Report Guide

Art. 87. Destierro. — Any person sentenced to destierro shall not be permitted to enter the place or
places designated in the sentence, nor within the radius therein specified, which shall be not more tha
n 250 and not less than 25 kilometers from the place designated.

Example:

A was sentenced to the penalty of destierro, according to which he should not enter the place within the
radius of 25 kilometers from the City Hall of Manila, for a period of two years, four months and one day.

In this case, A was not completely deprived of his liberty, as he could go freely to whatever place except
within the radius of 25 kilometers from the City Hall of Manila. If the convict entered Manila while
serving the sentence of destierro, this is considered evasion of the service of the sentence of destierro.

Art. 88. Arresto menor. — The penalty of arresto menor shall be served in the municipal jail, or in the
house of the defendant himself under the surveillance of an officer of the law, when the court so
provides in its decision, taking into consideration the health of the offender and other reasons which
may seem satisfactory to it.

Penalty of arresto menor may be served in the house of the defendant. But it is required as a condition
that it should be under the surveillance of an officer of the law and unless when the court makes a
statement in its decision that the accused can serve the sentence in his house, the accused cannot be
permitted to do so by the jailer.

The grounds are the health of the offender and other reasons satisfactory to the court

Not satisfactory:

1) that the accused is a woman of 50 years, respectable member of the community and that her means
of subsistence and that of her husband are a retail store. (People vs. Torrano, C.A., 40 O.G., 12th Supp.,
18)

Satisfactory reasons:

1) The accused was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment under Act 3992 and he was suffering from
tuberculosis, requiring outside treatment, he was allowed to serve his sentence in his house. (People vs.
Dayrit, C.A., 40 O.G., 11th Supp., 280)

Art. 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. —

Criminal liability is totally extinguished:

1 . By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability
therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment;
 ⮚ General rule —

Death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability as well as the
civil liability based solely on the offense committed. Hence, if the offender dies after final judgment,
the pecuniary penalties are not extinguished and;

Final judgment - Section 7, Rule 16 of the Rules of Court likewise states that a judgment in a criminal
case becomes final after the lapse of the period for perfecting an appeal or when the sentence has been
partially or totally satisfied or served, or the defendant has expressly waived in writing his right to
appeal.

Exception —
The claim for civil liability survives notwithstanding the death of accused, if the same may also be
predicated on a source of obligation other than delict, such as law, contracts, quasi-contracts and
quasi-
delicts.

Example:
a) The claim for civil liability based on law may also be made— in the offense of physical injuries, since
Article 33 of the Civil Code establishes a civil action for damages on account of physical injuries, entirely
separate and distinct from the criminal action.
b) Claim for civil liability based on contract may also be made— in the offense of estafa when the civil
liability springs neither solely nor originally from the crime itself but from a civil contract of purchase
and sale (as when accused had swindled the vendees of the property subject matter of the contract of
sale).

The death of the convict, whether before or after final judgment, extinguishes criminal liability, because
one of the juridical conditions of penalty is that it is personal.

The death of the convict also extinguishes pecuniary penalties only when the death of the offender
occurs before final judgment. Hence, if the offender dies after final judgment, the pecuniary penalties
are not extinguished.

⮚ The death of the offended party does not extinguish the criminal liability of the offender,
because the offense is committed against the State.

Where a person is charged with homicide, for instance, the civil liability for indemnity is based solely on
the finding of guilt. If he is acquitted because of self-defense, the heirs of the deceased have no right to
indemnity. Should the offender die before final judgment, their right to indemnity is likewise
extinguished as there is no basis for the civil liability. Civil liability exists only when the accused is
convicted by final judgment.

