They got into the house through a window — does entering that way change the robbery charge?

The manner of entry is an element, not background

Art. 299 governs robbery in an inhabited house, a public building, or an edifice devoted to religious worship, and it does not apply to every robbery committed in such a place. It applies where the robbery was carried out in one of the ways the article lists. The first branch concerns how the offenders got in: the malefactors shall enter the house or building in which the robbery was committed, by any of the following means: 1. Through an opening not intended for entrance or egress. 2. By breaking any wall, roof, or floor or breaking any door or window. A window is squarely within that.

An unbroken window still counts

This is the part that surprises people whose window was found undamaged. The first listed means does not require anything to be broken at all. It is enough that entry was made through an opening not intended for entrance or egress — a window left ajar, a vent, a gap in the roof, a space under a raised floor. What the clause is describing is the use of a way in that was never meant to be a way in. So the absence of forced entry is not the answer to this article; it may only move the case from the second listed means to the first.

Other things in the article move the penalty too

Entry is not the only variable. The article also grades the penalty according to whether the offenders were armed and according to the value of what was taken, with different combinations attracting different penalties. Those value thresholds, and the peso figures that go with them throughout the Code, were revised by later legislation, so amounts printed in an older copy are not the current ones and should not be used to work out what is at stake. The classification also depends on the character of the place — an inhabited house is treated differently from an uninhabited or purely private building.

What settles it is physical, and it fades

Cases under this article are usually decided on evidence about the point of entry: tool marks, glass, disturbed screens or grilles, prints, and photographs of the opening as it was found. Camera footage from the property or from neighbours often fixes the route taken and is frequently overwritten within days. If you are the complainant, ask that the scene be documented before anything is cleaned or repaired. If you are the one accused, that same material is what any account you give will be measured against.

Related provisions

• Revised Penal Code, Article 299 — Robbery In An Inhabited House
• Revised Penal Code, Article 302 — Robbery In Uninhabited Or Private Building