CRIMINAL LAW 2 Elements:
Review Notes:
Title I: Crimes against National Security and the
Law of the Nations
Crimes against national security: (crimes against
human)
1. Treason
2. Conspiracy and proposal to commit
treason
3. Misprision of treason
4. Espionage
Crimes against the law of the nations: (crimes
against humans)
1. Inciting to war or giving motives for
reprisals
2. Violation of neutrality
3. Correspondence with hostile country
4. Flight to enemys country
5. Piracy in general and mutiny on the high
seas or in Philippine waters
Crimes against national security and
crimes against law of the nations,
distinguished
Crimes against national security can be
committed in the Philippines or outside,
can be tried only in the Philippines.
Crimes against the law of the nations can
be persecuted anywhere in the world, can
be committed anywhere in the world.
Article 114. Treason Any Filipino citizen who
levies war against the Philippines or adheres
to her enemies, giving them aid or comfort
within the Philippines or elsewhere shall be
punished by reclusion perpetua to death and
shall pay a fine not to exceed 100,000 pesos.
No person shall be convicted of treason
unless on the testimony of two witnesses at
least to the same overt act or on confession of
the accused in open court.
Likewise, an alien, residing in the
Philippines, who commits acts of treason as
defined in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be
punished by reclusion temporal to death and
shall pay a fine not to exceed 100,000 pesos.
1. That the offender is a Filipino citizen or
an alien residing in the Philippines
2. That there is a war in which the
Philippines is involved
3. That the offender either:
a. Levies war against the government
b. Adheres to the enemies, giving them
aid or comfort
Treason (pagtraidor) breach of allegiance to a
government, committed by a person who owes
allegiance to it.
Nature of Treason generally the violation by a
subject of his allegiance to his sovereign or to the
supreme authority of the state
The offender in treason is either a Filipino
citizen or a resident alien
How to prove that the offender is a
Filipino citizen:
1. Prison record
2. Testimony of two witnesses
Allegiance obligation of fidelity and obedience
which the individuals owe to the government
under which they live or their sovereign, in return
for the protection they receive
Allegiance is either permanent or
temporary
Treason cannot be committed in time of
peace
Two ways or modes of committing
treason:
1. By levying war against the
government
2. By adhering to the enemies of the
Philippines, giving them aid or
comfort
Levies war requires the concurrence of
two things:
1. There be an actual assembling of men
2. For the purpose of executing s
treasonable design by force
In treason by levying war, it is not
necessary that there be a formal
declaration of the existence of a state of
war
The war must be directed against the
government
The levying of war must be in
collaboration with a foreign enemy
 Requirements of by adhering to the
enemies of the Philippines:
1. Adherence
2. Giving aid or comfort to the enemy
must concur together
Adherence to the enemy means intent to
betray; intellectually or emotionally
favors the enemy and harbors sympathies
or convictions disloyal to his countrys
policy or interest
Aid or comfort an act which strengthens
or tends to strengthen the enemy in the
conduct of war against the traitors
country and act which weakens or tends
to weaken the power of the traitors
country to resist or to attack the enemy
Adherence alone without giving the
enemy aid or comfort does not constitute
treason
When there is no adherence to the enemy,
the act which may do aid or comfort to the
enemy does not amount to treason
Giving information to, or commandeering
foodstuffs for, the enemy is evidence of
both adherence and aid or comfort
Extent of aid and comfort:
1. By some kind of action
2. Deed or physical activity
The act committed need not actually
strengthen the enemy
Commandeering of women to satisfy the
lust of the enemy is not treason
Specific acts of aid or comfort constituting
treason:
1. Serving as informer
2. Agent or spy
3. Finger woman
4. Taking active part in mass killing
Being a Makapili constitutes an overt act
of psychological comfort
Acceptance of public office and discharge
of official duties under the enemy do not
constitute per se the felony of treason
Mere governmental work during the
Japanese regime is not an act of treason
Membership in the police force during
occupation is not treason; but active
participation with the enemies in the
apprehension of guerrillas and infliction
of ill-treatments make such member
liable for treason