2 . By service of the sentence;

Service of sentence does not extinguish the civil liability.
3 . By amnesty, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects;
Amnesty- It is an act of the sovereign power granting oblivion or a general pardon for a past offense,
and is rarely, if ever, exercised in favor of a single individual, and is usually exerted in behalf of certain
classes of persons, who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted.
- completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects except civil liability
Examples of amnesty: Proclamation No. 51, dated January 28,1948, by President Roxas, granting
amnesty to those who collaborated with the enemy during World War II.

4 . By absolute pardon;
Pardon- It is an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws which
exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime he
has committed.

2kinds of pardon:
a) Absolute
b) Conditional
Until accepted, all that may have been done is a matter of intended favor and may be cancelled. But
once accepted by the grantee, the pardon already delivered cannot be revoked by the authority which
granted it.

Examples:
1) A was charged with the crime of adultery with a married woman. The married woman, after
conviction of both accused, was pardoned by the Chief Executive.

Does the pardon of the woman have the effect of extinguishing the criminal liability of A?

No, because (1) the power to extend executive clemency is unlimited, and (2) that the exercise of that
power lies in the absolute and uncontrolled discretion of the Chief Executive.

2) A was convicted of murder. Subsequently, A evaded the service of the sentence. A was prosecuted for
and convicted of evasion. The President thereafter pardoned A of the murder.
Held: The pardon refers only to the crime of murder and does not have the effect of remitting the
penalty for evasion of the service of the sentence committed prior to said pardon.

Differences between amnesty and pardon:

1) Pardon includes any crime and is exercised individually by the President; amnesty is a blanket pardon
to classes of persons or communities who may be guilty of political offenses.
2) Pardon is exercised when the person is already convicted; amnesty may be exercised even before trial
or investigation is had.
3) Pardon abolishes or forgives the punishment; thus, does "not work the restoration of the rights to
hold public office or the right of suffrage, unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of the
pardon." While Amnesty, it abolishes and puts into oblivion the offense itself as though he had
committed no offense. Example: Pardon does not alter the fact that the accused is a recidivist, because
it produces the extinction only of the personal effects of the penalty. Whereas, Amnesty makes an ex-
convict no longer a recidivist, because it obliterates the last vestige o fthe crime.
4) Both do not extinguish the civil liability of the offender.
5) Pardon, being a private act of the President, must be pleaded and proved by the person pardoned;
while amnesty being by Proclamation of the Chief Executive with the concurrence of Congress, is a
public act of which the courts should take judicial notice.

5 . By prescription of the crime ;

6 . By prescription of the penalty;

Prescription of the crime is the forfeiture or loss of the right of the State to prosecute the offender after
the lapse of a certain time.

Prescription of the penalty is the loss or forfeiture of the right of the Government to execute the final
sentence after the lapse of a certain time. Essential element here is the evasion of service of sentence
by the convict during the term of his sentence. Why does the state allows the prescription of penalty?
This is a way of the state to condone the convict who suffers more on their quest to evade sentence or
go into hiding and try to outwit the government to avoid prison.
Two conditions:
a) That there be final judgment.
b) That the period of time prescribed by law for its enforcement has elapsed.

7 . By the marriage of the offended woman, as provided in Article 344 of this Code.
Marriage of the offender with the offended woman after the commission of any of the crimes of rape,
seduction, abduction or acts of lasciviousness, as provided in Art. 344, must be contracted by the
offender in good faith. Hence, marriage contracted only to avoid criminal liability is devoid of legal
effects.

Note:
⮚ Extinction of criminal liability does not necessarily mean that the civil liability is also
extinguished.
⮚ Causes of extinction of criminal liability is different from causes of justification or exemption.
Causes of extinction of criminal liability- arise after the commission of the offense;

Causes of justification or exemption- arise from circumstances existing either before the
commission of the crime or at the moment of its commission.

⮚ That criminal liability is totally extinguished is a ground for motion to quash.

Under Sec. 3(g) of Rule 117 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, one of the grounds for
motion to quash is that the criminal action has been extinguished. The order sustaining a motion to
quash on this ground constitutes a bar to another prosecution for the same offense.