TITLE 3: Article 148-152: Criminal Law II Review Notes - Revised Penal Code

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

Chapter Four ASSAULT UPON, AND RESISTANCE AND DISOBEDIENCE TO, PERSONS IN AUTHORITY AND THEIR AGENTS Art. 148. Direct assaults. — Any person or persons who, without a public uprising, shall employ force or intimidation for the attainment of any of the purpose enumerated in defining the crimes of rebellion and sedition, or shall attack, employ force, or seriously intimidate or resist any person in authority or any of his agents, while engaged in the performance of official duties, or on occasion of such performance, shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods and a fine not exceeding P1,000 pesos, when the assault is committed with a weapon or when the offender is a public officer or employee, or when the offender lays hands upon a person in authority. If none of these circumstances be present, the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not exceeding P500 pesos shall be imposed. DIRECT ASSAULT TO AMBASSADOR OR MINISTER PENALTY -

Violation of the law of nations Not more than three years imprisonment Fine not exceeding 200 pesos

DIRECT ASSAULT VS ORDINARY ASSAULT DIRECT ASSAULT – crimes against public order (triable under RTC) ORDINARY ASSAULT – crimes against persons TWO WAYS OF COMMITTING DIRECT ASSAULTS 1) without public uprising, by employing force or intimidation for the attainment of any of the purposes enumerated in defining the crimes of rebellion and sedition 2) without public uprising, by attacking, by employing force, or by seriously intimidating or seriously resisting any person in authority or any of his agents, while engaged in the performance of official duties, or on the occasion of such performance ELEMENTS OF THE FIRST FORM OF DIRECT ASSAULT 1. Offender employs force or intimidation 2. The aim of the offender is to attain any of the purposes of the crime of rebellion and any of the objects of the crime of sedition 3. There is no public uprising The first part of Article 148 does not require that the offended party in the first form of direct assault is a person in authority or his agent. If the aim of the offender is to attain an object of sedition, the offended party may be a private individual or person belonging to a social class.

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

ELEMENTS OF THE SECOND FORM OF DIRECT ASSAULT 1) The offender (a) makes an attack, (b) employs force, (c) makes a serious intimidation or (d) makes a serious resistance 2) The person assaulted is a person in authority or his agent 3) At the time of the assault the person in authority or his agent (a) is engaged in the actual performance of official duties, or that he is assaulted, (b) by reason of the past performance of official duties 4) The offender knows that the one he is assaulting is a person in authority or his agent in the exercise of his duties 5) There is no public uprising ATTACK – includes any offensive or antagonistic movement or action of any kind If the offended party is only an agent of a person in authority, the force employed must be of a serious character as to indicate determination to defy the law and its representatives at all hazards. Where the force employed on the agent of a person in authority is of a serious character, including determination to defy the law and its representative, the crime committed is direct assault. The force employed need not be serious when the offended party is a person in authority. Laying hands upon a person in authority while in the performance of his official duties constitutes direct assault. The intimidation or resistance must be serious whether the offended party is an agent only or he is a person in authority. The resistance must be active since it must be grave to be considered direct assault. PASSIVE RESISTANCE – when the one who is placed under arrest throws himself on the ground and the resistance makes it necessary to raise him up or drag him along to jail. When the constitutive element of direct assault is intimidation, it must be serious whether the offended party is an agent only or he is a person in authority. The intimidation must produce its effect immediately, for if the threats be some future evil, the act would not be an assault. Article 148, the second part, protects only public officers who are either persons in authority or their agents. Not every public officer is at the same time a person in authority or an agent of authority. PERSON IN AUTHORITY – any person directly vested with jurisdiction, whether as an individual or as a member of some court or governmental corporation, board, or commission, shall be deemed a person in authority. A barangay captain and a barangay chairman shall also be deemed a person in authority. The powers and duties vested in him by law should be determined. DIRECTLY VESTED WITH JURISDICTION – the power or authority to govern and execute the laws

