AFTER 81 years, the Revised Penal Code enacted in 1932 will be repealed once Congress approves the proposed Philippine Code of Crimes authored by House committee on Justice chairman Niel Tupas Jr.
On Monday, Tupas, together with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., presented House Bill 2300 or the Book One of the Revised Penal Code.
The Book Two will be filed by the end of the year, Tupas said.
"Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will be able to file Book Two so we can consolidate Book 1 and 2…In short, the Revised Penal Code will be repealed. The target (to pass the proposals) is 2015," Tupas said in an ambush interview.
"It is imperative for us to revisit the Revised Penal Code and to craft a new Code of Crimes that is updated, modern, simplified, responsive, and truly Filipino. This historical undertaking is long overdue," Tupas said, noting that they failed to propose the said bill in the 15th Congress as the impeachment of then Chief Justice Renato Corona lost them a few months of legislation.
Tupas and de Lima noted that in President Benigno Aquino III's first state address, he asked Congress for the recodification of laws. The Department of Justice (DOJ) then constituted the Criminal Code Committee composed of representatives from the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to propose changes to the Revised Penal Code.
Tupas explained that under House Bill 2300, the jurisdiction of laws will be expanded to transnational crimes, instead of territorial. This will allow the state to prosecute crimes committed outside the Philippines if he said crimes are against national security, against Filipino citizens or against humanity and law of nations.
A contentious issue in the bill is the provision which lowers the minimum age of criminal liability to 13.
Under the Juvenile Justice Bill already transmitted to Malacanang, the age of criminal liability will remain at 15. Aquino is yet to sign the ratified bicameral conference committee report on the said bill.
Tupas said the "13-year-olds today are more mentally and physically matured than the 13-year-olds in 1932" when the Revised Penal Code was enacted.
In her Twitter account, Gabriela party-list Representative Emmi De Jesus (@emmidejesus) opposed the bill, saying that child right advocates are pushing for "restorative not punitive" justice.
"We oppose lowering age of liability to 13 years old," she said.
The measure also removes Latin and Spanish terms in the penalties provided in the Revised Penal Code. Instead, the scale of principal, alternative and accessory penalties with the restorative justice measures are presented in tabular form with a new scale of penalties ranging from Level 1 to Level 5 and life imprisonment.
Fines imposed will also no longer be based on fixed amounts but instead will be based on the capacity to pay of the accused or respondent.
Other key features of the bill are as follows:
• Simplifies the approach to criminalization based on conduct and not mental state;
• Simplifies the categorization of crimes – there is no longer a frustrated stage of commission of crime or accomplices in the degree of participation;
• There is no longer a splitting of criminal and civil actions – the civil remedy is always embedded in the criminal action;
• The rule on double jeopardy has been rationalized to prevent abuses;
• Modifying circumstances are now generically aggravating, mitigating, or alternative without end of specific characterization for purpose of trial;
• The prescription of crime and service of sentence if now combined.
Meanwhile, Tupas also filed House Bill 2032 or The Criminal Investigation Act of 2013, which seeks to integrate the functions of the investigating law enforcer and the investigating prosecutor in criminal investigations.
Under the proposal, the preliminary investigation process will consist of two simple steps, namely, the criminal investigation where the police and the investigating prosecutor coordinate closely to gather evidence and build the case, and the preliminary hearing stage where the trial judge evaluates the evidence of both parties an determines whether a full-blown trial is warranted.
"The bill's passage will eliminate bureaucratic layers and the use by parties of dilatory remedies. It will make the conduct of criminal investigations more simple, speedy and efficient," Tupas said. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)