Bill of Rights

(1987 Philippine Constitution)

Article-III, Section-I
No person shall be deprived of life,
liberty or property without due
process of law, nor shall any person
be denied the equal protection of
the laws.
Article-III, Section-I
Life is not limited to the literal meaning of
life. It includes the right of individual to its
body in its completeness, free from
dismemberment, and extends to God-given
faculties which makes life enjoyable.
Liberty - the right to exist and right to be free
from personal restraint or servitude, the right
to contract, the right to choose ones
employment, the right to labor etc.
Article-III, Section-I
Property - refers to anything that can come
under the right of ownership and be subject
of contract.

Due Process of Law
It is a legal maxims which hears before it
condemns and renders judgment only after
trial.
Article-III, Section-I
Two (2) Aspects of Due Process
1. Procedural Due Process The manner or
procedure which must be followed in the
enforcement or application of law.
2. Substantive Due Process This means
that the law to be applied is valid, just and
not arbitrary.

Article-III, Section-I
Equal Protection of Law
It means that all persons or things similarly
situated should be treated alike both as to
rights conferred and responsibilities imposed.
Article-III, Section-I
Sample Case: If A is a doctor who earns
Php. 35,000/month, and B a teacher who is
earning 12,000/month, if they will be taxed
with the same amount of Php. 800/month, is
it just and fair? Does this observed Equal
Protection of the Law?
Answer : No. It is unjust and unfair to
impose the same amount of tax to two (2)
different individuals who have different
monthly income.
Crimes Against Persons
1. Parricide
2. Murder
3. Homicide
4. Death Cause in a Tumultuous Affray
5. Physical injuries inflicted in a tumultuous
affray
6. Giving Assistance to Suicide
7. Discharge of Firearms


Crimes Against Persons
8. Infanticide and Abortion
a. Intentional Abortion
b. Unintentional Abortion
c. Abortion practiced by the woman
herself of by her parents
d. Abortion practiced by a physician or
midwife and dispensing of abortives.
9. Duel



Crimes Against Persons
10.Physical Injuries
a. Mutilation
b. Serious Physical Injuries
c. Administering injurious substances or
beverages
d. Less serious physical injuries.
e. Slight physical injuries and
maltreatment



Crimes Against Persons
1. Art. 246 (Revised Penal Code) Parricide
Any person who shall kill his father,
mother, or child, whether legitimate or
illegitimate, or any of his ascendants, or
descendants, or his spouse, shall be guilty
of parricide and shall be punished by the
penalty of reclusion perpetua to death.

Crimes Against Persons
2. Art. 248 (RPC) Murder Any person who
shall kill another, shall be guilty of murder
and shall be punished by reclusion
temporal in its maximum period to death, if
committed with any of the following
attendant circumstances:
Crimes Against Persons
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.
Crimes Against Persons
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.
Crimes Against Persons
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.
Crimes Against Persons
3. Art. 249 (RPC) Homicide Any person
who, not falling within the provisions of
Article 246, shall kill another without the
attendance of any of the circumstances
enumerated in the next preceding article,
shall be deemed guilty of homicide and be
punished by reclusion temporal.
Crimes Against Persons
4. Art. 251 (RPC) Death caused in a tumultuous
affray When, while several persons, not
composing groups organized for the common
purpose of assaulting and attacking each other
reciprocally, quarrel and assault each other in a
confused and tumultuous manner, and in the
course of the affray someone is killed, and it
cannot be ascertained who actually killed the
deceased, but the person or persons who
inflicted serious physical injuries can be
identified, such person or persons shall be
punished by prision mayor.
Crimes Against Persons
5. Art. 252 (RPC) Physical injuries inflicted in a
tumultuous affray When in a tumultuous
affray as referred to in the preceding article, only
serious physical injuries are inflicted upon the
participants thereof and the person responsible
thereof cannot be identified, all those who
appear to have used violence upon the person
of the offended party shall suffer the penalty
next lower in degree than that provided for the
physical injuries so inflicted.

Crimes Against Persons
6. Art. 253 (RPC) Giving assistance to suicide
Any person who shall assist another to commit
suicide shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor;
if such person leads his assistance to another to
the extent of doing the killing himself, he shall
suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal.
However, if the suicide is not consummated, the
penalty of arresto mayor in its medium and
maximum periods, shall be imposed.

