Amendments to Revised Penal Code Articles

Republic Act No. 18 amends specific provisions of the Revised Penal Code identified by article numbers 62, 267, 268, 270, 271, 294, and 299.
Section 1 amends the last paragraph of Article 62 of the Revised Penal Code.
Sections 2 to 7 amend Articles 267, 268, 270, 271, 294, and 299 of the Revised Penal Code.
Section 8 establishes the effectivity timing rule for the entire Act.

Section 1 amends the last paragraph of Article 62 of the Revised Penal Code.
A person is deemed a habitual delinquent if, within a period of years from the date of his release or last conviction of enumerated crimes, the person is found guilty of those crimes a third time or oftener.
The enumerated crimes are serious or less serious physical injuries, robo, hurto, estafa, or falsification.
The habitual-delinquency trigger is a third conviction or more within the statutory time window tied to release or last conviction.

Section 2 amends Article 267, titled “Kidnapping and serious illegal detention.”
Any private individual who kidnap(s) or detain(s) another, or in any other manner deprive(s) him of his liberty, must suffer reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death.
The penalty escalates to reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death when at least one of these aggravating conditions is present:
- The kidnapping or detention lasted more than five days.
- The offense is committed by simulating public authority.
- The offense includes serious physical injuries inflicted on the victim, or threats to kill made against the victim.
- The victim is a minor, female, or a public officer.
A further specific rule applies: reclusion perpetua to death is imposed where the kidnapping or detention was committed for the purpose of extorting ransom from the victim or any other person, even if none of the listed circumstances above is present.

Section 3 amends Article 268, titled “Slight illegal detention.”
The penalty of reclusion temporal is imposed on any private individual who commits the crimes described in the preceding article (Article 267) without the attendance of any enumerated circumstances in that article.
The same penalty applies to anyone who furnish(es) the place for the perpetration of the crime.
If the offender voluntarily release(s) the person kidnapped or detained within three days from the commencement of the detention, and:
- release occurs without having attained the purpose intended, and
- release occurs before the institution of criminal proceedings,
- the penalty becomes prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods plus a fine not exceeding seven hundred pesos.

Section 4 amends Article 270, titled “Kidnapping and failure to return a minor.”
Reclusion perpetua is imposed on any person who, being entrusted with the custody of a person, deliberately fails to restore the latter to his parents or guardians.

Section 5 amends Article 271, titled “Inducing a minor to abandon his home.”
Prision correccional and a fine not exceeding seven hundred pesos are imposed on anyone who induces a minor to abandon the home of:
- his parents or guardians, or
- the persons entrusted with his custody.
If the offender is the father or the mother of the minor, the penalty becomes arresto mayor or a fine not exceeding three hundred pesos, or both.

Section 7 amends the first paragraph of Article 299, titled “Robbery in an inhabited house or public building or edifice devoted to worship.”
Reclusion temporal applies to an armed person who commits robbery in an inhabited house, public building, or edifice devoted to religious worship.
The value of the property taken must be exceed[ing] two hundred fifty pesos for the punishment stated.
The robbery qualifies when at least one circumstance under paragraph (a) exists:
- Entry through an opening not intended for entrance or egress.
- Breaking any wall, roof, or floor or breaking any door or window.
- Using false keys, picklocks or similar tools.
- Using any fictitious name or pretending the exercise of public authority.
The robbery also qualifies under paragraph (b) when any circumstance is present:
- Breaking doors, wardrobes, chests, or any other kind of locked or sealed furniture or receptacle.
- Taking such furniture or objects away to be broken or forced open outside the place of the robbery.

Section 6 amends cases 2, 4 and 5 of Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code.
For Case 2, the penalty is reclusion temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua when the robbery is:
- accompanied by rape or intentional mutilation, or
- when, by reason or on occasion of such robbery, any physical injuries penalized in subdivision 1 of Article 263 are inflicted.
For Case 4, the penalty is prision mayor in its maximum period to reclusion temporal in its medium period when:
- the violence or intimidation is carried to a degree clearly unnecessary for the commission of the crime, or
- during execution, the offender inflicts on any person responsible for its commission any physical injuries covered by subdivisions 3 and 4 of Article 263.
For Case 5, the penalty is prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its medium period in other cases.