Title 8
CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS
DESTRUCTION OF LIFE
Article 246. Parricide
Elements: 1. That the person is killed;
2. That the deceased is killed by the accused;
3. That the deceased is the father, mother, or child, whether legitimate or
illegitimate, or a legitimate other ascendant or other descendant, or the
legitimate spouse of the accused.
Basis: relationship in the direct line
Conspiracy: if husband/wife in conspiracy with a killer to kill the spouse?
Article 247. Death or Physical Injuries inflicted under Exceptional
Circumstances
Elements: 1. A legally married person surprises his spouse in the act of
committing sexual intercourse with another person OR a parent
surprises his/her daughter (under 18 years old and living with their
parents) in the act of sexual intercourse with another person;
[Link]/she kills any or both of them while in the act or immediately
thereafter; and
[Link]/she has not promoted or facilitated the prostitution of his/her
husband/wife or daughter, or that he/she has not consented to the
infidelity of the other spouse.
Penalty: DESTIERRO- a prohibition of the convicted person from
entering court-designated places or a specified radius of those place.
The Accused must witness the other spouse or daughter in
the act of sexual intercourse.
Article 248. Murder
Elements:
1) That a person was killed;
2) That the accused killed him;
3) That the killing was attended by any of the qualifying
circumstances mentioned in Article 248;
Qualifying Circumstance
• With treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of armed
men, or employing means to weaken the defense or of means or persons to insure or afford
impunity;
• In consideration of a price, reward, or promise.
• By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, shipwreck, stranding of a
vessel, derailment or assault upon a street car or locomotive, fall of an airship, by means of
motor vehicles, or with the use of any other means involving great waste and ruin.
• On occasion of any of the calamities enumerated in the preceding
paragraph, or of an earthquake, eruption of a volcano, destructive cyclone, epidemic or
other public calamity.
• With evident premeditation.
• With cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the
victim, or outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse.
4) That the killing is not parricide or infanticide. (People v.
Kalipayan, G.R. No. 229829, 22 January 2018)
Article 249. Homicide
Elements
1) A person was killed;
2) The accused killed him without any justifying circumstance;
3) The accused had the intention to kill, which is presumed; and,
4) The killing was NOT attended by any of the qualifying
circumstances of murder, or by that of parricide or
infanticide.
Article 251. Death caused in a Tumultuous Affray
Elements
1) That there be several persons;
2) That they did not compose groups organized for the
common purpose of assaulting and attacking each other reciprocally;
3) That these several persons quarreled and assaulted one
another in a confused and tumultuous manner;
4) That someone was killed in the course of the affray;
5) That it cannot be ascertained who actually killed the
deceased; and,
6) That the person or persons who inflicted serious physical
injuries or who used violence can be identified.
Thus, there should be at least four (4) persons involved.
Fights that break out in a drinking bar, during a sports match, in a prison or detention
center, and analogous thereto. The death may be during the fight or sometime later in the
hospital. What is important is that the death is directly related to the injuries sustained during
the fight.
Considering it was a tumultuous affray, it may be difficult to identify who actually
killed the deceased. Notwithstanding the confusion, it may be possible to identify the
individuals who may have inflicted serious physical injuries or violence. This may be done
via testimonial evidence of any of the participants or by a bystander. In the alternative, and
where available, documentary evidence via CCTV footage or video recording may also be
used to identify these persons.
Article 252. Physical Injuries inflicted in a Tumultuous Affray
Elements
1) That there be several persons;
2) That they did not compose groups organized for the common
purpose of assaulting and attacking each other reciprocally;
3) That these several persons quarreled and assaulted one another in
a confused and tumultuous manner;
4) That someone was injured in the course of the affray;
5) That it cannot be ascertained who actually injured the victim; and
6) That the person or persons who inflicted serious physical injuries
or who used violence can be identified.
Thus, there should be at least four (4) persons involved
Article 253. Giving assistance to suicide
First Mode
Elements 1) The offender assists another to commit suicide; and,
2) Whether or not the suicide was successful.
