Revised Penal Code of The Philippines - Features

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 murder or homicide, rape, robbery and theft, and treason.The Code also penalizes other acts which are considered criminal in the Philippines, such as adultery, concubinage, and abortion. 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 Acts. The most notable crimes now excluded from the Revised Penal Code are those concerning illegal drug use or trafficking, 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 aggravating, exempting and mitigating circumstances, the appreciation of which affects the graduation of penalties. 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 Acts. 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, rape had been classified as a crime against chastity 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 2006, the highest penalty currently possible under the Revised Penal Code is reclusion perpetua, which ranges from 20 years and 1 day to 40 years imprisonment. The penalty of life imprisonment is not provided for in the Revised Penal Code, although it is imposed by other penal statutes such as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.