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

Examples of Persons in Authority 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Division Superintendent of Schools President of Sanitary Division Teachers and Professors Provincial Treasurer Director of Posts Mayor

AGENT OF A PERSON IN AUTHORITY – one who, by direct provision of law or by election or by appointment by competent authority, is charged with the maintenance of public order and the protection and security of life and property, such as a barrio policeman and barangay leader, and any person who comes to the aid of persons in authority. Examples of Agents of Person in Authority 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

Policeman Municipal Treasurer (deputy ex oficio of the provincial treasurer) Postmaster (agent of Director of Posts) Rural Policeman (appointed by the Mayor) Sheriff Agents of the BIR Malacanang confidential agent Barangay Chief Tanod

Functions of the person in authority or his agent must be clearly shown in the information. The third requisite of the second form of direct assault requires that at the time such assault or intimidation or resistance is made, the person in authority or his agent (1) is engaged in the actual performance of his official duty or (2) at least that the assault or intimidation is done by reason of the past performance of said duty. When the persons in authority or their agents descended to private matters which are private in nature, an attack made by one against the other is not direct assault. The scope of the respective powers of public officers and their agents is fixed. If they go beyond it and they violate any recognized rights of the citizens, then the latter may resist the invasion, especially when it is clear and manifest. The resistance must be coextensive with the excess and should not be greater than what is necessary to repel the aggression. When a person in authority or his agent is the one who provokes and attacks another person, the latter is entitled to defend himself and cannot be held liable for assault or resistance nor for physical injuries, because he acts in legitimate defense. PERSON IN AUTHORITY OR HIS AGENT WHEN NOT IN THE PERFORMANCE OF OFFICIAL DUTIES 1) When person in authority or his agent exceeds his power or acts without authority.

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

2) When agent of authority makes unnecessary use of force or violence to make him respected, he goes beyond the limits of his powers. He then acts as a private person. 3) When both offender and offended party, who are both persons in authority or their agents, descend to matters which are private in nature If the person in authority or his agent is attacked in any of these instances, the crime committed is only physical injuries or homicide, as the case may be. An assault upon a person in authority may be committed by another person in authority as Article 148 makes it an aggravating circumstance when the offender is a “public officer or employee.” There can be no assault upon or disobedience to one authority by another when they both contend in the exercise of their respective duties. When there is an actual conflict of jurisdiction, there is no rebellion against the principle of authority, but an endeavor to enforce the authority which each of the disputants represent. The accused assaulting must have knowledge that that offended party was a person in authority or his agent in the exercise of his duties, because the accused must have the intention to offend, injure or assault the offended party as a person in authority agent of authority. The defendant must have the intention to defy the authorities. Direct assault is characterized by the spirit of aggression directed against the authorities or their agents, hence the circumstance of disregard of respect due the offended party on account of his rank may be considered inherent therein. Direct assault is also committed when the person in authority or his agent is attacked or seriously intimidated “on occasion or such performance.” OCCASION OF SUCH PERFORMANCE – the impelling motive of the attack is the performance of official duty. The words “on occasion” signify “because” or “by reason” of the past performance of official duty, even if at the very time of the assault no official duty was being discharged. Hence, it is not necessary that the person in authority or his agent is in the actual performance of his official duty when attacked or seriously intimidated as regards to this clause. Evidence or motive of the offender is important in direct assault when the person in authority or his agent who is attacked or seriously intimidated is not in the actual performance of his official duty. It is direct assault when the motive of the offender in assaulting the person in authority was the performance of the latter’s official duties done before the assault. Otherwise, it would only be physical injuries. But when a person in authority or his agent in in the actual performance of his official duty, the motive of the offender is immaterial. WITHOUT PUBLIC UPRISING -

No public uprising in the second form of direct assault If there is public or tumultuous uprising, the crime may be sedition

