QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 11926)
RA 11926 penalizes wilful and indiscriminate discharge of firearms. It amends Article 155 and Article 254 of Act No. 3815 (the Revised Penal Code).
Any person who, within any town or public place, discharges any rocket, firecracker, or other explosives calculated to cause alarm or danger is punishable (arresto menor or fine not exceeding ₱40,000).
Arresto menor or a fine not exceeding ₱40,000.
It penalizes shooting at another with any firearm. The penalty is prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, subject to exceptions where the act constitutes frustrated/attempted parricide, murder, homicide, or another higher-penalty crime.
When the facts of the case show the elements required for those more serious crimes are present (e.g., intent to kill and acts constituting stages of execution), or when another article prescribes a higher penalty for the conduct.
Article 254(b) focuses on wilful and indiscriminate discharge of a firearm (or functionally used device), not merely on shooting at another with a firearm.
The accused must wilfully and indiscriminately discharge any firearm or other device not designed as a firearm but functionally usable as one.
Arresto mayor in its maximum period, unless the facts show it constitutes any other offense for which a higher penalty is prescribed.
It includes them within the coverage: if they may not have been designed as firearm but can be functionally used as a firearm, the discharge may fall under Article 254(b).
No. It applies when the offender is a member of the military and military auxiliary agencies, or law enforcement agencies authorized to bear firearms, and the discharge is not in the performance of official duties.
Any firearm license or permit issued in favor of the offender shall be summarily cancelled, and the offender shall be perpetually disqualified from being granted any firearm license or permit.
It ensures that if any provision or part is held invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected remain valid and subsisting.
All laws, orders, proclamations, rules, and regulations (or parts thereof) inconsistent with RA 11926 are repealed or modified accordingly.
Fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
It states that the act was approved/lapsed into law on July 30, 2022 without the signature of the President, pursuant to Article VI, Section 27(1) of the Constitution.
The amended Article 254(b) and the penalty structure provide that if the facts can be held to constitute any other offense for which a higher penalty is prescribed, then that higher-penalty offense should apply instead.
It requires proof of both mental element (wilfulness) and manner/behavior (indiscriminate discharge), distinguishing it from other types of firearm-related offenses or situations where indiscrimination or wilfulness is not established.