Under the Revised Penal Code (RPC) of the Philippines, “crimes against persons” are found in Book II, Title Eight. These provisions primarily protect two core interests: life and physical integrity, and—after later amendments—sexual integrity through the reclassification of rape as a crime against persons.

Below is a structured legal-style article on the list of crimes against persons, with key elements, concepts, and doctrinal notes.

I. Overview of Crimes Against Persons

Title Eight – Crimes Against Persons traditionally covers three broad clusters:

Crimes involving destruction of life
Crimes involving physical injuries and bodily harm
Rape, reclassified from a crime against chastity to a crime against persons by RA 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997)

These crimes are generally mala in se (inherently wrong), so criminal intent (dolo) or negligence (culpa) is essential unless the law specifically punishes the act regardless of intent.

Penalties are expressed in RPC penalties (reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prisión mayor, etc.), and the death penalty provisions are now inoperative due to RA 9346, which prohibits its imposition.

II. Crimes Involving Destruction of Life

1. Parricide (Art. 246)

Concept: Killing a person with whom the offender has a special relationship.

Victim must be:

A legitimate or illegitimate ascendant (e.g., parent, grandparent)
A legitimate or illegitimate descendant (e.g., child, grandchild)
The spouse

Elements (simplified):

A person is killed.
The killer is legally responsible.
The victim is related to the offender in one of the specified ways.
The killing is not justified, excused, or otherwise penalized under another more specific provision (e.g., death under exceptional circumstances).

Key notes:

Relationship is an essential element; it must be alleged and proved.
Adoptive relationships may be treated differently depending on law and jurisprudence, but generally, CODAL refers to legitimate/illegitimate ascendants/descendants and spouse.

2. Death or Physical Injuries Inflicted Under Exceptional Circumstances (Art. 247)

Concept: A privileged situation where a spouse, parent, or daughter’s parent kills or seriously injures another upon catching them in actual sexual intercourse with the offender’s spouse/daughter.

Requisites (classic formulation):

The offender is:
- A married person, or
- A parent with respect to a daughter under 18 and living with them.
The offender surprises the spouse/daughter in the act of sexual intercourse with another person.
The offender kills or inflicts serious physical injuries upon any or both of them.
The killing/injury happens immediately thereafter, in the heat of obfuscation.

Legal effect:

The offender is not entirely free from liability, but only destierro is imposed (banishment from a certain place).

3. Murder (Art. 248)

Concept: An unlawful killing with qualifying circumstances that elevate simple homicide to murder.

Core elements:

A person is killed.
The killing is not parricide or infanticide.
The act is not justified.
The killing is attended by at least one qualifying circumstance, such as:
- Treachery (alevosia)
- Evident premeditation
- Use of superior strength
- By means of fire, poison, explosion, inundation, etc.
- On occasion of or by reason of certain crimes (e.g., robbery, rape, etc.)
- Cruelty or outraging the person or corpse

Key points:

Qualifying circumstances must be specifically alleged in the Information and proven.
If not properly alleged but proven, they may only be considered as generic aggravating, not qualifying.

4. Homicide (Art. 249)

Concept: The unlawful killing of a person that does not amount to parricide, murder, or infanticide.

Elements:

A person is killed.
The killing is not justified or excused.
Intent to kill is present (in felonious acts).
The killing is not attended by qualifying circumstances of murder or by circumstances that bring it under another specific offense.

Notes:

If no qualifying circumstance is present, the default is typically homicide.
Intent to kill may be inferred from the weapon used, nature and location of wounds, and circumstances.

5. Infanticide (Art. 255)

Concept: Killing a child less than three days old, whether the killer is the mother, a parent, or a stranger.

Special treatment:

If the mother or maternal grandparents kill the child to conceal dishonor, the penalty is mitigated.
Distinct from parricide/homicide due to the age of the victim and, in some cases, the motivation of concealing dishonor.

6. Death Caused in a Tumultuous Affray (Art. 251)

Concept: Several persons, not forming organized groups for the purpose of attacking each other, quarrel and assault one another in a tumultuous affray, and someone is killed.

Elements:

There is a tumultuous affray (a confused and noisy fight involving multiple persons).
Participants are not organized groups with a pre-existing plan to attack the other side.
It is not possible to ascertain who caused the death.
The persons who inflicted serious physical injuries or took part in them are identified.

Liability:

Those who appear to have inflicted serious physical injuries or otherwise took part are punished with a lesser penalty than homicide.
If cannot be determined who inflicted serious injuries, but participants are identifiable, all such participants may incur a still lesser degree.

