GERONIMO, ANDRAE NICOLO, FERRER
PIRACY IN GENERAL, AND MUTINY ON THE HIGH SEAS OR PHILIPPINE WATERS
PEOPLE V. TULIN
August 30,2001 G.R. No. 111709 MELO, J
Syllabus Question & Answer
Distinguish Piracy under the Revised Penal Code and under P.D. 532?
Piracy under RPC Piracy Under P.D. 532
Attacking Vessel, seizing any Yes Yes
properties
Violenace or intimidation No Yes
force, upon things
Place of commission Outsider Outsider, passenger, or crew
Qualifying CircuMstance Philippine waters, and high Philippine waters
seas
Offender 3 circumstances Same plus commission of
other crimes
* Found in Camapinlla 2020, pp16
Relevant RPC Provisions, Concepts, & Doctrines
● Article 122, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659 (January 1, 1994), reads:
RPC 122. Piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas or in Philippine
waters. — The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be inflicted upon any
person who, on the high seas, or in Philippine waters, shall attack or
seize a vessel or, not being a member of its complement nor a passenger,
shall seize the whole or part of the cargo of said vessel, its equipment, or
personal belongings of its complement or passengers.
● Section 2 of Presidential Decree No. 532 provides:
Piracy. — Any attack upon or seizure of any vessel or the taking away of the
whole or part thereof or its cargo, equipment, or the personal belongings of
its complement or passengers, irrespective of the value thereof, by means of
violence against or intimidation of persons or force upon things, committed
by any person, including a passenger or member of the complement of said
vessel in Philippine waters, shall be considered as piracy. The offenders
shall be considered as pirates and punished as hereinafter provided.
ISSUE/S:
Do Philippine Courts have jurisdiction over Crimes of Piracy under Art 122 of the RPC?(Yes)
FACTS OF THE CASE
The accused were initially charged with qualified piracy after seizing M/T Tabangao in Batangas
where the officers and crew were forced to sail to Singapore and transfer its loaded petroleum
products to another Vessel Navi Pride off the coast of Singapore.
Hiong, one of the accused, is now claiming a defense that Philippine Court have no Jurisdiction
over him since the crime was committed outside Philippine waters and Philippine territory. He
further claims that he was merely following the orders of his superiors to buy bunker fuel. But in
reality, it was disclosed that Hiong connived, through falsifcation of documents, to prevent the
Singapore ports authority to detect the sale, the amount of the sale was less than one-half of the
amount of the cargo transferred, that there was no evidence of the sale, with receipts not issued
and the sale was made 66 nautical miles away in the dead of the night.
RULING
Yes, Philippine courts have jurisdiction regarding crimes of Piracy due to Piracy being an
exception to the principle of territoriality in criminal law.
The court stated that attack on and seizure of the ship(M/T Tabangao) and its cargo were
committed in Philippine waters(Batangas), it was only later that the captive vessel was brought
by the pirates to Singapore where its cargo was off-loaded, transferred, and sold. And such
transfer was done under Hiong's direct supervision.
PD 532 requires that the attack and seizure of the vessel and its cargo be committed in
Philippine waters. However, the acts of disposing the cargo, equipment, or the personal
belongings of passenger of the ship, is still considered an act of Piracy that may fall under Art.
122 of the RPC.
Acts of Piracy that falls under Article 122, Title One of Book Two of the Revised Penal Code. As
such, it is an exception to the rule on territoriality in criminal law.
In this case, the act of Hiong in facilitating the off-loading, transferr, and selling the cargo
of the seized ship in Singapore made Hiong criminally liable for a crime of Piracy under
Art. 122 of the RPC, thus Philippine courts have jurisdiction over his crime.
Therefore, Philippine Courts have jurisdiction regarding crimes of Piracy committed in
international waters due to Piracy falling under the exception of the Territoriality Principle.