Second Mode
Elements 1) The offender leads the assistance of suicide to another to
the extent of doing the killing himself; and,
2) Whether or not the suicide was successful.
Article 254. DISCHARGE OF FIREARMS
Elements 1) That the offender discharges a firearm against or at
another person; and,
2) That the offender has no intention to kill that person.
Article 255. INFANTICIDE
Elements
1) A child was killed;
2) The deceased child was less than three (3) days old; and,
3) The accused killed the child.
It is necessary that the child be born alive and be viable, that is, capable of
independent existence.
Article 256 INTENTIONAL ABORTION
Elements
1) That there is a pregnant woman; and,
2) That the offender intentionally causes an abortion. (with violence on the
pregnant, without consent of the woman, with consent of the woman)
Article 257 UNINTENTIONAL ABORTION
Elements
1) That there is a pregnant woman;
2) That violence is used upon such pregnant woman without
intending an abortion;
3) That the violence is intentionally exerted; and,
4) That as a result of the violence the fetus dies, either in the womb
or after having been expelled therefrom.
Art. 262. MUTILATION
ELEMENTS
1) that there be a castration, that is, mutilation of organs necessary for
generation; and
2) that the mutilation is caused purposely and deliberately, that is, to deprive the
offended party of some essential organ for reproduction
Article 263. SERIOUS PHYSICAL IN JURIES
Any person who shall wound, beat, or assault another, shall be guilty of the
crime of serious physical injuries and shall suffer:
1. The penalty of prision mayor, if in consequence of the physical injuries
inflicted, the injured person shall become insane, imbecile, impotent, or blind;
2. The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods,
if in consequence of the physical injuries inflicted, the person injured shall have lost
the use of speech or the power to hear or to smell, or shall have lost an eye, a
hand, a foot, an arm, or a leg or shall have lost the use of any such member, or
shall have become incapacitated for the work in which he was therefor
habitually engaged;
3. The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, if
in consequence of the physical injuries inflicted, the person injured shall have
become deformed, or shall have lost any other part of his body, or shall have lost
the use thereof, or shall have been ill or incapacitated for the performance of the
work in which he as habitually engaged for a period of more than ninety days;
4. The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision
correccional in its minimum period, if the physical injuries inflicted shall have
caused the illness or incapacity for labor of the injured person for more than
thirty days.
If the offense shall have been committed against any of the persons
enumerated in Article 246, or with attendance of any of the circumstances mentioned
in Article 248, the case covered by subdivision number 1 of this Article shall be
punished by reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum periods; the case
covered by subdivision number 2 by prision correccional in its maximum period to
prision mayor in its minimum period; the case covered by subdivision number 3
by prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods; and the case covered
by subdivision number 4 by prision correccional in its minimum and medium
periods.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not be applicable to a parent
who shall inflict physical injuries upon his child by excessive chastisement.
ARTICLE 265 LESS SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURIES
Elements
1) That the offender inflicted physical injuries upon another; and,
2) That the physical injuries inflicted either incapacitated the victim for labor
for 10 days or more, or the injuries required medical assistance for more than 10
days
ARTICLE 266. SLIGHT PHYSICAL INJURIES and MALTREATMENT.
ART.266A-266B. Rape
The Anti-Rape Law of 1997 (RA 8353) now classified the crime of rape as a Crime
Against Persons. It incorporated rape into Title 8 of the RPC.
ELEMENTS:
Rape is committed -
1. By a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman under any of
the following circumstances:
a. through force, threat, or intimidation;
b. when the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious;
c. by means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; or
d. when the offended party is under 12 years of age or is demented, even though
none of the circumstances mentioned above be present.
2. By any person who, under any of the circumstances mentioned in
paragraph 1 hereof, shall commit an act of sexual assault by inserting
a. his penis into another person’s mouth or anal orifice; or
b. any instrument or object, into the genital or anal orifice of another person.
Rape committed under paragraph 1 is punishable by:
1. reclusion perpetua
2. reclusion perpetua to DEATH when:
a. victim became insane by reason or on the occasion of rape; or
b. the rape is attempted and a homicide is committed by reason or on the
occasion thereof.
