CRIMES AGAINST THE CIVIL STATUS OF PERSONS

Art. 347. Simulation of Births, Substitution and Abandonment of a Legitimate Child

I. Acts Punished:

1. Simulation of Birth:
2. Substitution of one child for another
3. Concealing or abandoning a legitimate child to cause the lose of civil status

II. Principles

A. In simulation and substitution, the child need not be legitimate.

B. The purpose of the acts punished must be to cause the loss of the civil status of the child or to obtain the civil status of another.
C. Simulation of birth, the act of making it appear that a woman gave birth to a child, must be in the record of birth/birth certificate.
A birth certificate is obtained indicating that the woman gave birth to a child when in truth she did not.

1. If the simulation is in any other document, the crime is falsification

2. If the woman feigns or pretends to be pregnant and then makes it appear she gave birth to a baby when in truth the baby is that
of another, such pretense is not punished. But when she causes the birth to be recorded, said act constitute the crime of simulation
of birth.
3. Where the woman pretends to be pregnant and to give birth in order to demand support from the alleged father, the crime is
estafa.

D. The abandonment is not to kill but to cause it to lose its civil status. It consists of the practice of leaving an infant at the door of a
religious or charitable institution, hospitals, or a foster home or the DSWD. The child be legitimate else it is a crime against security
i.e. abandonment by persons having charge of the education or rearing of the child.

E. Substitution has for its principal element the putting of a child in place of another born of a different mother. This results to a
change of status because a child is introduced into a family although said child is a stranger thereto. The child acquires a name,
situation and rights to which it is not lawfully entitled.

Example: (i). Placing a different baby in the crib of another

Art. 348. Usurpation of Civil Status.

I. Concept: the crime committed by any person who shall usurp the civil status of another. It is the act of pretending to be another
person so as to enjoy the latter’s rights, filiations, paternity or conjugal rights, including his profession or public status. It involves the
idea of impersonating another.

A. The penalty is higher if the purpose is to defraud the offended party or his heirs such as pretending to be the lost son or nephew
of a rich man
B. Example: (i) “The Prince and the Pauper” (ii) “The Man in the Iron Mask”. (iii). Pretending to be the Cesar Oracion in order to be
addressed as “Dean”

II. Other Related Crimes involving usurpation/impersonation

A. May be Using Fictitious Name as when the accused another to avoid being arrested for traffic violations.
B. Estafa as by pretending to be the creditor or collector
C. Falsification as by pretending to be the payee in a check
D. Perjury
CRIMES AGAINST HONOR
1. A person’s name, honor and reputation, is as sacred to him as his very life. Title 13 seeks to give protection thereto by defining
certain acts injurious to a person’s name and reputation as crimes and prescribing penalties therefore.

2. These crimes, which are in the nature of character assassination, are classified according to the manner of their commission into
the following:

a). Libel which is by making use of the mass media and literary forms or literary outlets
b). Oral Defamation which is by the use of oral utterances
c). Slander by Deed which is by performing an act intended to cast dishonor, disrespect or contempt upon a person .
d). Incriminatory machinations which may either be:
(i) Incriminating an innocent person in the commission of a crime by planting evidence
(ii) Intriguing against honor by resorting to any scheme, plot, design, but not by direct spoken words, to destroy the reputation
of another

3. Elements common to crimes against honor

a) That there be a matter, oral written or in whatever form, or of an act, which is defamatory to another
b).That there is publicity of the defamatory matter
c). That there be malice on the part of the accused
d). That the person defamed is identifiable

4. The foregoing crimes cannot be committed by negligence because all require the element of malice.

5. Title 13, especially the article on libel constitutes another limitation to the freedom of speech and of the press as these two
freedoms cannot be allowed to be used to destroy the good name of an innocent person.
QUASI OFFENSES
Criminal Negligence

I. Introduction: Negligence may either be criminal or not. Non criminal negligence may either be contractual or quasi-delictual.
Criminal Negligence is the third among the three classes of crimes, the two others being intentional or malicious crimes and the
other being crimes mala prohibita.

II. Negligence is deficiency of perception or lack of foresight: the failure to foresee impending injury, thoughtlessness, failure to use
ordinary care. Whereas, imprudence is deficiency of action in avoiding an injury due to lack of skill. Both result to a culpable felony.

III. Reckless: If the danger to another is visible and consciously appreciated by the accused. It is simple if the injury is not immediate
or openly visible.

IV. Principles:

A. The degree of diligence required by law varies with the nature of the situation in which a person is placed.
B. Negligence maybe presumed if at the time the accident occurred, the accused was violating a regulation the purpose of which was
to prevent the accident.
C. There is no conspiracy in culpable felonies.
D. As to the penalties:

1. The penalty as provided under article 356 depends on whether the negligence/imprudence is reckless or simple and it generally
applies to all situations of culpable felonies, unless there is a specific penalty provided in certain crimes. Example: culpable
malversation, evasion through negligence.
2.The principle of complex crimes apply if several grave or less graves crimes result

V-. Defenses Allowed:

A. If both the victim and the accused were negligent, the accused may be held liable under the Doctrine of Last Clear Chance i.e it
was he who had the sufficient opportunity to avoid the accident after noticing the danger
B. Emergency Rule: due to the negligence of another, the accused was placed in an emergency and compelled to act immediately to
avoid an impending danger, and in so doing he injured another, even if his choice of action was not the wisest under circumstances.
This is similar to the exempting circumstance of accident.
C. The defense of contributory negligent does not apply in criminal cases committed through reckless imprudence, since one cannot
allege the negligence of another to evade the effects of his own negligence ( Manzanares s. PP, 504 SCRA 354)
D. Contributory negligence on the part of the victim merely mitigates the civil liability of the accused.

VI. If, in a vehicular accident, the accused abandons the victims, this act will result to the imposition of a penalty one degree higher.
Except in the following instances:

a). if he leaves because he is in imminent danger of being harmed

b). he leaves to report to the police
c). or to summon a physician, nurse or doctor.