C. Malum In Se and Malum Prohibitum

Plunder is mala in se

The legislative declaration in R.A. No. 7659 that plunder is a heinous offense implies that it is a malum in se. For when the acts punished are inherently immoral or inherently wrong, they are mala in se and it does not matter that such acts are punished in a special law, especially since in the case of plunder the predicate crimes are mainly mala in se. (Estrada v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 148530, 2001)