3. DEATH when:
a. homicide is committed;
b. victim is under 18 years old and offender is:
(1) parent,
(2) ascendant,
(3) step-parent,
(4) guardian,
(5) relative by consanguinity or affinity within the 3rd civil degree,
(6) common law spouse of victim’s parent;
c. under the custody of the police or military authorities or any law
enforcement or penal institution;
d. committed in full view of the spouse, parent or any of the children or
other relatives within the 3rd degree of consanguinity;
e. victim is a religious engaged in legitimate religious vocation or calling
and is personally known to be such by the offender before or at the time of
the commission of the crime;
f. a child below 7 years old;
g. offender knows he is afflicted with HIV or AIDS or any other sexually
transmissible disease and the virus is transmitted to the victim;
h. offender is a member of the AFP, or para-military units thereof, or the
PNP, or any law enforcement agency or penal institution, when the offender took
advantage of his position to facilitate the commission of the crime;
i. the victim suffered permanent physical mutilation or disability;
j. the offender knew of the pregnancy of the offended party at the time of
the commission of the crime; and
k. when the offender knew of the mental disability, emotional disorder,
and/or physical handicap of the offended party at the time of the commission of the
crime.
Rape committed under paragraph 2 is punishable by:
1. prision mayor
2. prision mayor to reclusion temporal when:
a. there was use of deadly weapon, or
b. when committed by two or more persons.
3. reclusion temporal – when the victim has become insane
4. reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua – rape is attempted and homicide is
committed
5. reclusion perpetua – homicide is committed by reason or on occasion of rape
6. reclusion temporal – committed with any of the 10 aggravating circumstances
mentioned above
Degree of Force necessary:
1. Force sufficient to consummate the culprit’s purpose
2. Consider age, size and strength of parties and their relation to each other
Rape may be committed by employing intimidation(Intimidation Moral
kind)
When the offender in rape has an ascendancy or influence over the girl,
it is not necessary to put up determined resistance
Rape may be proved by testimony of woman alone
1. An accusation for rape can be made with facility, is difficult to prove, but more
difficult for person accused, though innocent, to disprove
2. Nature only two persons are involved, testimony of complainant must be
scrutinized with extreme caution
3. The evidence for prosecution must stand or fall on its own merits, and cannot be allowed to
draw strength from weakness of evidence for defense
>Deprivation of reason contemplated by law need not be complete, mental abnormality or
deficiency is sufficient
CONSUMMATED RAPE: penetration of labia consummates the crime of rape
ATTEMPTED RAPE: intent to have carnal knowledge must be clearly shown
PEOPLE vs. NEQUIA, G.R. No. 146569.10/6/03
In rape by sexual assault, the word "instrument or object" should be construed to include a
human finger.
PEOPLE vs. BALLENO G.R. No. 149075. 8/7/03
The fact that no laceration and no ruptured hymen were found in this case, does not necessarily
negate rape. The fact that the hymen was intact upon examination does not, likewise, belie rape,
for a broken hymen is not an essential element of rape, nor does the fact that the victim remained
a virgin exclude the crime.
PEOPLE vs. NAVARRO, G.R. No. 137597. 10/24/03
Even the slightest contact of the penis with the labia under the circumstances enumerated under
Art. 266- A of the Revised Penal Code constitutes rape. A flaccid penis can do as much damage as
an erect one — at least insofar as the crime of rape is concerned.
PEOPLE vs. AGSAOAY, G.R. Nos. 132125-26. 6/3/04 on Rape Shield
An unchaste woman who habitually goes out with different men may be a victim of rape. The
victim’s moral character is not among the elements of the crime of rape. It does not negate the
existence of rape.
PEOPLE vs. LALINGJAMAN, G.R. No. 132714. 6/6/01
Rape may be committed anywhere — even in places where people congregate such as parks,
along the road side, within school premises, and inside a house where there are other occupants.
The beast in him bears no respect for time and place.
