Article 14. Aggravating circumstances.
- The AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE
following are aggravating circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his
public position.
2. That the crime be committed in contempt or with
insult to the public authorities.
3. That the act be committed with insult or in
disregard of the respect due the offended party on
account of his rank, age, or sex, or that is be
committed in the dwelling of the offended party, if the
latter has not given provocation.
4. That the act be committed with abuse of
confidence or obvious ungratefulness.
5. That the crime be committed in the palace of the
Chief Executive or in his presence, or where public
authorities are engaged in the discharge of their
duties, or in a place dedicated to religious worship.
6. That the crime be committed in the night time, or
in an uninhabited place, or by a band, whenever such
circumstances may facilitate the commission of the
offense.
Whenever more than three armed malefactors shall
have acted together in the commission of an offense,
it shall be deemed to have been committed by a
band.
7. That the crime be committed on the occasion of a
conflagration, shipwreck, earthquake, epidemic or
other calamity or misfortune.
8. That the crime be committed with the aid of armed
men or persons who insure or afford impunity.
9. That the accused is a recidivist.
A recidivist is one who, at the time of his trial for one
crime, shall have been previously convicted by final
judgment of another crime embraced in the same
title of this Code.
10. That the offender has been previously punished
by an offense to which the law attaches an equal or
greater penalty or for two or more crimes to which it
attaches a lighter penalty.
11. That the crime be committed in consideration of a
price, reward, or promise.
12. That the crime be committed by means of
inundation, fire, poison, explosion, stranding of a
vessel or international damage thereto, derailment of
a locomotive, or by the use of any other artifice
involving great waste and ruin.
13. That the act be committed with evidence
premeditation.
14. That the craft, fraud or disguise be employed.
15. That advantage be taken of superior strength, or
means be employed to weaken the defense.
16. That the act be committed with treachery
(alevosia).
There is treachery when the offender commits any of
the crimes against the person, employing means,
methods, or forms in the execution thereof which
tend directly and specially to insure its execution,
without risk to himself arising from the defense
which the offended party might make.
17. That means be employed or circumstances
brought about which add ignominy to the natural
effects of the act.
18. That the crime be committed after an unlawful
entry.
There is an unlawful entry when an entrance of a
crime a wall, roof, floor, door, or window be broken.
19. That the crime be committed with the aid of
persons under fifteen years of age or by means of
motor vehicles, motorized watercraft, airships, or
other similar means. (As amended by RA 5438).
20. That the wrong done in the commission of the
crime be deliberately augmented by causing other
wrong not necessary for its commissions.
Aggravating Circumstance are those which, if attendant
in the commission of the crime, serve to increase the
penalty without, however, exceeding the maximum of the
penalty provided by law for the offense.
Those which if present in the commission of a felony will
serve to increase the imposable
penalty without however going beyond the maximum
penalty prescribed by law.
➢No matter how many aggravating circumstances
attended the crime, the court cannot impose a penalty
beyond the maximum penalty prescribed by law. So if a
crime is attended by ten aggravating circumstances, all
of them were alleged and proven, the court cannot
impose a penalty beyond the maximum penalty
prescribed by law. This is the limit.
In order for aggravating circumstance to be appreciated,
all the aggravating circumstance must be alleged in the
information and must be proven during the trial.
Unlike justifying, exempting and mitigating
circumstances, which are not stated or alleged in the
information, aggravating circumstances must be alleged
in the information. Even if they are proven in trial but they
are not alleged in the information, they cannot be
considered against the person. They must be both
alleged and likewise proven during trial, so as not to
deprive the accused of right to know the nature of the
accusation against him.
Kinds of aggravating Circumstances:
1. Generic Aggravating;
2. Specific Aggravating;
3. Inherent Aggravating;
4. Qualifying Aggravating;
5. Special Aggravating;
Different kinds of Aggravating Circumstances
1. Generic Aggravating Circumstance
➢ are those which apply to all crimes
Example: recidivism and nighttime - it can be applied to
crimes against persons, crimes against property, crimes
against chastity and applied to all other crimes.
2. Specific Aggravating Circumstances
➢ are those that apply only to a certain or particular
crimes
Example: Treachery – applies only to crimes against
persons. Cruelty which applies only to crimes against
Persons
3. Inherent Aggravating Circumstances
➢ are those which of necessity follow the commission of
the crime because they are considered as ingredient or
element of a crime. Hence they are no longer considered
so as to increase the imposable penalty because they
are considered elements in the commission of the crime.
Example: Dwelling is considered inherent In Violation of
Domicile. Evident premeditation is always inherent in the
crime of robbery
4. Qualifying Aggravating Circumstances
➢ are those that which change the nature of the crime to
bring about a greater crime with a higher penalty or even
without changing the nature of the crime it brings about
the imposition of a higher penalty.
Example: Those enumerated under Article. 248 Murder.
Such circumstances qualify Homicide into Murder and to
increase the imposable penalty.
Effect of more than one Qualifying Circumstance
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If there are more than one qualifying aggravating
circumstance as for example, homicide qualified to
murder, only one will qualify the felony to murder and the
others shall be considered as a generic aggravating
circumstance.
Example:
A killed B there was treachery, it was done in
consideration of a price, reward or promise, there was
also cruelty, so there are three qualifying aggravating
circumstances present. Only one of them will qualify the
killing to murder. So if treachery is already proven, the
crime committed is already murder. Cruelty and the other
circumstance of in consideration of a price, reward or
promise shall only be considered as generic aggravating
circumstances.
Art. 248. Murder. — Any person
who, not falling within the
provisions of Article 246 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:
1 . W i t h t r e a c h e r y, t a k i n g
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.
2. In consideration of a price,
reward, or promise.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. With evident premeditation.
6. With cruelty, by deliberately and
inhumanly augmenting the
suffering of the victim, or outraging
or scoffing at his person or corpse.
5. Special Aggravating Circumstance
In the case of People of the Philippines v. De Leon (G.R.
No. 179943, June 26, 2009) the Supreme Court defined
Special Aggravating Circumstances as circumstances
which arise under special conditions to increase the
penalty for the offense to its maximum period, but the
Par. 1 That advantage be taken by the offender of his
public position.
➢ This aggravating circumstance can be applied
only if the offender is a public officer.
➢ The offender uses or misuses the public position
in order to commit the crime. He took advantage
the prestige, influence, or ascendency of his office
in the commission of the crime or to facilitate the
commission of the crime.
same cannot increase the penalty to the next higher
degree.
In the case of special aggravating circumstance, it
CANNOT be offset by an ordinary mitigating
circumstance.
➢ These circumstances provide for the imposition of the
Maximum penalty prescribed by law and it cannot be
offset by any mitigating circumstance.
Example;
The following are examples of Special Aggravating
Circumstance;
1. Quasi-recidivism under Article 60 of the Revised Penal
Code;
2. Complex Crimes under Article 48 of the Revised Penal
Code; and
3. When homicide or murder is committed with the use of
an unlicensed firearm under P.D. 1866 as amended by
R.A. 8294;
4. When in the omission of the crime, advantage was
taken by the offender of his public position under Article
62 of the RPC;
Q: X committed a crime – killing Y. In killing Y, it was
alleged in the information that the act of killing was
attended by treachery and abuse of superior strength.
Both were also proven. If you were the judge, how will
you consider these two qualifying aggravating
circumstances?
A: You have to convict the accused with the crime
of murder qualified by treachery. Abuse of
superior strength has no more effect because if
both treachery and abuse of superior strength
attended the commission of the crime, treachery
absorbs abuse of superior strength. Therefore, no
need to consider abuse of superior strength.
Q: X killed Y. It was alleged in the information that the
killing attended by treachery. He killed Y because he was
given P500, 000. While Y was crossing the pedestrian,
he hit and bumped Y with his car. So three qualifying
aggravating circumstances were alleged – treachery, in
consideration of a prize, reward, or promise, and use of a
motor vehicle. All of them were proven in the trial. If you
were the judge, how will you appreciate these qualifying
circumstances?
A: Convict the accused of murder qualified by
treachery. In consideration of a prize, reward, or
promise and use of motor vehicle shall be
considered as generic aggravating
circumstances. Therefore, there are qualifying
aggravating circumstances, since you only need
one qualifying to qualify the killing to murder, the
other aggravating circumstances alleged and
proven shall be considered as generic
aggravating circumstances. Therefore the crime
committed is murder qualified by treachery. The
fact that two generic aggravating circumstances
are present means that the maximum period of
penalty shall be the one imposed since the
generic aggravating circumstances are not offset
by any mitigating circumstance.

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