Authority, effectivity, and effect on penalties
- Republic Act No. 10951 becomes effective through the usual legislative mechanism of publication, which governs when the amended Revised Penal Code provisions take effect.
- The Act operates by direct amendments to the Revised Penal Code’s operative provisions, changing the monetary limits used to classify offenses and the amounts of fines imposed in particular crimes.
- The Act expressly amends multiple Articles of the Revised Penal Code, including Article 9, Article 26, Article 114, Article 115, and others listed in the law.
Policy and legislative intent
- The Act adjusts the amount or the value of property and damage on which a penalty is based and adjusts fines imposed under the Revised Penal Code.
Core classifications: grave, correctional, light; fines
- Article 9 of the Revised Penal Code defines grave felonies, less grave felonies, and light felonies for purposes of penalty classification.
- Light felonies are those infractions for which the penalty is arresto menor, or a fine not exceeding PHP 40,000, or both (Article 9).
- A fine is classified as afflictive if it exceeds PHP 1,200,000, correctional if it does not exceed PHP 1,200,000 but is not less than PHP 40,000, and light if it is less than PHP 40,000 (Article 26).
- The classification applies whether the fine is imposed as a single or alternative penalty (Article 26).
Treason, conspiracy/proposal, and search abuse
- Any Filipino citizen who levies war against the Philippines or adheres to her enemies, giving them aid or comfort, within the Philippines or elsewhere, is punished by reclusion perpetua to death and must pay a fine not to exceed PHP 4,000,000 (Article 114).
- No person is convicted of treason unless there is testimony of at least two (2) witnesses to the same over act, or a confession in open court (Article 114).
- A resident alien who commits acts of treason defined in Article 114 is punished by reclusion temporal to death and pays a fine not to exceed PHP 4,000,000 (Article 114).
- The conspiracy or proposal to commit treason is punished by:
- prision mayor and a fine not exceeding PHP 2,000,000 for conspiracy; and
- prision correccional and a fine not exceeding PHP 1,000,000 for proposal (Article 115).
- A public officer who procures a search warrant without just cause, or who, having legally procured it, exceeds authority or uses unnecessary severity in executing it is punished with arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000, in addition to liability for any other offense (Article 129).
Coup, rebellion, sedition, and illegal associations
- Conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’état are punished by prision mayor in its minimum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 1,000,000 (Article 136).
- Conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion or insurrection are punished respectively by:
- prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 1,000,000 for conspiracy; and
- prision correccional in its medium period and a fine not exceeding PHP 400,000 for proposal (Article 136).
- The leader of a sedition suffers prision mayor in its minimum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 2,000,000 (Article 140).
- Other persons participating in a sedition suffer prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 1,000,000 (Article 140).
- Persons conspiring to commit sedition are punished by prision correccional in its medium period and a fine not exceeding PHP 400,000 (Article 141).
- Inciting to sedition is punished by prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 400,000 when a person incites without direct participation through speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, cartoons, banners, representations, or seditious words, and through conduct including publication or circulation of scurrilous libels and knowingly concealing such evil practices (Article 142).
- Preventing the meeting of Congress or similar bodies by force or fraud is punished by prision correccional or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 400,000, or both (Article 143).
- Disturbing the proceedings of Congress or similar bodies is punished by arresto mayor or a fine from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both (Article 144).
- Founders, directors, and presidents of illegal associations are punished by prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000; mere members are punished by arresto mayor (Article 147).
Assaults, disobedience, tumults, and publication offenses
- Direct assaults against persons in authority (without public uprising) committed by employing force or intimidation for rebellion/sedition purposes, or by attacking/resisting/resorting to force or serious intimidation against persons in authority while in performance of official duties, are punished with prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 when committed with a weapon or when the offender lays hand upon the person in authority (Article 148).
- When the circumstances in Article 148 are absent, the penalty is prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 148).
- Indirect assaults using force or intimidation against any person coming to the aid of the authorities or agents on the occasion of crimes under Article 148 are punished by prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 149).
- Refusal to obey lawful summons of Congress and its committees/subcommittees, Constitutional Commissions and their committees/subcommittees/divisions, or authorized officials is punished by arresto mayor or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both (Article 150).