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

KINDS OF DIRECT ASSAULT IN THE SECOND FORM 1) Simple assault 2) Qualified assault QUALIFIED ASSAULT 1) Assault is committed with a weapon 2) Offender is a public officer or employee 3) Offender lays hands upon a person in authority WEAPON – objects with which some physical injury may be inflicted SLIGHT PHYSICAL INJURY – absorbed in direct assault COMPLEX CRIMES 1) Direct assault with murder or homicide 2) Direct assault with serious or less serious physical injuries -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Art. 149. Indirect assaults. — The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not exceeding P500 pesos shall be imposed upon any person who shall make use of force or intimidation upon any person coming to the aid of the authorities or their agents on occasion of the commission of any of the crimes defined in the next preceding article. ELEMENTS 1) A person in authority or his agent is the victim of any of the firms of direct assault defined in Article 148 2) A person comes to the aid of such authority or his agent 3) Offender makes use of force or intimidation upon such person coming to the aid of the authority or his agent Indirect assault can be committed only when a direct assault is also committed. The offended party in indirect assaults may be private persons. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Art. 150. Disobedience to summons issued by the National Assembly, its committees or subcommittees, by the Constitutional Commissions, its committees, subcommittees or divisions. — The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine ranging from two hundred to one thousand pesos, or both such fine and imprisonment shall be imposed upon any person who, having been duly summoned to attend as a witness before the National Assembly, (Congress), its special or standing committees and subcommittees, the Constitutional Commissions and its committees, subcommittees, or divisions, or before any commission or committee chairman or member authorized to summon witnesses, refuses,

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

without legal excuse, to obey such summons, or being present before any such legislative or constitutional body or official, refuses to be sworn or placed under affirmation or to answer any legal inquiry or to produce any books, papers, documents, or records in his possession, when required by them to do so in the exercise of their functions. The same penalty shall be imposed upon any person who shall restrain another from attending as a witness, or who shall induce disobedience to a summon or refusal to be sworn by any such body or official. ACTS PUNISHED 1) By refusing, without legal excuse, to obey summons of the National Assembly, its special or standing committees or subcommittees, the Constitutional Commissions and its committees, subcommittees or divisions or by any commission or committee chairman or member authorized to summon witnesses 2) By refusing to be sworn or placed under affirmation while being before such legislative or constitutional body or official 3) By refusing to answer any legal inquiry or to produce any books, papers, documents, or records in his possession, when required by them to do so in the exercise of their functions. 4) By restraining another from attending as a witness in such legislative or constitutional body 5) By inducing disobedience to a summon or refusal to be sworn by any such body or official Only disobedience without legal excuse is punishable. Article 150 may not apply when the papers or documents may be used in evidence against the owner thereof, because it would be equivalent to compelling him to be a witness against himself. The testimony of the person summoned must be upon matters into which the National Assembly has jurisdiction to inquire. Any of the acts punished by Article 150 may also constitute contempt of the National Assembly. POWER OF INQUIRY – gives power to the legislature to punish for contempt. Together with process to enforce it, this power is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative functions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Art. 151. Resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person. — The penalty of arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding 500 pesos shall be imposed upon any person who not being included in the provisions of the preceding articles shall resist or seriously disobey any person in authority, or the agents of such person, while engaged in the performance of official duties. When the disobedience to an agent of a person in authority is not of a serious nature, the penalty of arresto menor or a fine ranging from 10 to P100 pesos shall be imposed upon the offender. ELEMENTS OF RESISTANCE AND SERIOUS DISOBEDIENCE 1) A person in authority or his agent is engaged in the performance of official duty or gives a lawful order to the offender. 2) The offender resists or seriously disobeys such person in authority or his agent

