1. Concept
| Article 238. Any public officer who, before the acceptance of his resignation, shall abandon his office to the detriment of the public service shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor. |
| If such office shall have been abandoned in order to evade the discharge of the duties of preventing, prosecuting or punishing any of the crime falling within Title One, and Chapter One of Title Three of Book Two of this Code, the offender shall be punished by prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, and by arresto mayor if the purpose of such abandonment is to evade the duty of preventing, prosecuting or punishing any other crime. (Act No. 3815, Revised Penal Code) |
a. Public officer
“Public officer” –refers to any person who, by direct provision of the law, popular election or appointment by competent authority, shall take part in the performance of public functions in the Government of the Philippine Islands, of shall perform in said Government or in any of its branches public duties as an employee, agent or subordinate official, of any rank or class, for purposes of Titles 1 to 6, Book 2 of the Revised Penal Code. (Article 203, Act No. 3815, Revised Penal Code)
2. Mode of commission
Elements of the offense:
1) The offender is a public officer; and
2) Before the acceptance of his resignation, he abandons his office to the detriment of the public service .
References
⦁ Title 7 – Crimes Committed by Public Officers, Book 2, Revised Penal Code
/Updated: December 30, 2022