Guerilla warfare may be unlawful, but it
should not be suppressed
When the arrest of persons alleged to
have been guerillas was caused by the
accused due to their committing a
common crime, like arson, he is not liable
for treason.
The aid or comfort given to the enemies
must be after the declaration of war. The
enemies must be the subject of a foreign
power.
No treason through negligence
There is no complex crime of treason with
murder, physical injuries, etc.
When killings and other common crimes
are charged as overt acts of treason, they
cannot be regarded:
1. As separate crimes
2. As complexed with treason
Treason by Filipino citizen can be
committed outside of the Philippines
Treason by an alien must be committed in
the Philippines
Treason is a continuous offense
Treason cannot be proved by
circumstantial evidence or by the
extrajudicial confession of the accused
Ways of proving treason:
1. Testimony of two witnesses, at least
to the same overt act
2. Confession of the accused in open
court
Two-witness rule required to prove the
overt act of giving aid or comfort; not
necessary to prove adherence; must be
adhered to as to each and every one of all
the external manifestations of the overt
act in issue
Overt act defined as that physical
activity, that deed that constitutes the
rendering of aid and comfort
The two-witness rule is severely
restrictive
The defendant should be acquitted if only
one of the two witnesses is believed by
the court
It is sufficient that the witnesses are
uniform in their testimony on the overt
act; it is not necessary that there be
corroboration between them on the point
they testified
The two-witness rule is not affected by
the discrepancies in minor details of the
testimony.
The reason for requiring the two
witnesses to testify to the same overt act
 because the nature of the crime is
extreme for which death is one of the
penalties provided by law.
Adherence may be proved:
1. By one witness
2. From the nature of the act itself
3. From the circumstances surrounding
the act
The reason why adherence to the enemy
need not be proved by two witnesses
because what is designed in the mind of
an accused never is susceptible of proof
by direct testimony.
Confession must be made in open court
Aggravating circumstances in treason:
1. Cruelty, ignominy
2. Rapes, wanton robbery for personal
gain and brutality
3. Superior strength and treachery
The gravity of seriousness of the acts of
treason considered
Defense of suspended allegiance and
change of sovereignty, not accepted
because of the following reasons:
1. A citizen owes an absolute and
permanent allegiance to his
government
2. The sovereignty of the government is
not transferred to the enemy by mere
occupation
3. The subsistence of the sovereignty of
the legitimate government in a
territory occupied by the military
forces of the enemy during the war is
one of the rules of International Law,
and
4. What is suspended is the exercise of
the rights of sovereignty
Article 115. Conspiracy and proposal to commit
treason Penalty The conspiracy and proposal
to commit the crime of treason shall be punished
respectively, by prision mayor and a fine not
exceeding 10,000 pesos and by prision
correccional and a fine not exceeding 5,000 pesos.
How are the crimes of conspiracy and
proposal to commit treason committed?
Conspiracy to commit treason is
committed when in time of war, two or
more persons come to an agreement to
levy war against the government or to
adhere to the enemies and to give them
aid or comfort, and decide to commit it.
Proposal to commit treason is
committed when in time of war a person
who has decided to levy war against the
government or to adhere to the enemies
and to give them aid or comfort, proposes
its execution to some other person or
persons.
The mere proposal to commit treason is
also a felony. The reason is that in treason
the very existence of the state is
endangered.
The two-witness rule does not apply to
conspiracy or proposal to commit treason
because this is a separate and distinct
offense from that treason.
Article 116. Misprision of treason (having
knowledge and conceals). Every person owing
allegiance to the government of the Philippine
Islands, without being a foreigner, and having
knowledge of any conspiracy against them,
who 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,
as the case may be, shall be punished as an
accessory to the crime of treason.
Elements:
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 cannot be
committed by a resident alien
The conspiracy is one to commit
treason
Article 116 does not apply when the
crime of treason is already committed
by someone and the accused does not
report its commission to the proper