7. Physical Injuries Inflicted in a Tumultuous Affray (Art. 252)

Applies when no death ensues but serious or less serious physical injuries are inflicted in a tumultuous affray, and the responsible individuals cannot be singled out, only participants identified.

8. Giving Assistance to Suicide (Art. 253)

Concept: Assisting another to commit suicide.

Forms:

Merely assisting in the commission of suicide (e.g., providing the weapon).
Assisting AND actually doing the killing at the request of the person (euthanasia-like scenario).

Notes:

If the person attempts suicide but does not die, the one who gave assistance is still liable.
Suicide itself is not a crime under the RPC, but assistance is.

9. Discharge of Firearms (Art. 254)

Concept: Firing a gun at or near a person without intent to kill.

Key elements:

The offender discharges a firearm at or near a person.
No intent to kill exists.
No physical injuries result that would classify as homicide/murder.

If intent to kill is established, the crime can be attempted/ frustrated/ consummated homicide or murder instead.

10. Abortion Offenses (Arts. 256–259)

All under the theme of destruction of life of the unborn child:

a. Intentional Abortion (Art. 256)

Offender intentionally causes abortion by violence, drugs, or other means.
Victim: pregnant woman.

Types:

Without consent of the woman.
With consent.
As a result of violence but abortion not intended (distinguished from unintentional abortion).

b. Unintentional Abortion (Art. 257)

Offender uses violence upon a pregnant woman without intending abortion.
Abortion results as a consequence of the violence.

c. Abortion by the Woman Herself or by Her Parents (Art. 258)

A pregnant woman causes her own abortion or allows another to cause it.
Parents perform abortion to conceal dishonor.

d. Abortion by a Physician or Midwife; Dispensing of Abortives (Art. 259)

Physician or midwife who causes or assists in abortion.
Any person who dispenses abortive drugs without proper prescription and with knowledge of their purpose.

11. Duel-Related Offenses (Arts. 260–261)

Though rarely encountered today, still in the Code:

a. Responsibility of Participants in a Duel (Art. 260)

Punishes:

The killer in a duel.
One who inflicts physical injuries.
The seconds (assistants) under varying liability.

b. Challenging to a Duel (Art. 261)

Punishes:

One who challenges another to a duel.
One who incites another to give or accept a challenge.
One who carries or accepts such challenge.

III. Crimes Involving Physical Injuries and Bodily Harm

1. Mutilation (Art. 262)

Concept: Privation of an essential organ or loss of capacity to reproduce, or loss of any other part of the body.

Two forms:

Intentional mutilation to deprive the offended party of a reproductive organ (more severely punished).
Other forms of mutilation (e.g., cutting an ear, limb, finger).

2. Serious Physical Injuries (Art. 263)

Serious physical injuries are those that produce, for example:

Insanity, imbecility, impotence, or blindness.
Loss of speech, hearing, arm, leg, hand, foot, eye, or use thereof.
Incapacity for habitual work for a long period (often more than 90 days under traditional interpretations).
Deformity and other grave consequences.

Key ideas:

Classification depends on the resulting injury, not just the act.
Intent to injure is relevant; if intent to kill is proven, it may be homicide/murder (in attempted or frustrated stage).

3. Administering Injurious Substances or Beverages (Art. 264)

Concept: Administering to another any substance or beverage that is inherently injurious or in quantities that make it injurious, short of intent to kill.

If intent to kill is proven and death results, the crime becomes homicide/murder.
If the result is serious physical injury, this article applies.

4. Less Serious Physical Injuries (Art. 265)

Definition: Those that incapacitate the offended party for more than 10 days but not more than 30 days, or require medical attendance for the same period, or cause some deformity but not as grave as serious injuries (subject to updated jurisprudence).

Also includes: Injuries that do not qualify as serious but are more than slight.

5. Slight Physical Injuries and Maltreatment (Art. 266)

Includes:

Injuries incapacitating the victim for 1 to 9 days or requiring medical attendance for the same period.
Ill-treatment of another by deed without causing injury (e.g., slapping, pinching that doesn’t cause measurable injury).
Other trivial physical harms.

Often prosecuted in lower courts and may be subject to prescription in a relatively short period if not complained of promptly.

IV. Rape as a Crime Against Persons (Arts. 266-A to 266-D, as amended by RA 8353)

The Anti-Rape Law of 1997 reclassified rape from a crime against chastity to a crime against persons, recognizing the gravely personal nature of the offense.

