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Article 9. Grave felonies, less grave felonies, and light felonies. - Grave felonies are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which, in any of their periods, are afflictive, in accordance with Article 25 of this Code.

Less grave felonies are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum period, are correctional, in accordance with the above-mentioned article.

Light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of arresto menor or a fine not exceeding forty thousand pesos (P40,000) or both is provided."


Importance of Classification
1. To determine whether the felonies can be complex or not.
2. To determine the prescription of the crime and of the penalty.

Penalties (imprisonment):
1. Grave felonies – afflictive penalties: 6 yrs. and 1 day to reclusion perpetua (life)
2. Less grave felonies – correctional penalties: 1 month and 1 day to 6 years
3. Light felonies - arresto menor (1 day to 30 days)

As to the liability of the participants in a grave, less grave or light felony:
1. When the felony is grave, or less grave, all participants are criminally liable.
2. But where the felony is only light, only the principal and the accomplice are liable. The accessory is not.

Therefore, it is only when the light felony is against persons or property that criminal liability attaches to the principal or accomplice, even though the felony is only attempted or frustrated, but accessories are not liable for light felonies.

Introduction
In Philippine criminal law, the concept of “prescription of offenses” refers to the lapse of a statutory period after which the State can no longer prosecute a crime. For light felonies, both the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and the relevant procedural rules set forth how and when these offenses prescribe. This article focuses on the prescription period for light felonies within the context of the Revised Rules on Summary Procedure in the Philippines.

Definition of Light Felonies
Under Article 9 of the Revised Penal Code, light felonies are those infractions punishable by:

Arresto menor (which ranges from 1 day to 30 days),
A fine not exceeding the minimum amount stated by law (originally not more than 200 pesos under the old RPC text, though monetary thresholds can be subject to legislative or jurisprudential adjustments),
Or both.
Examples of light felonies under the RPC include (but are not limited to) slight physical injuries, malicious mischief involving small amounts, theft of small value, and other offenses whose principal penalty does not exceed arresto menor.