Voluntary surrender

Voluntary surrender "Just recently, I committed a crime against my neighbor. Ever since that happened, my conscience had not stopped bothering me. So, I’ve decided to just face the consequences of my act and lived a new life after that. I’ve heard that the relatives of my neighbor were taking steps in filing a formal charge against me.Can I go to the police and surrender myself? I don’t want them to go to our house and arrest me. Can I have a lawyer from the PAO? I hope you can help me. BrunoDear Bruno, You can surrender to the police even if no formal charge has been made against you. This will constitute voluntary surrender which is one of the circumstances that mitigate criminal liability (Article 13, Revised Penal Code). The following elements should be present before voluntary surrender can be considered as a mitigating circumstance:1. The offender has not been actually arrested whether or not a warrant of arrest has been issued 2. He surrendered himself to the person in authority and3. The surrender must be voluntary, i.e., spontaneous and not forced by circumstances. There must be an intent to submit oneself to the authorities, either because he wishes to save them from the trouble and expense necessarily incurred in his search or capture or to show remorse on his part (Boado, Notes and Cases on the Revised Penal Code, second edition, pages 93-94) If you surrender to the police or other persons in authority before a warrant of arrest has been served against you, the penalty prescribed by law to the crime you committed will be lowered to the minimum period. Mitigating circumstances, like voluntary surrender, show lesser perversity of the offender and have the effect of lowering the penalty imposable generally to the minimum period of the penalty prescribed by law (ibid, page 86)The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) can provide free legal services to those who pass the indigency and merit tests, as mandated by Republic Act 9406 (PAO Law) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.Aside from the indigency test, the Public Attorney’s Office shall handle cases only if the same pass the merit test. In criminal cases, the accused enjoys the presumption of innocence until the contrary is proven hence, cases of defendants in criminal actions are considered meritorious.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao and send to 2299)" - https://www.affordablecebu.com/