● Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment. He shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the Members of the Congress. (Sec. 19, Art. VII, 1987 Constitution)

 ● How Criminal Liability is Totally Extinguished. — Criminal liability is totally extinguished:
 x x x
3. By amnesty, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects. (Par. 3, Art. 89, Revised Penal Code)

 What is amnesty?

An amnesty is an act of grace by the Chief Executive, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws and concurred by the legislature, usually extended to groups of persons who committed political offenses, and which puts into oblivion the offense itself. (Nachura (2006) Outline Reviewer in Political Law. VJ Graphic Arts, Inc; p. 283)


Amnesty commonly denotes a general pardon to rebels for their treason or other high political offenses, or the forgiveness which one sovereign grants to the subjects of another, who have offended, by some breach, the law of nations. (People vs. Patriarca, Jr. G.R. No. 135457, September 29, 2000)


Requisites:

1. Concurrence of a majority of all the members of Congress (Section 19)
2. There must be a previous admission of guilt. (Vera v. People)


What is the effect of the grant of amnesty to the accused?

Amnesty looks backward, and abolishes and puts into oblivion, the offense itself; it so overlooks and obliterates the offense with which he is charged, that the person released by amnesty stands before the law precisely as though he had committed no offense. 

Paragraph 3 of Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code provides that criminal liability is totally extinguished by amnesty, which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects. (People vs. Patriarca)

[Judgment of conviction was reversed and accused was acquitted of the crime of murder. The other two pending cases of murder were dismissed.] 



Should persons invoking the benefit of amnesty first admit having committed the crime of which they were accused?

To avail of the benefits of an amnesty proclamation, one must admit his guilt of the offense covered by the proclamation. 

It is rank inconsistency for appellant to justify an act, or seek forgiveness for an act which, according to him, he has not committed. Amnesty presupposes the commission of a crime, and when an accused maintains that he has not committed a crime, he cannot have any use for amnesty. Where an amnesty proclamation imposes certain conditions, as in this case, it is incumbent upon the accused to prove the existence of such conditions. The invocation of amnesty is in the nature of a plea of confession and avoidance, which means that the pleader admits the allegations against him but disclaims liability therefor on account of intervening facts which, if proved, would being the crime charged within the scope of the amnesty proclamation. (Gaudencio Vera vs. People, G.R. No. L-18184, January 31, 1963)



Amnesty is distinguished from Pardon as follows:

 Pardon is granted by the Chief Executive and as such it is a private act which must be pleaded and proved by the person pardoned, because the courts take no notice thereof; while amnesty by Proclamation of the Chief Executive with the concurrence of Congress, is a public act of which the courts should take judicial notice. Pardon is granted to one after conviction; while amnesty is granted to classes of persons or communities who may be guilty of political offenses, generally before or after the institution of the criminal prosecution and sometimes after conviction. Pardon looks forward and relieves the offender from the consequences of an offense of which he has been convicted, that is, it abolishes or forgives the punishment, and for that reason it does 'not work the restoration of the rights to hold public office, or the right of suffrage, unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of the pardon,' and it 'in no case exempts the culprit from the payment of the civil indemnity imposed upon him by the sentence' (Article 36, Revised Penal Code). While amnesty looks backward and abolishes and puts into oblivion the offense itself, it so overlooks and obliterates the offense with which he is charged that the person released by amnesty stands before the law precisely as though he had committed no offense. (People vs. Patriarca citing People vs. Casido)
AMNESTYPARDON
Addressed to political offensesInfractions against the peace of the state
Classes of personsIndividuals
No need for distinct acts of acceptanceAcceptance necessary
Requires concurrence of CongressDoes not require Congressional concurrence
A public act of which the courts may take judicial noticePrivate act which must be pleaded and provided
Looks backward and puts into oblivion the offense itselfLooks forward and relieves the pardonee of the consequences of the offense