Daily Serving of Legal Matters

What is a crime of treason? How it may be committed? Could it be committed anytime? A simple definition of treason is an act betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government . (www.goggle.com) taken from  wallstreetrebel.com Article 114 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines provides that: "Any Filipino citizen who levies war against the Philippines or adheres to her enemies, giving them aid or comfort within the Philippines or elsewhere, shall be punished by reclusion perpetua to death and shall pay a fine not to exceed 100,000 pesos. No persons shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses at least to the same overt act or on confession of the accused in open court. Likewise, an alien, residing in the Philippines, who commits acts of treason as defined in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be punished by reclusion temporal to death and shall pay a fine not to...

This post is a reply to the query thrown by one of my followers on whether or not the crime committed in violation of anti-fencing law prescribes.  Yes, all crimes have prescriptions.  But the period of prescription may vary depending on the degree of its imposable penalties. Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines states the prescription of crimes.  Thus: Crimes punishable by DEATH, RECLUSION PERPETUA or RECLUSION TEMPORAL shall prescribe in TWENTY YEARS. Crimes punishable by other AFFLICTIVE PENALTIES shall FIFTEEN YEARS. Those punishable by a CORRECTIONAL PENALTY shall prescribe in TEN YEARS; with the exception of those punishable by ARRESTO MAYOR, which shall prescribe in FIVE YEARS. The crime of libel or other similar offenses shall prescribe in ONE YEAR. The offenses of oral defamation and slander by deed shall prescribe in SIX MONTHS. Light offenses prescribe in TWO MONTHS. When the penalty fixed by law is a compound one, the highest penalty shall b...

For the information of the readers, we have a law penalizing the cattle rustling.  This law is known as Presidential Decree Number 533 or otherwise known as the Anti-Cattle Rustling Law of 1974. Photo courtesy of bing images. Based on the said law, cattle rustling is defined as the taking away by any means, methods or scheme, WITHOUT THE CONSENT of the owner/raiser, of any of the animals considered as large cattle whether or not for profit or gain, or whether committed with or without violence against or intimidation of any person or force upon things.  It includes the killing of large cattle, or taking its meat or hides without the consent of the owner/raiser. Thus if the taking away or the killing of any of the large cattle is with the consent of the owner/raiser, there is no cattle rustling to speak of. As provided in this law, large cattle shall include the COW, CARABAO, HORSE, MULE, ASS, or other domesticated member of the bovine family. What is the ...