1. Rape by Sexual Intercourse (Art. 266-A(1))

Committed by:

A man who has carnal knowledge of a woman under any of these circumstances:
1. Through force, threat, or intimidation.
2. When the offended party is deprived of reason or unconscious.
3. By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority.
4. When the offended party is under 12 years old or is demented (statutory rape, regardless of consent).

Key notes:

Marital rape is recognized; marriage is not a defense.
Use of force or intimidation may be inferred from the circumstances.

2. Rape by Sexual Assault (Art. 266-A(2))

Committed by:

Any person who, under the circumstances above, inserts his penis into another person’s mouth or anal orifice, or
Any instrument or object into the genital or anal orifice of another person.

This broadened rape to include acts that were previously classified differently (e.g., acts of lasciviousness).

3. Penalties (Art. 266-B)

Basic penalty: generally reclusión perpetua for simple rape.
Certain qualifying circumstances (e.g., victim is under a certain age, offender is a parent/guardian, use of deadly weapon, commission by two or more persons, resulting in homicide, etc.) may historically have provoked the death penalty, but due to RA 9346, the maximum now is reclusión perpetua without eligibility for parole in some cases.

4. Effect of Pardon (Art. 266-C)

Pardon by the offended party does not extinguish the criminal action, except when the legal spouse is the offender (under the codal text, but always check jurisprudence).
Pardon must be prior to the institution of the criminal action.

5. Presumptions (Art. 266-D)

Establishes certain presumptions, such as:

Relationship between the parties that may affect the penalty.
The age of the victim based on public documents or credible evidence.
Other procedural presumptions to facilitate prosecution.

V. General Doctrinal Themes and Practical Points

1. Stages of Execution

These crimes (being mostly mala in se) follow the familiar stages:

Attempted – Offender begins the commission by overt acts but does not perform all acts of execution.
Frustrated – Offender performs all acts which would produce the felony but it does not result due to causes independent of his will.
Consummated – All elements of the offense are present.

Exception: Some offenses like slight physical injuries, certain forms of abortion, and others may not meaningfully admit of attempted or frustrated stages as recognized in jurisprudence.

2. Justifying and Exempting Circumstances

Even if all elements of a crime against persons are present, no criminal liability follows if there is a justifying circumstance, such as:

Self-defense
Defense of relative
Defense of stranger
Fulfillment of duty or lawful exercise of right or office

Or if there is an exempting circumstance (e.g., insanity, minority below a certain age under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, etc.).

These do not erase the existence of the act, but remove or reduce criminal liability.

3. Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

Crimes against persons are sensitive to aggravating circumstances that can increase the penalty, such as:

Treachery
Abuse of superior strength
Dwelling (if crime committed in victim’s residence)
Nighttime, uninhabited place
Use of motor vehicle
Abuse of public position

Mitigating circumstances like passion or obfuscation or voluntary surrender may decrease penalties.

4. Civil Liability

Every crime against persons generally entails civil liability, which includes:

Civil indemnity for death or injuries.
Moral and exemplary damages.
Actual or temperate damages for loss of income, medical expenses, funeral expenses, etc.

The offender’s conviction usually carries with it an order to pay civil damages, though civil liability may be pursued separately.

5. Concurrence with Special Laws

Many situations involving harm to persons may also fall under special laws, such as:

Violence Against Women and Their Children (VAWC)
Anti-Child Abuse Law
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act (e.g., administering drugs leading to injuries or death)

In such cases, special laws may prevail or provide additional or alternative liability, depending on the lex specialis principle and specific legislative intent.

VI. Summary Checklist of Crimes Against Persons (RPC, Title Eight)

For quick reference, the main crimes against persons under the RPC include:

Parricide
Death or physical injuries under exceptional circumstances
Murder
Homicide
Infanticide
Death caused in a tumultuous affray
Physical injuries in a tumultuous affray
Giving assistance to suicide
Discharge of firearms
Intentional abortion
Unintentional abortion
Abortion by the woman herself or by her parents
Abortion by a physician or midwife; dispensing abortives
Responsibility of participants in a duel
Challenging to a duel
Mutilation
Serious physical injuries
Administering injurious substances or beverages
Less serious physical injuries
Slight physical injuries and maltreatment
Rape by sexual intercourse
Rape by sexual assault, with related provisions on penalties, pardon, and presumptions

If you’d like, I can next:

Turn this into a bar-exam-style reviewer outline, or
Make short case-type hypotheticals for each crime so you can test your understanding.