Practice question
A current RPC provision prescribes only a PHP 30,000 fine for a completed offense. Its statutory elements are proved. A student argues that it cannot be a felony or crime because the amount is small. What is correct?
- Only offenses with afflictive penalties are felonies
- A punishable RPC offense remains a felony and a crime; light classification does not erase criminal character
- The old PHP 200 threshold must control every present classification
- A fine-only offense is necessarily a civil debt
- A completed offense becomes criminal only when imprisonment is mandatory
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/statutes/acts/act1930/act_3815_1930.html — Revised Penal Code Articles3,5,10 and21: punishable acts and omissions, dolo/culpa, special-law distinction and prior penal legislation.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1994/jul1994/gr_93028_1994.html — People v. Simon, G.R. 93028, July 29, 1994, main decision: source of offense and penalty; borrowing RPC nomenclature does not itself convert a special-law offense into an RPC offense.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2007/apr2007/gr_160959_2007.html — Diaz v. Davao Light and Power Co., G.R. 160959, April 3, 2007, main decision: distinction between a felony under the RPC and a special-law crime.
- https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2017/ra_10951_2017.html — RA 10951 section 1, amended Article 9: current light-felony fine threshold, used below the PHP 40,000 boundary.
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