Short answer. Under Article 53 of the Revised Penal Code, an accessory to a consummated felony receives the penalty two degrees lower than the penalty prescribed by law for the completed crime. The principal receives the full penalty; the accessory — who participates only after the fact — receives a substantially lighter one.
What the law says
The penalty lower by two degrees than that prescribed by law for the consummated felony shall be imposed upon the accessories to the commission of a consummated felony.
Revised Penal Code, Article 53 — Accessories To A Consummated Felony. Read the full provision →
How the two-degree rule works
Article 53 of the Revised Penal Code prescribes a fixed offset: an accessory always receives the penalty two degrees lower than what the law provides for the consummated offense. The penalty scale of the Revised Penal Code is an ordered ladder — reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prisión mayor, prisión correccional, and so on downward. Dropping two degrees from the prescribed penalty for the consummated offense gives the accessory's starting range. The court then applies the Indeterminate Sentence Law to fix the actual prison term within that range.
Why accessories are penalized less than principals
The Revised Penal Code distinguishes three levels of participation: principals, accomplices, and accessories. Principals are those who directly carry out the crime, induce others to commit it, or cooperate in its execution in an indispensable way. Accomplices cooperate but without being indispensable. Accessories come in only after the crime is done — they profit from the crime, help conceal it, or assist the principal offenders in escaping. Because accessories act after the fact and did not contribute to the crime's execution, they receive the lightest penalty of the three: two degrees below the consummated offense, compared to one degree below for accomplices.
Practical illustration using reclusion temporal
To see how the rule operates, consider a felony punishable by reclusion temporal (twelve years and one day to twenty years). An accomplice would receive the penalty one degree lower — prisión mayor (six years and one day to twelve years). An accessory would receive the penalty two degrees lower — prisión correccional (six months and one day to six years). The further down the ladder the crime's base penalty falls, the more the two-degree reduction compresses the resulting accessory penalty, sometimes into the range of arresto mayor or even arresto menor.
Exceptions and special rules
Certain accessories are expressly exempted from criminal liability altogether: close relatives of the principal who conceal or assist in escape to shield that relative, unless the accessory profited from the crime, generally fall within this exemption. The Revised Penal Code also contains special provisions for particular crimes that modify how accessories are treated. Article 53 sets the general rule; those special provisions control when they apply. When no special rule applies, Article 53's two-degree reduction is the governing formula for any accessory to a consummated felony.