bill of rights (lecture)

Bill of RightsBill of Rights(1987 Philippine (1987 Philippine

Constitution)Constitution)

Lecture of Mr. John Torres – Philippine Government and Constitution Social Science-I

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 one’s 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.



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.



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



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



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



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.



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:



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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.



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.



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



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.



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.



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.



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 latter’s 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.


-end-

bill of rights (lecture)

Education

constitution social

persons lecture of

process of law

equal protection of

right of individual

right of ownership

slight physical injuries

application of law