Elements of insanity as an exempting circumstance

Dear PAO,

My brother was attacked by his neighbor and could have died without timely medical intervention. A criminal case was filed, and the relatives of the accused claimed that he was insane. They presented a psychological evaluation conducted five months after the hacking incident. Allegedly, the defense of insanity would surely result in the dismissal of the case. Is the evaluation report sufficient to absolve the accused from the crime charged?

Olga

Dear Olga,

Insanity is one of the exempting circumstances under Article 12 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, as amended. The said provision of the law provides:

«The following are exempt from criminal liability

»1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid interval. xxx"

Insanity has been defined as «a manifestation in language or conduct of disease or defect of the brain, or a more or less permanently diseased or disordered condition of the mentality, functional or organic, and characterized by perversion, inhibition, or disordered function of the sensory or of the intellective faculties, or by impaired or disordered volition» (People of the Philippines v. Ambal, GR L-52688, Oct. 17, 1980, Ponente: Associate Justice Ramon Aquino).

The said defense may prosper if certain requirements are met. These requirements were enumerated in the case of People of the Philippines v. Paña, GR 214444, Nov. 17, 2020, where the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Marvic M.V. F. Leonen, stated:

«Considering the foregoing, we clarify the guidelines laid down in Formigones. Under this test, the insanity defense may prosper if: (1) the accused was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his or her acts; (2) the inability occurred at the time of the commission of the crime; and (3) it must be as a result of a mental illness or disorder.

»We now use a three-way test: first, insanity must be present at the time of the commission of the crime; second, insanity, which is the primary cause of the criminal act, must be medically proven; and third, the effect of the insanity is the inability to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness