The
Revised Penal Code contains the
general penal laws of the PhilippinesPhilippine Criminal Laws is the body of laws defining crimes and defining the penalties thereof in the Philippines.-History:The Philippines was a colony of Spain for more than 300 years, beginning in 1565 until 1898...
. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Republic Act No. 3815, and some Philippine criminal laws have been enacted outside of the Revised Penal Code as separate Republic Acts.
The Revised Penal Code supplanted the Spanish Penal Code, which was in force in the Philippines from 1886 to 1930.
The
Revised Penal Code contains the
general penal laws of the PhilippinesPhilippine Criminal Laws is the body of laws defining crimes and defining the penalties thereof in the Philippines.-History:The Philippines was a colony of Spain for more than 300 years, beginning in 1565 until 1898...
. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Republic Act No. 3815, and some Philippine criminal laws have been enacted outside of the Revised Penal Code as separate Republic Acts.
Historical background
The Revised Penal Code supplanted the Spanish Penal Code, which was in force in the Philippines from 1886 to 1930. The new Code was drafted by a committee created in 1927, and headed by Judge
Anacleto DiazAnacleto Díaz was a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.-Profile:...
, who would later serve on the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the Philippines is the Philippines' highest judicial court, as well as the court of last resort. The court consists of 14 Associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice...
. Rather than engage in a wholesale codification of all penal laws in the Philippines, the committee instead revised the old Penal Code and included all other penal laws only insofar as they related to the Penal Code.
Features
The Revised Penal Code criminalizes a whole class of acts that are generally accepted as criminal, such as the taking of a life whether through
murderMurder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
or
homicideHomicide refers to the act of a human killing a human being. A common form of homicide, for example, would be murder. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
,
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
,
robberyRobbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear. Precise definitions of the offence may vary between...
and
theftIn criminal law, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting, fraud and sometimes...
, and
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
.The Code also penalizes other acts which are considered criminal in the Philippines, such as
adulteryAdultery is referred to as extramarital sex, philandery, or infidelity, but does not include fornication. The term "adultery" for many people carries a moral or religious association, while the term "extramarital sex" is morally or judgmentally neutral....
,
concubinageConcubinage is the state of a woman in an ongoing, usually matrimonially-oriented relationship with a man who cannot be married to her, often because of a difference in social status.-Concubinage:...
, and
abortionThe basic status of Abortion in the Philippines is that it is illegal, or banned by rule of law.- Legal basis for Philippine abortion ban :The act is criminalized by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930 but remains in effect today...
. The Code expressly defines the elements that each crime comprises, and the existence of all these elements have to be proven beyond reasonable doubt in order to secure conviction.
Not all crimes in the Philippines are penalized under the Code. Certain acts, such as the illegal possession of firearms, are penalized under special legislation contained in
Republic ActsThis article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Philippine laws have had various nomenclature designations at different periods in the history of the Philippines, as shown in the following table:...
. The most notable crimes now excluded from the Revised Penal Code are those concerning
illegal drug use or traffickingThe illegal drug trade is a global black market consisting of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of illegal controlled drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug control laws...
, which are penalized instead under the
Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972 and later the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
One distinct aspect of the Revised Penal Code centers on its classification of
aggravatingAggravation, in law, is "any circumstance attending the commission of a crime or tort which increases its guilt or enormity or adds to its injurious consequences, but which is above and beyond the essential constituents of the crime or tort itself."...
,
exempting and mitigating circumstancesIn law, extenuating circumstances are criminal cases in which, though an offense has been committed without legal justification or excuse, its gravity, from the point of view of punishment or moral opprobrium, is mitigated or reduced by reason of unusual or extreme facts leading up to or attending...
, the appreciation of which affects the graduation of
penaltiesIn law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence generally involves a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...
. Penalties under the Revised Penal Code are generally divided into three periods – the minimum period, the medium period, and the maximum period. In addition to establishing the elements of the crime, the prosecution may also establish the presence of aggravating circumstances in order to set the penalty at the maximum period, or mitigating circumstances to reduce the penalty to its minimum period. The presence of both aggravating and mitigating circumstance, or the absence of such circumstances, may result in the imposition of the penalty in its medium period.
Several provisions of the Revised Penal Code have also been amended through
Republic ActsThis article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Philippine laws have had various nomenclature designations at different periods in the history of the Philippines, as shown in the following table:...
. One of the more consequential amendments came in 1997, with the passage of Republic Act No. 8353, the
Anti-Rape Law of 1997.
Prior to the 1997 amendments,
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
had been classified as a crime against
chastityChastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethical norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially before marriage...
and was defined as "having carnal knowledge of a woman" under enumerated circumstances that indicated lack of consent. Under the amendments, rape was reclassified as a crime against persons. The definition was further expanded from mere "carnal knowledge of a woman" and now included "an act of sexual assault by inserting his penis into other person's mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument or object, into the genital or anal orifice of another person." Additional circumstances by which the victim would be deemed incapable of giving valid consent were also integrated into this new definition of rape.
With the
abolition of the death penalty in 2006Capital punishment in the Philippines has a varied history and, on June 24 2006, was abolished.Filipinos are generally mixed with death penalty, with many opposing it on religious grounds, with some supporting it as a way of deterring crime....
, the highest penalty currently impossible under the Revised Penal Code is
reclusion perpetuaReclusión perpetua is a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment in the Philippines, Argentina, and several other countries....
, which ranges from 20 years to 40 years imprisonment. The penalty of
life imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious felony crime where the convicted person is to remain in prison for the rest of his or her life...
is not provided for in the Revised Penal Code, although it is imposed by other penal statutes such as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.