- Resistance or serious disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person is punished by arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000; if disobedience is not serious, the penalty is arresto menor or a fine ranging from PHP 2,000 to PHP 20,000, or both (Article 151).
- Causing serious disturbance in public places, offices, or establishments, or interrupting or disturbing public performances, functions, or peaceful meetings (when not covered by Articles 131 and 132) is punished by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 (Article 153).
- Tumultuous disturbance is deemed tumultuous when caused by more than three (3) persons armed or provided with means of violence, and a penalty next higher in degree applies (Article 153).
- Making outcry tending to incite rebellion or sedition, or displaying placards or emblems provoking disturbance of public order in meetings/associations/public places, is punished by arresto mayor (Article 153).
- Selling, printing, distributing, publishing, or uttering prohibited forms of false or unlawful publication is punished by arresto mayor and a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000 for the enumerated acts in Article 154 (including false news endangering public order, encouraging disobedience, publishing official documents without proper authority or before official publication, and printing/publishing/distributing material without the real printer’s name or classified as anonymous) (Article 154).
- Discharging firearms/rocket/firecracker/explosives calculated to cause alarm or danger; participating in charivaris or disorderly meetings offensive to another or prejudicial to public tranquility; disturbing public peace while wandering at night or in nocturnal amusements; and causing disturbance/scandal while intoxicated are punished by arresto menor or a fine not exceeding PHP 40,000, with the proviso that it does not make Article 153 applicable (Article 155).
Coin, treasury/bank notes, and falsified documents
- Making, importing, or uttering false coins in connivance with counterfeiters/importers is punished by:
- prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not to exceed PHP 400,000 if the counterfeited coins are coinage of the Philippines; and
- prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 200,000 if the counterfeited coin is foreign currency (Article 163).
- Mutilating coins of legal currency of the Philippines, or importing or uttering mutilated current coins, or doing so in connivance with mutilators/importers is punished by prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 400,000 (Article 164).
- Forging or falsifying treasury or bank notes/certificates/obligations and importing and uttering such false or forged documents in connivance with forgers/importers is punished by the graduated penalties in Article 166, including:
- reclusion temporal in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 2,000,000 when falsified/counterfeited/altered documents are obligations or securities of the Philippines;
- prision mayor and a fine not to exceed PHP 1,000,000 when the falsified/altered document is a circulating note issued by a banking association authorized by law;
- prision mayor in its medium period and a fine not to exceed PHP 1,000,000 when issued by a foreign government; and
- prision mayor in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 400,000 when the forged/altered document is a circulating note or bill issued by a foreign bank authorized therefor (Article 166).
- Forging, importing, or uttering instruments payable to order or other credit documents not payable to bearer in connivance with forgers/importers is punished by prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods and a fine not exceeding PHP 1,200,000 (Article 167).
- Altering without proper authority any bill, resolution, or ordinance enacted or approved, or pending approval, by either House of Congress or any provincial board or municipal council is punished by prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding PHP 1,200,000 (Article 170).
- Public officers, employees, or notaries who falsify documents by enumerated acts are punished by prision mayor and a fine not to exceed PHP 1,000,000; ecclesiastical ministers who commit the listed offenses with respect to records affecting civil status of persons are punished with the same penalty (Article 171).
- Private individuals who commit the enumerated falsifications in specified documents or contexts are punished by prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods and a fine of not more than PHP 1,000,000; when a person knowingly introduces falsified documents in evidence or uses false documents to the damage of another (with or without specified intent), the penalty is the penalty next lower in degree (Article 172).
- Issuing false medical certificates and false certificates of merit/service/good conduct by the covered persons is punished by arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 200,000; private persons who falsify such certificates are punished with arresto mayor under the article’s rule (Article 174).
- Making or introducing into the Philippines instruments/implements for falsification (stamps, dies, marks, or other implements intended for counterfeiting or falsification in the chapter) is punished by prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods and a fine not to exceed PHP 1,000,000; possession with intention to use results in the penalty next lower in degree (Article 176).
- Publicly using a fictitious name to conceal a crime, evade execution of judgment, or cause damage is punished by arresto mayor and a fine not to exceed PHP 100,000; concealing true name and other personal circumstances is punished by arresto menor or a fine not to exceed PHP 40,000 (Article 178).
