Illegal Assemblies and Illegal Association

Category: Book 2- Crimes and Penalties

Illegal Assemblies

A. Assembly means a meeting or gathering or group of persons, whether in a fixed place or moving, as a meting inside  a bus. There are two kinds of illegal assembly:

A meeting where the purpose is to commit any felony and attended by armed men. If there are no armed persons, there is no illegal assembly  



A meeting where the audience are incited to commit treason, rebellion, sedition or assault upon persons in authority or their agents. It is not necessary that there are armed persons.



B. In both the persons liable are the (1). Leaders or organizers and (2) the persons present in attendance. If a person present is with an unlicensed firearm, it will be presumed as to him that the purpose of the meeting is commit a felony and he will be deemed the leader.



C.  If the meeting is to commit an act punished by special law, such as drug pushing or to engage in gun running, there is no illegal assembly even if all participants are armed.



D. If the assembly is in the public places defined by BP. 885, what will apply may be The Public Assembly Act

Illegal Association

A. Concept: those associations organized for the purpose of committing any felony or for some purpose contrary to public morals. These include the criminal gangs as the Kidnap for Ransom Gangs, Bahala Na Gang; Siguesigue Commandos.



B. What is punished is the act of forming said association and becoming a member thereof. The persons liable are the founders, organizers, and members.

Be it noted that R.A 1700 which outlawed the Communist Party of the Philippines and declared it an illegal association has been repealed. Hence membership therein is not punished.



C. The association is still illegal even if it is duly registered with the SEC as what matters is not the stated purposes in its registration papers but the actual and hidden purposes.