesum of one hundred
(P100.00) pesos in a paper bill with serial No.
BC530309, undercircumstances that would make
the said City Probation Officer, Mr. Danilo
Ocampo,liable for bribery.
” entitled to acquittal of the crime charged.
Manalo, Clerk at the Probation Office of Angeles
City, declared that he started workingat the
Probation Office since May 2, 1978 and came to
know appellant because thelatter had gone to said
office in connection with his application for
The procedure for processing petitioner's
application for probation in theProbation Office at
Angeles City was not precise, explicit and clear
cut. And since theaccused petitioner is a foreigner
and quite unfamiliar with probation rules and
procedures, there is reason to conclude that
petitioner was befuddled, if not confusedso that
his act of providing and advancing the expenses
for whatever documentationwas needed further to
complete and thus hasten his probation
application, wasunderstandably innocent and not
criminal. There being no criminal intent to corrupt
theProbation Officer, the accused petitioner is
the trial court erred in finding the accused guilty
of the crime of Corruptionof Public Official as
consummated offense (which is affirmed by the
respondentappellant court) for it is clear from the

D&G || CRIMINAL LAW I CASES || 42

probation. At aboutnoontime of December 17, evidence of the prosecution as recited in
1979, appellant came to the office looking for bothdecisions of the trial and appellate courts, that
ProbationOfficer Danilo Ocampo and since the the complainant Probation Officer didnot accept
latter was out at the time, appellant gave him the one hundred-peso bill
aclosed envelope bearing the name of Ocampo for Hence, the crime would be attemptedcorruption of
delivery to the latter.Two days later, he gave the a public official (to be the correct charge)
envelope to Ocampo who opened the same in .
hispresence. The envelope contained some official
papers connected with appellant'sapplication for However, petitioner was required by the Assistant
probation and attached thereto was a hundred- Probation Officer, PrimitiveFrancisco, to submit
peso bill. Ocampo then in connection with his probation application the
remarked: “ Court Information(complaint) Court decision,
This is something bad that the opening of the Custody Status (recognizance or bail bond),
envelope was done on clearancesfrom the Police, the Court, Barangay
December 19, 1979.” Certificate, I.D. pictures (3 copies),
Ocampo kept the envelope and its contents, residencecertificate, and told to report once a
including the onehundred-peso bill, but within a week on Mondays. when the latter was
week's time gave them to him with instructions to askingpermission to go to Baguio to submit to the
givethe same to appellant but the latter never office a copy of his visa and passport. Duringall
came to the office and so he returned themto the time he was applying for probation, he made
Ocampo. Although he later saw appellant about more or less 12 visits in the officeas he was
two weeks after December 17, 1979, when directed to report every Monday at 10:00 o'clock
thelatter came to the office to sign some papers, in the morning. He reported for 6 to 7 consecutive
he never mentioned to appellant the onehundred- weeks and there were times that he went there
peso bill. ANOTHER PROSEC WITNESS: unscheduled forconference and clarification of the
Mrs. Primitiva Francisco, Assistant Probation various requirements he needed.
Officer of the Angeles City ProbationOffice,
declared that she knows appellant because the
latter was one of the applicantsfor probation in
1979 and she was the one assigned to investigate
appellant's case. As Assistant Probation Officer in
the Investigation of applications for probation and
in thecase of appellant, she requested him to
submit certain pertinent documents requiredby
their office, such as barangay, police and court
clearances, residence certificate,etc.Mrs.
Francisco further declared that at the time she saw
appellant on December 21,1979, the latter was
asking person to leave for Baguio City but she
told him to talk withProbation Officer, Mr.
Ocampo, anent the matter. She then prepared a
draft of the Post-Sentence Investigation report and
thereafter had a conference with Ocampo who
toldhim not to delete the bribery incident from the
report. It was first from Manalo and laterfrom
Ocampo that she became aware of the bribery or
more accurately corruption of apublic official
committed by appellant.

DEFENSE’S VERSION:

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 The one hundred-peso bill the accused-appellant
placed in the envelope delivered tothe Probation
Officer was allegedly intended to take care of the
expenses in the xeroxcopying or reproduction of
documents that may be needed by the Probation
Office.

BACK STORY:
Accused was convicted of the crime of less
Serious Physical Injuries, and the crime ofOral
Defamation of the City Court of Angeles City,
Branch 1, and the said accused wassentenced to
an imprisonment of 15 days of Arresto Menor and
to pay a fine of P50.00and to pay the complaining
witness the amount of P500.00 as moral and
exemptdamages. After he was sentenced, he, on
November 28, 1979 filed an Application
forProbation. After filing the application for
Probation, the accused, together with his lawyer
Atty.Reynaldo Suarez, went to the Probation
Office purposely to inquire for the
requirementsneed for his client's petition for
probation. Unfortunately, Atty. Suarez and his
client didnot reach the Probation Officer Mr.
Danilo Ocampo. It was Mr. Manalo, a clerk of
theProbation Office, whom they reached, and they
were requested to come back to theoffice
regarding their inquiry inasmuch as the Probation
Officer was not in the office.He was inquiring
from Mrs. Francisco the necessary documents
regarding theapplication for probation of his client
and Mrs. Francisco suggested that he would
comeover the office in order to give him all the
necessary information.
ISSUE: Is petitioner guilty of the direct bribery?
RULING: NO. Accused was ACQUITTED.

ARSON
People v. Hernandez

US v. Valdez

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