CRIMINAL LAW BOOK 1

• Treason


  Breach of allegiance to a government, committed by a person who owes allegiance to it
• Treason


  • Levying war against the government
  • Adhering to the enemies, giving them aid or comfort
• No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two (2) witnesses at least to the same overt act or on confession of the accused in open court
• Treason by an alien residing in the Philippines

  • Punished by prision mayor to death and shall pay a fine not to exceed P4,000,000.00 pesos
• Levying war


  Must be with intent to overthrow the government, not merely to repeal a particular statute or to resist a particular office
• Adherence to the enemy and giving them aid and comfort


  Act which strengthens or tends to strengthen the enemy of the government in the conduct of war against the government, or an act which weakens or tends to weaken the power of the government or the country to resist or to attack the enemies of the government or country
• Treason, in its general sense, is the violation by a subject of his allegiance to his sovereign or to the supreme authority of the State
• How to prove that the offender is a Filipino citizen

  Prison record which sets out his personal circumstances properly identified as having been filled out with data supplied by the accused himself

  Testimony of witnesses who know him to have been born in the Philippines of Filipino parents
• If the levying of war is merely a civil uprising, without any intention of helping an external enemy, the crime is not treason. The offenders may be held liable for rebellion
• Conspiracy to commit treason

  1. There is a war in which the Philippines is involved

  2. At least two persons come to an agreement to - (a) Levy war against the government; or (b) Adhere to the enemies, giving them aid or comfort

  3. The person proposes its execution to other persons

  4. They decide to commit it
• Proposal to commit treason

  1. There is a war in which the Philippines is involved

  2. At least one person decides to - (a) Levy war against the government; or (b) Adhere to the enemies, giving the aid or comfort
• Misprision of treason


  1. That the offender must be owing allegiance to the Government, and not a foreigner

  2. That he has knowledge of any conspiracy (to commit treason) against the Government

  3. That he conceals or does not disclose and make known the same as soon as possible to the governor or fiscal of the province or the mayor or fiscal of the city in which he resides
• Misprision of treason is a crime that may be committed only by citizens of the Philippines. It cannot be committed by a resident alien
• Article 116 does not apply when the crime of treason is already committed by someone and the accused does not report its commission to proper authority
• Espionage


  1. Entering any warship, fort, or naval or military establishment or reservation to obtain any information, plans, photographs, or other data of a confidential nature relative to the defense of the Philippine Archipelago without authority

  2. Being in possession, by reason of the public office he holds, of the articles, data, or information referred to in the preceding paragraph, discloses their contents to a representative of a foreign nation
• To be liable under the paragraph 1 of Article 117, the offender must have the intention to obtain information relative to the defense of the Philippines. It is not necessary that the information, etc. is obtained. It is sufficient that the offender has the purpose to obtain any of them
• Espionage is not conditioned by the citizenship of the offender, unlike treason
• Inciting to war or giving motives for reprisals


  1. That the offender performs unlawful or unauthorized acts

  2. That such acts provoke or give occasion for a war involving or liable to involve the Philippines or expose Filipino citizens to reprisals on their persons or property
• The intention of the offender is immaterial in inciting to war or giving motives for reprisals. The law considers the effects produced by the acts of the accused
• Violation of neutrality


  1. That there is war in which the Philippines is not involved

  2. That there is a regulation issued by the competent authority for the purpose of enforcing neutrality

  3. That the offender violates such regulation
• Correspondence with hostile country

  1. That it is time of war in which the Philippines is involved

  2. That the offender makes correspondence with an enemy country or territory occupied by enemy troops

  3. That the correspondence is either - (a) Prohibited by the Government, or (b) Carried on in ciphers or conventional signs, or (c) Containing notice or information which might be useful to the enemy
• Even if the correspondence contains innocent matters, if the correspondence has been prohibited by the Government, it is punishable
• Flight to enemy country

  1. That there is a war in which the Philippines is involved

  2. That the offender must be owing allegiance to the Government

  3. That the offender attempts to flee or go to enemy country

  4. That going to enemy country is prohibited by competent authority
• An alien resident may be guilty of flight to enemy country
• Piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas

  1. Attack or seize a vessel on the high seas or in Philippine waters

  2. Seize the whole or part of the cargo of said vessel, its equipment, or personal belongings of its complement or passengers, not being a member of its complement nor a passenger

  3. Mutiny on the high seas or Philippine waters
• fender attempts to flee or go to enemy country
• Going to enemy country is prohibited by competent authority
• The law does not say "not being a foreigner." Hence the allegiance contemplated in this article is either natural or temporary allegiance
• Mere attempt to flee or go to enemy country consummates the crime
• Piracy


  Robbery or forcible depredation on the high seas, without lawful authority and done with animo furandi and in the spirit and intention of universal hostility
• Mutiny


  The unlawful resistance to a superior officer, or the raising commotions and disturbances on board a ship against the authority of its commander
• Two ways or modes of committing piracy

  • By attacking or seizing a vessel on the high seas or in Philippine waters
  • By seizing in the vessel while on the high seas or in Philippine waters the whole or part of its cargo, its equipment or personal belongings of its compliment or passengers
• Elements of piracy (1st mode)

  • That a vessel is on the high seas or in Philippine waters
  • That the offender is any person
  • That the offender shall attack or seize that vessel
• Elements of piracy (2nd mode)

  • That a vessel is on the high seas or in Philippine waters
  • That the offender is not a member of its compliment or a passenger of the vessel
  • That the offender seizes the whole part or part of the cargo of said vessel its equipment or personal belongings of its complement or passengers
• Acts Punished in Piracy


  • Attacking or seizing a vessel on the high seas or in Philippine waters
  • Seizing the whole or part of its cargo, complement or passengers while the vessels is on the high seas or in Philippine waters
• High Seas


  Parts of the seas that not included in the exclusive economic zone, in the territorial seas, or in the internal waters of a state, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic state
• Piracy is distinguished from mutiny in that in piracy, the persons who attack a vessel or seize its cargo are strangers to said vessels; while in mutiny, they are members of the crew or passengers
• While the intent to gain is essential in the crime of piracy, in mutiny, the offender may only intend to ignore the ship's officers of they may be prompted by a desire to commit plunder
• Elements of Qualified Piracy

  • The vessel is on high seas or Philippine waters
  • Offenders may or may not be members of its compliment, or passengers of the vessel
  • Offender either - (a) Attack or seize the vessel; or (b) Seize the whole or part of its cargo, its equipment, or personal belongings of its crew or passengers
  • The preceding were committed under any of the following circumstances: (a) Whenever they have seized a vessel by boarding or firing upon the same; (b) Whenever the pirates have abandoned their victims without means of saving themselves; or (c) Whenever the crime is accompanied by murder, homicide, physical injuries or rape
• Qualified piracy is a special complex crime punishable by reclusion perpetua to death, regardless of the number of victims