authority
The offender in misprision of treason
is punished as an accessory to
treason
The offender is, however, a principal
in the crime of misprision of treason
 Article 116 is an exception to the rule
that mere silence does not make a
person criminally liable
Article 117. Espionage (spying) The penalty of
prision correccional shall be inflicted upon any
person who:
1. Without authority therefor, enters a
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; or
2. Being in possession, by reason of the
public office he holds, of the articles, data
or information referred to in the
preceeding paragraph, discloses their
contents to a representative of a foreign
nation.
The penalty next higher in degree shall be
imposed if the offender be a public officer
or employee.
Espionage offense of gathering,
transmitting or losing information
respecting the national defense with
intent or reason to believe that the
information is to be used to the injury of
the Republic of the Philippines or to the
advantage of any foreign section.
Two ways of committing espionage under
Article 117
1. By entering without authority
therefor a 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 Philippines
Elements:
a. That the defender enters any of the
places mentioned therein
b. That he has no authority therefor
c. That his purpose is to obtain
information, plans, photographs or
other data of a confidential nature
relative to the defense of the
Philippines
2. By disclosing to the representative of
a foreign nation the contents of the
articles, data or information referred
to in paragraph No. 1 of Article 117
which he had in his possession by
reason of the public office he holds.
Elements:
a. That the offender is a public officer
b. That he has in possession the articles,
data or information referred to in
paragraph No. 1 of Article 117 by
reason of the public office he holds.
c. That he discloses their contents to a
representative of a foreign nation
To be liable under paragraph 1, the
offender must have the intention to obtain
information relative to the defense of the
Philippines
It is not necessary that information is
obtained, it is sufficient that he has the
purpose to obtain any of them when he
entered a warship, fort, or naval or
military establishment.
Persons liable in two ways of committing
espionage: Any person whether a citizen
or a foreigner, a private individual or a
public officer
When the offender is a public officer or
employee, the penalty next higher in
degree shall be imposed
Other acts of espionage are punished by
Commonwealth Act No. 616 (An Act to
Punish Espionage and Other Offenses
Against National Security
1. Unlawfully obtaining or permitting to
be obtained information affecting
national defense
2. Unlawful disclosing of information
affecting national defense
3. Disloyal acts or words in time of
peace
4. Disloyal acts or words in time of war
5. Conspiracy to violate preceding
sections
6. Harboring or concealing violators of
the law
Espionage distinguished from treason
Espionage is a crime not conditioned by
the citizenship of the offender. Treason is
committed only in time of war, while
espionage may be committed both in time
of peace and in time of war. Treason is
limited in two ways of committing the
 crime: levying war and adhering to the There must be regulation issued by
enemy giving him aid or comfort, while competent authority for the enforcement
espionage may be committed in many of neutrality
ways.
Article 120.

Article 118. Inciting to war or giving motives for

reprisals. The penalty of reclusion temporal shall
be imposed upon any public officer or employee,
and that of prision mayor upon any private
individual, who, by unlawful or unauthorized acts,
provokes or gives occasion for a war involving or
liable to involve the Philippine Islands or exposes
Filipino citizens to reprisals on their persons or
property.
Elements:
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
The crime of inciting to war or giving
motives for reprisals is committed in time
of peace.
The penalty is higher when the offender is
a public officer or employee.

Article 119. Violation of neutrality. The penalty of

prision correccional shall be inflicted upon anyone
who, on the occasion of a war in which the
government is not involved, violates any
regulation issued by competent authority for the
purpose of enforcing neutrality.
Elements:
1. That there is a war in which the
Philippines is not involved.
2. That there is a regulation issued by
competent authority for the purpose of
enforcing neutrality.
3. That the offender violates such regulation.

Neutrality a nation or power which

takes no part in a contest of arms going on
between others