Article 8. Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony.

is only a manner of incurring criminal liability for

rebellion.
Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are Indications of conspiracy:
punishable only in the cases in which the law  It is fundamental for conspiracy to exist that there
specially provides a penalty therefor. must be unity of purpose and unity in the execution
of the unlawful objective. Here, appellants did not act
A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come with a unity of purpose. Even assuming that
to an agreement concerning the commission of a appellants have joined together in the killing, such
felony and decide to commit it. circumstances alone do not satisfy the requirement
of a conspiracy because the rule is that neither joint
There is proposal when the person who decided to nor simultaneous action is per se sufficient proof of
commit a felony proposes its execution to some conspiracy. It must be shown to exist as clearly and
other person or persons. convincingly as the commission of the offense itself.
Obedience to a command does not necessarily
*Note: Unless there is a specific provision in the RPC show concert of design, for at any rate it is the acts
providing a penalty for conspiracy or proposal to commit of the conspirators that show their common design.
a felony, mere conspiracy or proposal is not a felony. Although defendants are relatives and had acted
Reason: Conspiracy and proposal to commit a crime are with some degree of simultaneity in attacking their
only preparatory acts, and the law regards them as victim, nevertheless, this fact alone does not prove
innocent or at least permissible except in rare and conspiracy. (People vs. Dorico)
exceptional cases.  For a collective responsibility among the accused to
be established, it is sufficient that at the time of the
Mere conspiracy punishable in RPC: aggression, all of them acted in concert, each doing
1. Art. 115 – Conspiracy to commit treason his part to fulfill their common design to kill their
2. Art. 136 – Conspiracy to commit rebellion or victim, and although only one of them may have
insurrection actually stabbed the victim, the act of that one is
3. Art. 141 – Conspiracy to commit sedition deemed to be the act of all. (People vs. Hernandez)

Note: When the conspiracy relates to a crime actually Requisites of Conspiracy:

committed, it is not a felony but only a matter of incurring 1. That two or more persons came to an
criminal liability, that is, when there is conspiracy, the act agreement;
of one is the act of all. *Agreement presupposes meeting of the minds
of two or more persons.
Even if the conspiracy relates to any of the crimes of
treason, rebellion and sedition, but any of them is 2. That the agreement concerned the commission
actually committed, the conspiracy is not a separate of a felony; and
offense; it is only a manner of incurring criminal liability – *The agreement must refer to the commission of
that is, all the conspirators who carried out their plan and a crime. It must be an agreement to act, to
personally took part in its execution are equally liable. effect, to bring about what has already been
The offenders are liable for treason, rebellion or sedition, conceived and determined.
as the case may be, and the conspiracy is absorbed.
3. That the execution of the felony be decided
When conspiracy is only a manner of incurring criminal upon.
liability, it is not punishable as a separate offense. *The conspirators have made up their minds to
commit the crime. There must be a
Example: A and B agreed and decided to rise publicly determination to commit the crime of treason,
and take arms against the government with the help of rebellion and sedition.
their followers. Even if they did not carry out their plan to
overthrow the government, A and B are liable for Q: Is direct proof essential to establish conspiracy?
conspiracy to commit rebellion under Art. 136 of the A: No. Direct proof is not essential to establish
RPC. conspiracy, and may be inferred from the collective acts
of the accused before, during and after the commission
But if A and B and their followers did rise publicly and of the crime. Conspiracy can be presumed from and
take arms against the government to overthrow it, proven by acts of the accused themselves when the said
thereby committing rebellion, their conspiracy is not a acts point to a joint purpose and design, concerted
felony. They are liable for rebellion and their conspiracy action and community of interests. It is not necessary to
show that all the conspirators actually hit and killed the
victim. Conspiracy renders all the conspirators as co-
principals regardless of the extent and character of their
participation because in contemplation of law, the act of 3. If the proponents of rebellion desist before any
one conspirator is the act of all. (People vs. Buntag) rebellious act is actually performed by the would-be
material executors, inform the authorities and aid in
Q: Does a mere presence of a person at the scene of the arrest of their fellow plotters, should the
crime makes him a conspirator? proponents be exempt?
A: No. A conspiracy must be established by positive and
conclusive evidence. It must be shown to exist clearly The proponents should be exempt from the penalties
and convincingly as the commission of the crime itself. provided for criminal proposals and conspiracies, for
Mere presence of a person at the scene of the crime the law would rather prevent than punish crimes and
does not make him a conspirator for conspiracy encouragement should be given to those who
transcends companionship. hearken to the voice of conscience. But once a
proposal to commit rebellion is made by the
Mere proposal punishable by RPC: proponent to another person, the crime of proposal
1. Art 115 – Proposal to commit treason to commit rebellion is consummated and the
2. Art 136 – Proposal to commit coup d’etat desistance of the proponent cannot legally exempt
rebellion or insurrection. him from criminal liability.

Requisites of Proposal: Note: What constitutes a felony of proposal to commit

1. That a person has decided to commit a felony; treason or rebellion is the making of proposal. The law
and does not require that the proposal be accepted by a
2. That he proposes its execution to some other person to whom the proposal is made. If it is accepted, it
person or persons. may be conspiracy to commit treason or rebellion,
because there would be an agreement and a decision to
There is no criminal proposal when: commit it.
1. The person who proposes is not determined to
commit felony. Proposal is an overt act of corruption of public
2. There is no decided, concrete and formal officer:
proposal. One who offers money to a public officer to induce him
3. It is not the execution of a felony that is not to perform his duties, but the offender is rejected by
proposed. the public officer, is liable for attempted bribery.

Examples: Note that while it is true that the act performed by the
1. A desires that the present government be offender is in the nature of a proposal, and it is not
overthrown. But A is afraid to do it himself with punishable because it does not involve treason or
others. A then suggests the overthrowing of the rebellion, nevertheless, the proposal in this case in an
government to some desperate people who will do it overt act of the crime of corruption of public officer.
at the slightest provocation.
Criminal conspiracy and proposal:
In this case, A is not liable for proposal to commit In sum, the crimes in which conspiracy and proposal are
rebellion, because A has not decided to commit it. punishable are against the security of the State or
Likewise, it was merely a suggestion – not a economic security. For treason, it is against the eternal
decided, concrete and formal proposal. security of the State. For Coup d’etat, rebellion and
sedition, all are against internal security.
2. A conceived the idea of overthrowing the present
government. A called several of his trusted followers Reason: In ordinary crimes, the State survives the victim
and instructed them to go around the country and and the culprit cannot find in the success of his work any
secretly to organize groups and to convince them of impunity. Whereas, in crimes against the external and
the necessity of having a new government. internal security of the State, if the culprit succeeds in his
criminal enterprise, he would obtain the power and
Note that what A proposed in this case is not the therefore impunity for the crime committed.
execution of the crime of rebellion, but the
performance of preparatory acts for the commission
of rebellion. Therefore, there is no criminal proposal.