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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
Article 16 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) provides that the following are criminally liable for grave and less grave felonies:
- Principals.
- Accomplices.
- Accessories.
It also provides that the following are criminally liable for light felonies, namely:
- Principals.
- Accomplices.
Who are considered as principals?
According to Article 17 of the RPC, the following are considered as principals:
- Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act;
- Those who directly force or induce others to commit it;
- Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without which it would not have been accomplished.
Who are considered as accomplices?
According to Article 18, accomplices are those persons who, not being included in article 17, cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.
Who are considered as accessories?
Accessories are those who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either as principals or accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission in any of the following manners:
- By profiting themselves or assisting the offenders to profit by the effects of the crime.
- By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery.
- By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal of the crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or Whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.
Take note that according to Article 20 of the RPC, there are accessories who are exempt from criminal liability with respect to their:
- spouses,
- ascendants,
- descendants,
- legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and sisters, or
- relatives by affinity within the same degrees, with the single exception of accessories falling within the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 19.
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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 09175772207/ 09778050020.
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