Crimes Against Persons
7. Art. 254 (RPC) Discharge of firearms Any
person who shall shoot at another with any
firearm shall suffer the penalty of prision
correccional in its minimum and medium
periods, unless the facts of the case are such
that the act can be held to constitute frustrated
or attempted parricide, murder, homicide or any
other crime for which a higher penalty is
prescribed by any of the articles of this Code
Crimes Against Persons
8. Art. 255 (RPC) Infanticide The penalty
provided for parricide in Article 246 and for
murder in Article 248 shall be imposed upon any
person who shall kill any child less than three
days of age.
If the crime penalized in this article be
committed by the mother of the child for the
purpose of concealing her dishonor, she shall
suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its
medium and maximum periods, and if said crime
be committed for the same purpose by the
maternal grandparents or either of them, the
penalty shall be prision mayor.

Crimes Against Persons
9. Art. 256 (RPC) Intentional abortion Any person who
shall intentionally cause an abortion.

10. Art. 257 (RPC) Unintentional abortion The penalty of
prision correccional in its minimum and medium period
shall be imposed upon any person who shall cause an
abortion by violence, but unintentionally.

11. Art. 258 (RPC) Abortion practiced by the woman herself
of by her parents The penalty of prision correccional
in its medium and maximum periods shall be imposed
upon a woman who shall practice abortion upon herself
or shall consent that any other person should do so.

Crimes Against Persons
12. Art. 259 (RPC) Abortion practiced by a physician or midwife and
dispensing of abortives The penalties provided in Article 256
shall be imposed in its maximum period, respectively, upon any
physician or midwife who, taking advantage of their scientific
knowledge or skill, shall cause an abortion or assist in causing the
same.

9. Art. 257 (RPC) Unintentional abortion The penalty of prision
correccional in its minimum and medium period shall be imposed
upon any person who shall cause an abortion by violence, but
unintentionally.

9. Art. 258 (RPC) Abortion practiced by the woman herself of by her
parents The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and
maximum periods shall be imposed upon a woman who shall
practice abortion upon herself or shall consent that any other person
should do so.

Sample Case
Question: A thought of killing B. He positioned himself
at one corner where B would usually pass. When a
figure resembling B was approaching, A hid and when
that figure was near him, he suddenly hit him with a
piece of wood on the nape, killing him. But it turned out
that it was his own father. What was the crime
committed by A?

Answer: The crime committed is parricide, although
what was intended was homicide. A crime was
committed different from that which was intended.

Sample Case
Question: A and B were lovers. B was willing to
marry A except that A is already married. A thought of
killing his wife. He prepared her breakfast every
morning, and every morning, he placed a little dose of
arsenic poison into the breakfast of the wife. The wife
consumed all the food prepared by her husband
including the poison but nothing happened to the wife.
Because of the volume of the household chores that the
wife had to attend to daily, she developed a physical
condition that rendered her so strong and resistance to
any kind of poisoning, so the amount of poison applied to
her breakfast has no effect to her. Is there an impossible
crime?
Sample Case
Answer: No impossible crime is committed because
the fact itself stated that what prevented the poison from
taking effect is the physical condition of the woman. So it
implies that if the woman was not of such physical
condition, the poison would have taken effect. Hence, it
is not inherently impossible to realize the killing. The
crime committed is frustrated parricide.

Sample Case
Question: A thought of having her husband killed
because the latter was maltreating her. She hired some
persons to kill him and pointed at her husband. The
goons got hold of her husband and started mauling him.
The wife took pity and shouted for them to stop but the
goons continued. The wife ran away and was
prosecuted for parricide. Can the wife be convicted for
parricide?

Answer: No. Because there was desistance on the
part of the wife. The presence of desistance will exempt
her from parricide. Desistance negates criminal liability.

Act of Desistance
The Supreme Court has ruled that one who desisted
is not criminally liable. When a person has set foot to
the path of wickedness and brings back his foot to the
path of righteousness, the law shall reward him for doing
so.


Desistance on the part of the offender negates
criminal liability in the attempted stage. Desistance is
true only in the attempted stage of the felony. If under
the definition of the felony, the act done is already in the
frustrated stage, no amount of desistance will negate
criminal liability.

Act of Desistance
The spontaneous desistance of the offender negates
only the attempted stage but not necessarily all criminal
liability. Even though there was desistance on the part of
the offender, if the desistance was made when acts done
by him already resulted to a felony, that offender will still
be criminally liable for the felony brought about his act.
What is negated is only the attempted stage, but there
may be other felony constituting his act.


