31/07/2019
Act No. 3815
Article 63. Rules for the application of indivisible penalties. In all cases in which the law prescribes a single
indivisible penalty, it shall be applied by the courts regardless of any mitigating or aggravating circumstances that
may have attended the commission of the deed.
In all cases in which the law prescribes a penalty composed of two indivisible penalties, the following rules shall be
observed in the application thereof:
1. When in the commission of the deed there is present only one aggravating circumstance, the greater
penalty shall be applied.
2. When there are neither mitigating nor aggravating circumstances and there is no aggravating
circumstance, the lesser penalty shall be applied.
3. When the commission of the act is attended by some mitigating circumstances and there is no aggravating
circumstance, the lesser penalty shall be applied.
4. When both mitigating and aggravating circumstances attended the commission of the act, the court shall
reasonably allow them to offset one another in consideration of their number and importance, for the purpose
of applying the penalty in accordance with the preceding rules, according to the result of such compensation.
Article 64. Rules for the application of penalties which contain three periods. In cases in which the penalties
prescribed by law contain three periods, whether it be a single divisible penalty or composed of three different
penalties, each one of which forms a period in accordance with the provisions of Articles 76 and 77, the court shall
observe for the application of the penalty the following rules, according to whether there are or are not mitigating or
aggravating circumstances:
1. When there are neither aggravating nor mitigating circumstances, they shall impose the penalty prescribed
by law in its medium period.
2. When only a mitigating circumstances is present in the commission of the act, they shall impose the
penalty in its minimum period.
3. When an aggravating circumstance is present in the commission of the act, they shall impose the penalty
in its maximum period.
4. When both mitigating and aggravating circumstances are present, the court shall reasonably offset those of
one class against the other according to their relative weight.
5. When there are two or more mitigating circumstances and no aggravating circumstances are present, the
court shall impose the penalty next lower to that prescribed by law, in the period that it may deem applicable,
according to the number and nature of such circumstances.
6. Whatever may be the number and nature of the aggravating circumstances, the courts shall not impose a
greater penalty than that prescribed by law, in its maximum period.
7. Within the limits of each period, the court shall determine the extent of the penalty according to the number
and nature of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and the greater and lesser extent of the evil
produced by the crime.
Article 65. Rule in cases in which the penalty is not composed of three periods. In cases in which the penalty
prescribed by law is not composed of three periods, the courts shall apply the rules contained in the foregoing
articles, dividing into three equal portions of time included in the penalty prescribed, and forming one period of each
of the three portions.
Article 66. Imposition of fines. In imposing fines the courts may fix any amount within the limits established by law;
in fixing the amount in each case attention shall be given, not only to the mitigating and aggravating circumstances,
but more particularly to the wealth or means of the culprit.
Article 67. Penalty to be imposed when not all the requisites of exemption of the fourth circumstance of Article 12
are present. When all the conditions required in circumstances Number 4 of Article 12 of this Code to exempt from
criminal liability are not present, the penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its
minimum period shall be imposed upon the culprit if he shall have been guilty of a grave felony, and arresto mayor in
its minimum and medium periods, if of a less grave felony.
Article 68. Penalty to be imposed upon a person under eighteen years of age. When the offender is a minor under
eighteen years and his case is one coming under the provisions of the paragraphs next to the last of Article 80 of
this Code, the following rules shall be observed:
1. Upon a person under fifteen but over nine years of age, who is not exempted from liability by reason of the
court having declared that he acted with discernment, a discretionary penalty shall be imposed, but always
lower by two degrees at least than that prescribed by law for the crime which he committed.
2. Upon a person over fifteen and under eighteen years of age the penalty next lower than that prescribed by
law shall be imposed, but always in the proper period.
Article 69. Penalty to be imposed when the crime committed is not wholly excusable. A penalty lower by one or
two degrees than that prescribed by law shall be imposed if the deed is not wholly excusable by reason of the lack
of some of the conditions required to justify the same or to exempt from criminal liability in the several cases
mentioned in Article 11 and 12, provided that the majority of such conditions be present. The courts shall impose the
penalty in the period which may be deemed proper, in view of the number and nature of the conditions of exemption
present or lacking.
Article 70. Successive service of sentence. When the culprit has to serve two or more penalties, he shall serve
them simultaneously if the nature of the penalties will so permit otherwise, the following rules shall be observed:
In the imposition of the penalties, the order of their respective severity shall be followed so that they may be
executed successively or as nearly as may be possible, should a pardon have been granted as to the penalty or
penalties first imposed, or should they have been served out.
For the purpose of applying the provisions of the next preceding paragraph the respective severity of the penalties
shall be determined in accordance with the following scale:
1. Death,
2. Reclusion perpetua,
3. Reclusion temporal,
4. Prision mayor,
5. Prision correccional,
https://lawphil.net/statutes/acts/act_3815_1930.html
9/42