PEOPLE vs. OLAYBAR G.R. Nos. 150630-31. 101/03
The trial court has decreed the penalty of death on account of the circumstance under Article 266-
A, i.e., that when "the offender knows that he is afflicted with Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus
(HIV), Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or any other sexually transmissible
disease and the virus or disease is transmitted to the victim," the imposition of the extreme penalty
of death would be warranted.
PEOPLE vs. DE LA TORRE G.R. Nos. 121213 & 121216-23. 1/13/04
An accused may be considered a principal by direct participation, by inducement, or by
indispensable cooperation. This is true in a charge of rape against a woman, provided of course a
man is charged together with her. Thus, in two cases the Court convicted the woman as a principal
by direct participation since it was proven that she held down the complainant in order to help her
co-accused spouse consummate the offense.
PEOPLE vs. MALONES, G.R. Nos. 124388-90. 3/11/04
The negative findings of spermatozoa on the medico-legal report does not prove that no rape was
committed.
PEOPLE vs. ROTE, G.R. No. 146188, 12/11/03
Where the girl is below 12 years old, the only subject of inquiry is whether “carnal knowledge”
took place. Proof of force, intimidation or consent is unnecessary since none of these is an element
of statutory rape. There is a conclusive presumption of absence of free consent of the rape victim
is below the age of 12.
PEOPLE vs. FUCIO, G.R. Nos. 151186-95. 2/13/04
The qualifying circumstance of minority and relationship does not include god-father relationship.
PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. vs. LAMBID G.R. Nos. 133066-67, October 1, 2003
The force or violence necessary in rape is a relative term that depends not only on the age, size,
and strength of the persons involved but also on their relationship with each other. In a rape
committed by a father against his own daughter, the former's parental authority and moral
ascendancy substitutes for violence or intimidation over the latter who, expectedly, would just
cower in fear and resign to the father's wicked deeds.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. ANTHONY SANDIG G.R. No. 143124.
7/25/03
The mere assertion of a love relationship does not necessarily rule out the use of force to
consummate the crime of rape. A sweetheart cannot be forced to have sex against her will.
Definitely, a man can neither demand sexual gratification from a fiancée nor employ violence
upon her, on the pretext of love.
PEOPLE vs. JOEL AYUDA G.R. No. 128882. 10/2/03
A "sweetheart defense," to be credible, should be substantiated by some documentary or other
evidence of the relationship — like mementos, love letters, notes, pictures and the like. Here, no
such evidence was ever presented by appellant.
PEOPLE vs. ACERO, G.R. Nos. 146690- 91. 3/17/04
A defense based on “sweetheart theory” in rape cases is not a defense at all in rape where the
victim is a mental retardate.
PEOPLE vs. OGA, G.R. No. 152302. 6/8/04
Sweetheart theory prevails as a defense in rape when it casts reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the
accused.
People v. Orita
A soldier raped a 19-year old student by poking a knife on her neck. Only a portion of his penis
entered her vagina because the victim kept on struggling until she was able to escape. The accused
was convicted of frustrated rape.
HELD: There is NO crime of FRUSTRATED RAPE because in rape, from the moment the
offender has carnal knowledge of the victim, he actually attains his purpose, all the essential
elements of the offense have been accomplished.
People v. Campuhan
The accused had his pants down and was on top of the 4-year old child when the child’s mother
arrived. Medical findings showed no signs of genital injury and the victim’s hymen was intact.
HELD: For rape to be consummated, a slight brush or scrape of the penis on the external layer of
the vagina will not suffice. Mere touching of the external layer of the vagina is not the same as
‘slightest penetration’. Accused is only liable for ATTEMPTED RAPE.
People v. Atento
A 16-year old mental retardate, who has the intellectual capacity of a 9 and 12-year-old, was
repeatedly raped by the accused.
HELD: The accused was found guilty of raping a woman deprived of reason or otherwise
unconscious and was also held liable for rape under the Par. that pertains to a victim under 12
notwithstanding the victim’s actual age. Age requirement was amended to refer to mental age.