2. Territoriality

GENERAL RULE

Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations. (Art. 14, NCC)

RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (Art. V, VFA)

US military authorities shall have the right to exercise within the PH all criminal and disciplinary jurisdiction conferred on them by the military law of the US over US personnel in the PH.

US authorities exercise exclusive jurisdiction over US personnel with respect to offenses, including offenses relating to the security of the US (treason, sabotage, espionage or violation of any law relating to national defense) punishable under the laws of the US, but not under the laws of the PH.

In cases where the right to exercise jurisdiction is concurrent, US military authorities shall have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over US personnel subject to the military law of the US in relation to: (1) offenses solely against the property or security of the US or offenses solely against the property or person of US personnel; and (2) offenses arising out of any act or omission done in performance of official duty.

Can treason committed in a foreign country be prosecuted in the Philippines?

Yes. Treason committed in a foreign country may be prosecuted in the Philippines. (Art. 2, RPC)

GENERAL RULE

The law is applicable to all crimes committed within the limits of the Philippine territory, which includes its atmosphere, interior waters and maritime zone. (Art. 2, RPC)

Place of commission of crime

• Filipino citizen: crimes committed abroad are punishable under Philippine law only when Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code or another applicable law provides for extraterritorial jurisdiction. He owes permanent allegiance which consists in the obligation of fidelity and obedience which a citizen or subject owes to his government or sovereign;
• Alien: may also be subject to Philippine penal law for conduct abroad when an extraterritorial ground under Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code or another applicable law applies. An alien owes only temporary allegiance to the country where he resides. Temporary allegiance is the obligation of fidelity and obedience which a resident alien owes to the Philippine Government.

Philippine Territory

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines. (Art. I, 1987 Constitution)

Crimes Committed Within Embassies

Embassy premises do not become the territory of the foreign State merely because that State possesses or owns them. The territorial sovereign’s law determines whether an act committed there is lawful. An attaché who commits an offense inside an embassy is exempt from prosecution because of personal immunity, not because local law does not apply. A person without that immunity, or whose immunity has been waived, may be prosecuted if the territorial sovereign obtains custody. (Reagan vs. CIR, G.R. No. L-25379)

Philippine jurisdiction over embassy premises remains subject to the inviolability of diplomatic premises, a generally accepted principle of international law. An arrest warrant cannot be served inside the US embassy unless the US government waives that protection. (Campanilla, Criminal Law Reviewer Volume I)

Exception to territoriality: Subject to treaties and laws of preferential application, Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code also applies outside Philippine jurisdiction to a person who:

• commits an offense on a Philippine ship or airship;
• forges or counterfeits Philippine coins or currency notes, or obligations or securities issued by the Philippine Government;
• commits acts connected with introducing those obligations or securities into the Philippines;
• as a public officer or employee, commits an offense in the exercise of official functions; or
• commits a crime against national security or the law of nations under Title One, Book Two of the Code.

a. Those who should commit an offense while on a Philippine Ship or airship;

REQUISITES:

• The PH ship or airship must be duly registered under PH laws; and
• If the ship or airship is within the territorial jurisdiction of another country, that country may also exercise jurisdiction; its location does not automatically exclude Philippine jurisdiction under Article 2(1) of the Revised Penal Code, subject to applicable international law.

FOREIGN MERCHANT VESSEL

The French/English Rules refer to the jurisdiction over merchant vessels of one country located in another country.

The Philippines observes the English Rule.

French Rule vs. English Rule

When a Philippine merchant ship is in high seas, it in effect is an extension of Philippine territory because the crime shall be subject to Philippine courts as the high seas is not within the jurisdiction of any country. (Boado, Compact Reviewer in Criminal Law)

JURISDICTION

The Regional Trial Court shall have jurisdiction over any violation of the provisions of this Act. including any violation committed by a Filipino national regardless of the place of commission.

Jurisdiction shall lie if any of the elements was committed within the Philippines or committed with the use of any computer system wholly or partly situated in the country, or when by such commission any damage is caused to a natural or juridical person who, at the time the offense was committed, was in the Philippines. (Sec. 21).

FOREIGN WARSHIPS

The nationality of the warship determines the applicable penal laws to crimes committed therein.

A foreign warship remains entitled to applicable sovereign immunity, but it does not become the flag state's territory merely because it is docked in the Philippines. (UNCLOS, Art. 32; customary international law on warship immunity)

b. Those who should forge or Counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;

Criminal laws shall be enforced outside the jurisdiction of Philippines against persons who should forge or counterfeit Philippine coin or currency note (money) or obligations and securities (e.g., Treasury bill) or who should introduce (import) forged currency note or securities and obligations into the Philippines. (Campanilla, Criminal Law Reviewer Volume I)

If the forgery was perpetrated abroad, the object of the crime must be a coin, currency note, or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippines. (Boado, Compact Reviewer)

Forgery of US dollars committed outside the territory of the Philippines cannot be prosecuted in the Philippines because the principle of extraterritoriality is only applicable to forgery of Philippine peso. (Campanilla, Criminal Law Reviewer Volume I)

c. Those who should be liable for acts connected with the Introduction into these islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding number;

Those who introduced the counterfeit items are criminally liable even if they were not the ones who counterfeited said items. (Reyes, Book I)

EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION

Penal laws are not applicable within or without Philippine territory if so provided in treaties and laws of preferential application.

When crime committed

The crime is committed only in times of peace in the Philippines, but there is war between/among other states.

Persons liable:

• Filipino citizen; and
• Alien residing in the Philippines

Philippine waters

All bodies of water and all waters belonging to the Philippines by historic or legal title, including the territorial sea, the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. (Sec. 2, P.D. No. 532)

High seas

Parts of the sea that are not included in the exclusive economic zone, in the territorial seas, or in the internal waters of a state, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic state. (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)

Extent of commission of Murder, Rape, Homicide, Injuries

The murder/rape/homicide/physical injuries must have been committed on the passengers or on the complement of the vessel