False testimony and civil-case falsehoods
- False testimony against a defendant in a criminal case is punished based on the defendant’s sentence:
- reclusion temporal if the defendant was sentenced to death;
- prision mayor if the defendant was sentenced to reclusion temporal or reclusion perpetua;
- prision correccional if the defendant was sentenced to any other afflictive penalty; and
- arresto mayor if the defendant was sentenced to a correctional penalty or a fine, or was acquitted (Article 180).
- In cases under Article 180 for subdivisions 3 and 4, the offender additionally suffers a fine not to exceed PHP 200,000 (Article 180).
- False testimony favorable to the defendant in a criminal case is punished by arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 200,000 if the prosecution is for a felony punishable by an afflictive penalty; and the penalty is arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period in the other case stated in the article (Article 181).
- In civil cases, false testimony is punished by prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 1,200,000 if the amount in controversy exceeds PHP 1,000,000; otherwise it is punished by arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period and a fine not to exceed PHP 200,000, if the amount does not exceed PHP 1,000,000 or cannot be estimated (Article 182).
Public order, obscene publications, prostitutes, and betrayal of trust
- Importing and disposing falsely marked articles/merchandise made of gold/silver/precious metals/alloys is punished by prision correccional or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both (Article 187).
- In Article 187, a stamp/brand/label/mark fails to indicate actual fineness/quality when tests show the quality/fineness is less by more than one-half karat for gold, or less by more than four one-thousandth for silver; watch cases and flatware have a separate fineness rule of no less by more than three one-thousandth than the fineness indicated (Article 187).
- Immoral doctrines, obscene publications/exhibitions, and indecent shows are punished by prision mayor or a fine ranging from PHP 20,000 to PHP 200,000, or both, for the enumerated acts including expounding doctrines contrary to public morals; authors/editors/owners/operators who publish obscene literature; exhibitors of indecent/immoral plays/scenes/acts/shows where the prescribed concept covers specified categories; and sellers/givers/exhibitors of offensive films/prints/sculpture/literature (Article 201).
- Persons found guilty of offenses covered by the prostitution article are punished by arresto menor or a fine not exceeding PHP 20,000; recidivism leads to arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from PHP 20,000 to PHP 200,000, or both, in the court’s discretion (Article 202).
- An attorney-at-law or a person duly authorized to represent/assist a party who maliciously breaches professional duty, or acts with inexcusable negligence or ignorance, and prejudices the client or reveals the client’s secrets learned professionally is punished with prision correccional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both; the same penalty applies to an attorney who undertakes the defense of the opposing party in the same case without consent of the first client (Article 209).
Public treasury and prohibited transactions; malversation; accounts
- Frauds against the public treasury and similar offenses punishable by prision correccional in its medium period to prision mayor in its minimum period or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 2,000,000, or both, are imposed on covered public officers, including when they enter agreements with interested parties/speculators or employ schemes to defraud the Government in official dealings, and on officers entrusted with collection of taxes/licenses/fees/imposts who demand sums different from those authorized by law, fail to issue receipts as provided by law, or collect/receive unauthorized kinds of objects/things (Article 213).
- When the culprit is an officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue or the Bureau of Customs, the Administrative Code provisions apply (Article 213).
- Appointive public officers who, during incumbency, directly or indirectly become interested in any transaction of exchange or speculation within the territory subject to their jurisdiction are punished by prision correccional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both (Article 215).
- A public officer who becomes interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract or business in which it is his official duty to intervene is punished by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period, or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both; experts, arbitrators, private accountants participating in connected appraisal/distribution/adjudication, and guardians/executors with respect to wards’/estates’ property are covered (Article 216).
- Malversation by an accountable public officer who appropriates, misappropriates, or permits misappropriation by abandonment or negligence, or otherwise commits malversation of public funds/property is punished using the amount-based scale in Article 217:
- PHP 40,000 and below: prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods;
- more than PHP 40,000 up to PHP 1,200,000: prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods;
- more than PHP 1,200,000 up to PHP 2,400,000: prision mayor in its maximum period to reclusion temporal in its minimum period;
- more than PHP 2,400,000 up to PHP 4,400,000: reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum periods;
- more than PHP 4,400,000 up to PHP 8,800,000: reclusion temporal in its maximum period; and
- if the amount exceeds PHP 8,800,000: reclusion perpetua (Article 217).
