3. DISCUSIÓN
3.2 Propuesta
Q: Death occurring during a coup d’etat – is this a separate crime?
No, it is absorbed. Violence is an element of coup d’etat
Q: When may civilians be liable for coup d’etat?
When they participate, support, finance, aid or abet the coup
ART.139 SEDITION
*NB: Pay close attention to this one, it comes up during Midterm Exams
Q: How is this committed?
1. The offenders rise –
a. Publicly (*NB: of there is NO public uprising, the crime = tumults and other disturbances of public order); AND (*NB: conjunctive – very important)
b. Tumultuously (vis‐a‐vis rebellion where there must be a ‘taking up of arms against the government)
2. They employ threat, intimidation, or other means outside of legal methods 3. The offenders employ any of those means to attain any of the following objects:
a. To prevent the promulgation or execution of any law OR the holding of any popular election
b. To prevent the national government, or any provincial or municipal government, or any public official thereof from freely exercising its or his functions, OR prevent the execution of any administrative order
c. To inflict any act of hate or revenge upon the person or property of any public officer or employee
d. To commit for any political or social end, any act of hate or revenge against private persons or any social class (*NB: even private individuals may be offended parties, not just the government or public officials)
e. To despoil for any political or social end, any person, municipality, or province, or the national government of all its property or any part thereof
Q: When is a public uprising deemed ‘tumultuous’?
When there is the presence of at least 4 (and ALL four must be armed) men provided with means for violence
Q: 10 persons armed themselves for the purpose of preventing the holding of a referendum through violence. Are they liable for sedition?
No, a referendum is different from a popular election
Q: Several members of a barangay armed themselves and proceeded to the election precincts, and prevented the election officers from performing their duty. What crime was committed?
Sedition in the 1st manner
Q: The city engineer of Makati issued an order for the demolition of the shantytowns in a certain area.
When the demolition was about to take place, residents of the area blocked the road leading to the site, the purpose of doing so is to prevent the city engineer and his men from pushing through with the demolition. What crime was committed?
Sedition in the 2nd manner
Q: Suppose Bayani Fernando, pursuant to his project ‘Metro Gwapo’, relocated all the squatters in Baclaran. One morning while inside the Baclaran Church, the residents set his car on fire. What crime or crimes did they commit?
1. Sedition
H I R Y U K I M I K O O K U B O
2. Arson*separate crimes: unlike rebellion or coup d’etat, sedition does NOT absorb commit crimes committed in furtherance of its goals
Q: Suppose you have a grudge against your municipal mayor and you burned down his house. What crime/s may you be liable for?
1. Sedition in the 3rd manner 2. Arson
*separate crimes
Q: Suppose you shoot him instead 1. Sedition in the 3rd manner 2. Murder/Homicide
*separate crimes
Q: Give an example of the 4th objective
Q: Give an example of the 5th objective
Q: Conspiracy to commit sedition, how is this committed?
Q: Inciting to sedition, how is this committed?
Q: Give an example of inciting to sedition in the 1st manner
Q: What are the two rules in determining culpability, as far as inciting to sedition goes?
1. The Clear and Present Danger Rule 2. The Dangerous Tendency Rule
Q: What is employed in this jurisdiction?
Both Rules, depending on the attending circumstances
Q: Is there such a crime as ‘proposal to commit sedition’?
None
Q: Suppose you incited others to commit sedition and they did. What crime was committed?
Sedition
Q: What is meant by ‘scurrilous libels’?
Writings that are low, vulgar and mean
Q: Give an example
Q: May inciting to sedition be committed by mere silence?
Yes, by ‘knowingly concealing such evil practices’
Q: What is sedition?
A Raising of commotion or disturbances in the State, possessing as its ultimate objective a violation of the public peace or at least such measures that evidently engender such violations
Q: May sedition be committed by 3 persons?
No – there must at least be 4 armed persons
Q: If there are 50 persons who are not armed, is there sedition?
None
Q: 20 persons, with only one carrying a .45cal revolver No
H I R Y U K I M I K O O K U B O
*NB: it doesn’t matter how many people there are, it matters how many ARMED people there are – mind the qualification for means of violence
Q: If no one was carrying a gun but 5 were carrying arms Sedition
Q: If 6 were carrying World War II vintage M‐1 Garand Rifles that would not even fire?
Sedition (trolling moment: they can still be used to hit somebody :D )
Q: What if those 6 people were armed with stones? Scissors? Needles?
Yes to all the above, the crime is sedition – these items may be used for violence (trolling moment: Ever been poked in the eye with a needle? There you go – violence :D)
Q: What is the liability of the participants, supposing they were not able to achieve the purpose they aimed for?
Sedition, The crime is consummated once all the elements concur (think: public and tumultuous uprising + any of the 5 objects of sedition) – the success of the endeavour is not an element
*NB: That’s how it works. Once ALL elements are present, criminal liability inures (automatically attaches) to the offense. Check the elements for every crime – if they are incomplete, the crime is not consummated.
Q: The MMDA was set to demolish a shantytown. The residents blocked the MMDA officials’ access to the site. The police arrived and the residents dispersed, allowing the demolition officers to do their job.
Are the residents liable?
Yes, the crime was already consummated
Q: Same facts, except that the residents held only pieces of wood. Are they liable?
Still liable (trolling moment: being hit by a piece of wood… hurts. Violence, mates.)
Q: In the 1st manner, is it necessary that the holding of popular elections is actually prevented?
No
Q: In the MMDA example, suppose there were 20 residents, only one carried a firearm, the rest were simply being rowdy and noisy. The armed resident fired at a vehicle owned by the MMDA. The driver died. What is the armed resident’s liability?
Murder/Homicide
*NB: NOT sedition. Notice, he was the only one armed
Q: Suppose that the remaining 19 residents picked up pieces of wood. What is the liability of the resident who shot a member of the demolition team?
1. Sedition
2. Murder/Homicide
*separate crimes because sedition does not absorb common crimes
Q: What is the legal effect of common crimes in sedition?
They are not absorbed and will be prosecuted independently of the case for sedition
Q: May they be complexed with sedition?
No
Q: Give an example of common crimes committed in sedition
*trolling moment ‐ formula: sedition (public and tumultuous uprising + any of the 5 objectives) + any of the common crimes (i.e.: murder/homicide/arson/rape/serious physical injuries etc) + a whole lot of imagination. Go for it :P
H I R Y U K I M I K O O K U B O
NOTES:
*As differentiated with rebellion, the nature of sedition may be either political or social, whereas rebellion is always political
*The offender in sedition may be either a public or private individual
*A public uprising AND an object of sedition must concur, else it isn’t sedition
*Common crimes are NOT absorbed by sedition
*Preventing an election through legal means (i.e.: electoral contests, filing civil cases pertaining to elections) is not contemplated by sedition
*Persons liable for sedition are (1) the leader/s and (2) other persons participating in the seditious act/s