Statute
Revised Penal Code
Article
Art. 248
Topic
Statutory provision
Status
In force, as amended
Year
1930
Cited by
A Supreme Court decision

The provision

Art. 248. Murder. — Any person who, not falling within the provisions of Article 246 shall kill another, shall be guilty of murder and shall be punished by reclusion perpetua, to death if committed with any of the following attendant circumstances:

1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of armed men, or employing means to weaken the defense or of means or persons to insure or afford impunity.

2. In consideration of a price, reward or promise.

3. By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, shipwreck, stranding of a vessel, derailment or assault upon a railroad, fall of an airship, or by means of motor vehicles, or with the use of any other means involving great waste and ruin.

4. On occasion of any of the calamities enumerated in the preceding paragraph, or of an earthquake, eruption of a volcano, destructive cyclone, epidemic or other public calamity.

5. With evident premeditation.

6. With cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim, or outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse.

Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms

Defines murder as unlawfully killing another (outside the parricide rules) when a qualifying circumstance is present, such as treachery, evident premeditation, cruelty, killing for a price or reward, or using fire, poison, explosion, or other calamitous means. Its stated penalty ranges from reclusion perpetua to death.

An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.

As amended: the death penalty was abolished by RA 9346 (2006); where a provision would impose death, the maximum penalty is now reclusion perpetua.

Cases applying this article

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Reviewed by the Intellegal Legal Team for currency against amending laws and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Research aid — not legal advice. Verify the current text against the Official Gazette. Provisions may have been amended or repealed. Using this page creates no attorney-client relationship. For legal advice, consult a Philippine lawyer.