Article 13Act No. 3815, Sec./Art. 13

Mitigating circumstances.-The following are mitigating circumstances:

1. Those mentioned in the preceding chapter, when all the requisites necessary to justify the act or to exempt from criminal liability in the respective cases are not attendant.

2. That the offender is under eighteen years of age or over seventy years. In the case of the minor, he shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of article 80.

3. That the offender had no intention to commit so grave a wrong as that committed.

4. That sufficient provocation or threat on the part of the offended party immediately preceded the act.

5. That the act was committed in the immediate vindication of a grave offense to the one committing the felony (delito), his spouse, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, or adopted brothers or sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees.

6. That of having acted upon an impulse so powerful as naturally to have produced passion or obfuscation.

7. That the offender had voluntarily surrendered himself to a person in authority or his agents, or that he had voluntarily confessed his guilt before the court prior to the presentation of the evidence for the prosecution.

8. That the offender is deaf and dumb, blind or otherwise suffering some physical defect which thus restricts his means of action, defense, or communication with his fellow beings.

9. Such illness of the offender as would diminish the exercise of the will-power of the offender without however depriving him of consciousness of his acts.

10. And, finally, any other circumstance of a similar nature and analogous to those above mentioned.

CHAPTER FOUR

CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AGGRAVATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY

REVISED PENAL CODE TEXT AND SPECIAL PENAL LAWS

1. Upon a person under fifteen but over nine years of age,

who is not exempted from liability by reason of the court

having

declared

that he acted with discernment, a

discretionary penalty shall be imposed, but always lower

by two degrees at least than that prescribed by law for

the crime which he committed.

2. Upon a person over fifteen and under eighteen years of

age the penalty next lower than that prescribed by law

shall be imposed, but always in the proper period.

Article 69. Penalty to be imposed when the crime

committed is not wholly excusable. - A penalty lower by

one or two degrees than that prescribed by law shall be

imposed if the deed is not wholly excusable by reason of

the lack of some of the conditions required to justify the

same or to exempt from criminal liability in the several

cases mentioned in Article 11 and 12, provided that the

majority of such conditions be present. The courts shall

impose the penalty in the period which may be deemed

proper,

in

view

of

the

number

and

nature of the

conditions of exemption present or lacking.

Article 70. Successive service of sentence. - When the

culprit has to serve two or more penalties, he shall serve

them simultaneously if the nature of the penalties will so

permit otherwise, the following rules shall be observed:

In the imposition of the penalties, the order of their

respective severity shall be followed so that they may be

executed successively or as nearly as may be possible,

should a pardon have been granted as to the penalty or

penalties first imposed, or should they have been served

out.

For the purpose of applying the provisions of the next

preceding

paragraph

the

respective

severity

of

the

penalties shall be determined in accordance with the

following scale:

1. Death,

2. Reclusion perpetua,

3. Reclusion temporal,

4. Prision mayor,

5. Prisión correccional,

6. Arresto mayor,

7. Arresto menor,

8. Destierro,

9. Perpetual absolute disqualification,

10 Temporal absolute disqualification.

11. Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be

voted for, the right to follow a profession or calling, and

12. Public censure.

Notwithstanding

the

provisions

of

the

rule

next

preceding,

the

maximum

duration

of

the

convict's

sentence shall not be more than three-fold the length of

time corresponding to the most severe of the penalties

imposed upon him. No other penalty to which he may be

liable shall be inflicted after the sum total of those

imposed equals the same maximum period.

Such maximum period shall in no case exceed forty years.

In applying the provisions of this rule the duration of

perpetual penalties (pena perpetua) shall be computed at

thirty years. (As amended).

Article 71. Graduated scales. - In the case in which the

law prescribed a penalty lower or higher by one or more

degrees than another given penalty, the rules prescribed

in Article 61 shall be observed in graduating such penalty.

The lower or higher penalty shall be taken from the

graduated scale in which is comprised the given penalty.

The courts, in applying such lower or higher penalty, shall

observe the following graduated scales:

SCALE NO. 1

1. Death,

2. Reclusion perpetua,

3. Reclusion temporal,

4. Prision mayor,

5. Prision correccional,

6. Arresto mayor,

7. Destierro,

8. Arresto menor,

9. Public censure,

10. Fine.

SCALE NO. 2

1. Perpetual absolute disqualification,

2. Temporal absolute disqualification

3. Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be

voted for, the right to follow a profession or calling,

4. Public censure,

5. Fine.

Article

72

Preference

in

the

payment

of

the

civil

liabilities. - The civil liabilities of a person found guilty of

two or more offenses shall be satisfied by following the

chronological

order

of

the

dates

of

the judgments

rendered against him, beginning with the first in order of

time.

Section Three. - Provisions common in the last two

preceding sections

Article 73. Presumption in regard to the imposition of

accessory penalties. - Whenever the courts shall impose a

penalty which, by provision of law, carries with it other

penalties, according to the provisions of Articles 40, 41, 42,

43 and 44 of this Code, it must be understood that the

accessory penalties are also imposed upon the convict.

Article 74. Penalty higher than reclusion perpetua in

certain cases. - In cases in which the law prescribes a

penalty

higher

than

another

given penalty, without

specially designating the name of the former, if such

higher penalty should be that of death, the same penalty

and

the

accessory

penalties

of

Article

40, shall be

considered as the next higher penalty.

Article 75. Increasing or reducing the penalty of fine by

one or more degrees. - Whenever it may be necessary to

increase or reduce the penalty of fine by one or more

degrees, it shall be increased or reduced, respectively, for

each degree, by one-fourth of the maximum amount

prescribed

by

law,

without

however,

changing

the

minimum.

The same rules shall be observed with regard of fines that

do

not

consist

of

a

fixed

amount,

but

are

made

proportional.

Article 76. Legal period of duration of divisible penalties.

- The legal period of duration of divisible penalties shall be

considered as divided into three parts, forming three

periods, the minimum, the medium, and the maximum

in the manner shown in the following table:

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