RPC Book 1 (Arts. 1-113)

CRIM I

Article 1. Time when Act takes effect.

This Code shall take effect on the First day of January, 1932.

Article 2. Application of its provisions.

Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:

1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;

2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;

3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;

4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions; or

5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law or nations, defined Title One of Book Two of this Code.

Article 3. Definition.

Acts and omissions punishable by law are felonies (delitos).

Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of fault (culpa).

There is deceit when the act is performed with deliberate intent; and there is fault when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill.

Article 4. Criminal liability.

Criminal liability shall be incurred:

1. By any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done be different from that which he intended.

2. By any person performing an act which would be an offense against persons or property, were it not for the inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or on account of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means.

Article 5. Duty of the court in connection with acts which should be repressed but which are not covered by the law, and in cases of excessive penalties.

Whenever a court has knowledge of any act which it may deem proper to repress and which is not punishable by law, it shall render the proper decision and shall report to the Chief Executive, through the Department of Justice, the reasons which induce the court to believe that said act should be made the subject of penal legislation.

In the same way, the court shall submit to the Chief Executive, through the Department of Justice, such statement as may be deemed proper, without suspending the execution of the sentence, when a strict enforcement of the provisions of this Code would result in the imposition of a clearly excessive penalty, taking into consideration the degree of malice and the injury caused by the offense.

Article 6. Consummated, frustrated, and attempted felonies.

Consummated felonies, as well as those which are frustrated and attempted, are punishable.

A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are present; and it is frustrated when the offender performs all the acts of execution which would produce the felony as a consequence but which, nevertheless, do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.

There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony by reason of some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance.

Article 7. When light felonies are punishable.

Light felonies are punishable only when they have been consummated, with the exception of those committed against persons or property.

Article 8. Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony.

Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only in the cases in which the law specially provides a penalty therefor.

A conspiracy exists when 2 or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it.

There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony proposes its execution to some other person or persons.

Article 9. Grave felonies, less grave felonies, and light felonies.

Grave felonies are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which in any of their periods are afflictive, in accordance with Article 25 of this Code.

Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum period are correctional, in accordance with the above-mentioned article.

Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of arresto menor or a fine not exceeding Forty thousand pesos (P40,000), or both, is provided. (As amended by R.A. No. 10951)

Article 10. Offenses not subject to the provisions of this Code.

Offenses which are or in the future may be punishable under special laws are not subject to the provisions of this Code. This Code shall be supplementary to such laws, unless the latter should specially provide the contrary.

Article 11. Justifying circumstances.

The following do not incur any criminal liability:

1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the following circumstances concur:

   First. Unlawful aggression;

   Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it;

   Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.

2. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of his spouse, ascendants, descendants, or legitimate, natural, or adopted brothers or sisters or of his relatives by affinity in the same degrees, and those by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree, provided that the first and second requisites prescribed in the next preceding circumstance are present, and the further requisite, in case the provocation was given by the person attacked, that the one making defense had no part therein.

3. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a stranger, provided, that the first and second requisites mentioned in the first circumstance of this article are present and that the person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment, or other evil motive.

4. Any person who, in order to avoid an evil or injury, does an act which causes damage to another, provided that the following requisites are present:

   First. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists;

   Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;

   Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.

5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office.

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

Article 12. Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability.

The following are exempt from criminal liability:

1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid interval.

   When the imbecile or an insane person has committed an act which the law defines as a felony (delito), the court shall order his confinement in one of the hospitals or asylums established for persons thus afflicted, which he shall not be permitted to leave without first obtaining the permission of the same court.

2. A person under 15 years of age. (As modified by Section 6 of R.A. No. 9344)

3. A person over 15 years of age and under 18, unless he has acted with discernment, in which case, such minor shall now be subject to an intervention program. (As modified by Section 6 of R.A. No. 9344)

4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere accident without fault or intention of causing it.

5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of an irresistible force.

6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or greater injury.

7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented by some lawful or insuperable cause.

Article 13. Mitigating circumstances.

The following are mitigating circumstances:

1. Those mentioned in the preceding chapter, when all the requisites necessary to justify the act or to exempt from criminal liability in the respective cases are not attendant.

2. That the offender is under 18 years of age or over 70 years. In the case of the minor, he shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of Article 80.

3. That the offender had no intention

Article 14. A.

Article 15. A.

Article 16. A.

Article 17. A.

Article 18. A.

Article 19. A.

Article 20. A.

Article 21. A.

Article 22. Retroactive effect of penal laws.

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

Article 23. A.

Article 24. A.

Article 25. A.

Article 26. A.

Article 27. A.

Article 28. A.

Article 29. A.

Article 30. A.

Article 31. A.

Article 32. A.

Article 33. A.

Article 34. A.

Article 35. A.

Article 36. A.

Article 37. A.

Article 38. A.

Article 39. A.

Article 40. A.

Article 41. A.

Article 42. A.

Article 43. A.

Article 44 A.

Article 45. A.

Article X. A.

Article 48. Penalty for complex crimes.

When a single act constitutes 2 or more grave or less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period. (As amended by Com. Act No. 4000, approved Dec. 5, 1932)

Article 59. Penalty to be imposed in case of failure to commit the crime because the means employed or the aims sought are impossible.

When the person intending to commit an offense has already performed the acts for the execution of the same but nevertheless the crime was not produced by reason of the fact that the act intended was by its nature one of impossible accomplishment or because the means employed by such person are essentially inadequate to produce the result desired by him, the court, having in mind the social danger and the degree of criminality shown by the offender, shall impose upon him the penalty of arresto mayor or a fine ranging from 200-500 pesos.