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

3) The act of the offender is not included in the provisions of Articles 148, 149 and 150 The juridical conception of the crime of resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or his agents consists in a failure to comply with orders directly issued by the authorities in the exercise of their official duties. In the crime of resistance and disobedience, the person in authority or the agent of such person must be in the actual performance of his official duties. There can be no resistance or disobedience when there is nothing to resist or to disobey. When a person in authority or his agent is in the performance of his duty or gives an order and the performance of duty is resisted or the order is disobeyed, then the crime is committed. The disobedience contemplated consists in the failure or refusal to obey a direct order from the authority or his agent. A person cannot be guilty of disobedience to an order which is not addressed to him. The accused must have knowledge that the person arresting him is a peace officer. There is justified resistance when the defense is adequate to repel the aggression of a person in authority. The resistance is justified if the order given is unlawful. SIMPLE DISOBEDIENCE ELEMENTS 1) An agent of a person In authority is engaged in the performance of official duty or gives a lawful order to the offender 2) Offender disobeys such agent of a person in authority 3) Such disobedience is not of a serious nature DIRECT ASSAULT VS RESISTANCE/SERIOUS DISOBEDIENCE DIRECT ASSAULT – person in authority it his agent must be engaged in the performance of official duties or that he is assaulted by reason thereof, RESISTANCE – person in authority or his agent must be in actual performance of his duties DIRECT ASSAULT – second form of direct assault is committed in four ways: (a) by attacking, (b) by employing force, (c) by seriously intimidating and (d) by seriously resisting a person in authority or his agent RESISTANCE/SERIOUS DISOBEDIENCE – committed only by resisting or seriously disobeying a person in authority or his agent DIRECT ASSAULT BY RESISTING AN AGENT OF A PERSON IN AUTHORITY – there is force employed and must be serious and deliberate RESISTANCE AGAINST AN AGENT OF A PERSON IN AUTHORITY – there is forced employed but the use of force is not so serious, as there is no manifest intention to defy the law and the officers enforcing it If the one resisted is a person in authority, the use of any kind or degree of force will give rise to direct assault.

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

If no force is employed in authority, the crime committed is resistance or serious disobedience under the first paragraph of Article 151. If the offender seriously resisted a person in authority or his agent, the crime is direct assault. If the offender seriously disobeyed a person in authority or his agent, the crime is resistance and serious disobedience. When the attack or employment of force is not deliberate, the crime is only resistance or disobedience because the offender has no intent to ignore, disregard or defy the authority or his agents. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Art. 152. Persons in authority and agents of persons in authority; Who shall be deemed as such. — In applying the provisions of the preceding and other articles of this Code, any person directly vested with jurisdiction, whether as an individual or as a member of some court or governmental corporation, board, or commission, shall be deemed a person in authority. A barrio captain and a barangay chairman shall also be deemed a person in authority. A person who, by direct provision of law or by election or by appointment by competent authority, is charged with the maintenance of public order and the protection and security of life and property, such as a barrio councilman, barrio policeman and barangay leader and any person who comes to the aid of persons in authority, shall be deemed an agent of a person in authority. In applying the provisions of Articles 148 and 151 of this Code, teachers, professors and persons charged with the supervision of public or duly recognized private schools, colleges and universities, and lawyers in the actual performance of their professional duties or on the occasion of such performance, shall be deemed persons in authority. DIRECTLY VESTED WITH JURISDICTION – the power and authority to govern and execute the laws. PERSONS IN AUTHORITY 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

Municipal Mayor Division Superintendent of Schools Public and Private School Teachers Teacher-nurse President of sanitary division Provincial fiscal Justice of the Peace Municipal councilor Barrio captain and barangay chairman

One must be charged with (1) the maintenance of public order and (2) the protection and security of life and property to be an agent of a person in authority.

CRIMINAL LAW II (Article 148-152)

Reyes, 2012, Arellano University School of Law

aiza ebina/2014

AGENTS OF A PERSON IN AUTHORITY 1) 2) 3) 4)

Policeman Constabulary soldier Municipal treasurer Any person who comes to the aid of persons in authority

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