Illustrations:
A fired at B and B was hit on the shoulder. But B's wound
was not mortal. What A then did was to approach B, and
told B, Now you are dead, I will kill you. But A took pity and
kept the revolver and left. The crime committed is attempted
homicide and not physical injuries, because there was an
intention to kill. The desistance was with the second shot
and would not affect the first shot because the first shot had
already hit B. The second attempt has nothing to do with
the first.


Illustrations:
Question: In another instance, A has a very seductive
neighbor in the person of B. A had always been looking at B
and had wanted to possess her but their status were not the
same. One evening, after A saw B at her house and thought
that B was already asleep, he entered the house of B
through the window to abuse her. He, however, found out
that B was nude, so he lost interest and left. Can A be
accused of attempted rape?
Answer: No, because there was desistance, which
prevented the crime from being consummated. The
attempted stage was erased because the offender desisted
after having commenced the commission of the felony.

Illustrations:
Answer: The attempted felony is erased by desistance
because the offender spontaneously desisted from pursuing
the acts of execution. It does not mean, however, that there
is no more felony committed. He may be liable for a
consummated felony constituted by his act of trespassing.
When A entered the house through the window, which is not
intended for entrance, it is always presumed to be against
the will of the owner. If the offender proceeded to abuse the
woman, but the latter screamed, and A went out of the
window again, he could not be prosecuted for qualified
trespass. Dwelling is taken as an aggravating circumstance
so he will be prosecuted for attempted rape aggravated by
dwelling.

Crimes Against Liberty
1. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention
2. Slight Illegal Detention
3. Unlawful Arrest
4. Inducing minor to abandon his home
5. Slavery
6. Exploitation of Child Labor
7. Services rendered under compulsion in
payment of debt




Crimes Against Liberty
1. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention Any
private individual who shall kidnap or detain
another, or in any other manner deprive him of
his liberty, shall suffer the penalty of reclusion
perpetua to death:


a. If the kidnapping or detention shall have lasted more than
five days.
b. If it shall have been committed simulating public authority.
c. If any serious physical injuries shall have been inflicted
upon the person kidnapped or detained; or if threats to kill
him shall have been made.
d. If the person kidnapped or detained shall be a minor, female
or a public officer.



Crimes Against Liberty
2. Slight illegal detention The penalty of reclusion
temporal shall be imposed upon any private individual
who shall commit the crimes described in the next
preceding article without the attendance of any of
circumstances enumerated therein.

3. Unlawful arrest The penalty of arresto mayor and a
fine not exceeding 500 pesos shall be imposed upon any
person who, in any case other than those authorized by
law, or without reasonable ground therefore, shall arrest
or detain another for the purpose of delivering him to the
proper authorities.


Crimes Against Liberty
4. Inducing a minor to abandon his home The penalty of
prision correccional and a fine not exceeding seven
hundred pesos shall be imposed upon anyone who shall
induce a minor to abandon the home of his parent or
guardians or the persons entrusted with his custody.


5. Slavery The penalty of prision mayor and a fine of not
exceeding 10,000 pesos shall be imposed upon anyone
who shall purchase, sell, kidnap or detain a human being
for the purpose of enslaving him.
Crimes Against Liberty
6. Exploitation of child labor The penalty of prision
correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a
fine not exceeding 500 pesos shall be imposed upon
anyone who, under the pretext of reimbursing himself of
a debt incurred by an ascendant, guardian or person
entrusted with the custody of a minor, shall, against the
latters will, retain him in his service.

7. Services rendered under compulsion in payment of debt
The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to
prision correccional in its minimum period shall be
imposed upon any person who, in order to require or
enforce the payment of a debt, shall compel the debtor to
work for him, against his will, as household servant or
farm laborer.
Crimes Against Property
1. Robbery
2. Brigandage
3. Theft
4. Usurpation (Occupation of real property or
usurpation of real rights in property)
5. Altering boundaries or landmarks
6. Culpable Insolvency (Fraudulent insolvency)
7. Swindling (Estafa)
8. Chattel Mortgage (Removal, sale or pledge of
mortgaged property)





Crimes Against Property
9. Arson
10.Malicious Mischief





Exemptions from Criminal Liability in Crimes
Against Property




1. Spouses, ascendants and descendants, or
relatives by affinity in the same line.
2. The widowed spouse with respect to the
property which belonged to the deceased
spouse before the same shall have passed into
the possession of another; and



Exemptions from Criminal Liability in Crimes
Against Property




3. Brothers and sisters and brothers-in-law and
sisters-in-law, if living together.

The exemption established by this article
shall not be applicable to strangers
participating in the commission of the crime.