- In all malversation cases, the convicted persons also suffer perpetual special disqualification and a fine equal to the amount of the funds malversed or equal to the total value of the property embezzled (Article 217).
- Failure of a public officer to have duly forthcoming public funds/property on demand by a duly authorized officer is prima facie evidence of personal use (Article 217).
- Failure of an accountable public officer to render accounts to the Commission on Audit or to a provincial auditor after accounts should be rendered for two (2) months results in prision correccional in its minimum period, or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 1,200,000, or both (Article 218).
- A public officer who unlawfully leaves or attempts to leave the Philippines without securing a certificate from the Commission on Audit showing accounts finally settled is punished by arresto mayor, or a fine ranging from PHP 40,000 to PHP 200,000, or both (Article 219).
- Failure to deliver public funds/property by a public officer obliged to pay from government funds in his possession is punished by arresto mayor and a fine of 5% to 25% of the sum failed to pay; the fine is graduated by the value of the thing and must not be less than PHP 10,000 (Article 221).
- Removing, destroying, or concealing documents or papers officially entrusted to a public officer is punished depending on seriousness of damage:
- prision mayor and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 when serious damage to a third party or public interest is caused; or
- prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 when the damage is not serious.
- In either case, temporary special disqualification in its maximum period to perpetual disqualification is imposed (Article 226).
- A public officer who breaks seals or permits seals to be broken on papers/property sealed by proper authority is punished with prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, temporary special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 400,000 (Article 227).
- A public officer who opens or permits the opening of closed papers, documents, or objects entrusted to his custody without proper authority is punished by arresto mayor, temporary special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 400,000 (Article 228).
- A public officer who reveals secrets known by reason of official capacity, or wrongfully delivers papers or copies of papers which should not be published, is punished with prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods, perpetual special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 400,000 if such revelation/delivery caused serious damage to public interest; otherwise the penalty is prision correccional in its minimum period, temporary special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 229).
- A public officer who reveals the secrets of a private individual made known by reason of office is punished by arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 (Article 230).
Disobedience, refusal, and abuses in office
- A judicial or executive officer who openly refuses to execute a judgment/decision/order of a superior authority issued with legal formalities is punished by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period, temporary special disqualification in its maximum period, and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 (Article 231).
- A public officer who, upon demand from competent authority, fails to cooperate towards the administration of justice or other public service and such failure results in serious damage to public interest or a third party is punished by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period, perpetual special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000; otherwise the penalty is arresto mayor in its medium and maximum periods and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 233).
- A person elected by popular election to public office who refuses without legal motive to be sworn in or discharge the duties is punished by arresto mayor or a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000, or both (Article 234).
- Maltreatment of prisoners by a public officer/employee who overdoes correction/handling by imposing punishments not authorized by regulations or inflicting punishments in a cruel and humiliating manner is punished with prision correccional in its medium period to prision mayor in its minimum period, in addition to liability for physical injuries/damage caused (Article 235).
- If the purpose of maltreatment is to extort a confession or obtain information, the offender is punished by prision mayor in its minimum period, temporary special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000, in addition to liability for physical injuries/damage caused (Article 235).
- Assuming performance of duties/powers of a public office/employment without first being sworn in or having given the bond required by law results in suspension until formalities are complied with and a fine from PHP 40,000 to PHP 100,000 (Article 236).
- Continuing to exercise duties/powers beyond the legal/regulatory/special period results in prision correccional in its minimum period, special temporary disqualification in its minimum period, and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 237).
- Encroaching on legislative powers by making general rules/regulations beyond authority or attempting to repeal a law or suspend its execution is punished by prision correccional in its minimum period, temporary special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding PHP 200,000 (Article 239).
- Continuing proceedings after being lawfully required to refrain before the question of jurisdiction is decided is punished by arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 242).
- An executive officer who addresses any order or suggestion to any judicial authority regarding a case/business within courts’ exclusive jurisdiction is punished by arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding PHP 100,000 (Article 243).
- Knowingly nominating or appointing to public office a person