Short answer. Yes. Civil Code Article 699 lists "a prosecution under the Penal Code or any local ordinance" as one of the remedies against a public nuisance, separate from "a civil action" and "abatement, without judicial proceedings." Maintaining a public nuisance can expose someone to criminal liability, not only a private lawsuit.
What the law says
The remedies against a public nuisance are: (1) A prosecution under the Penal Code or any local ordinance: or (2) A civil action; or (3) Abatement, without judicial proceedings.
Civil Code, Article 699 — Remedies Against Public Nuisance. Read the full provision →
Three separate remedies, not one
Article 699 sets out the full list of remedies available against a public nuisance, and criminal prosecution is on it by name: "a prosecution under the Penal Code or any local ordinance." The article places this alongside two other, distinct remedies — "a civil action" and "abatement, without judicial proceedings." The fact that all three are listed together in one provision shows that a public nuisance is treated as something the law can address in more than one way, and a criminal prosecution is one of the recognized paths, not a fallback used only when a civil suit is unavailable.
What prosecution as a remedy means
Listing "a prosecution under the Penal Code or any local ordinance" as a remedy means that maintaining a public nuisance can be treated as a criminal offense, punishable under whichever penal law or local ordinance actually criminalizes that specific conduct. Article 699 itself does not spell out what that punishment is or which particular provisions apply — it simply confirms that the criminal route exists as one of the ways a public nuisance can be addressed, distinct from the civil and abatement remedies that follow it in the same list.
How this differs from a civil action
A civil action, the second remedy in the list, is a private lawsuit — typically brought to recover damages or to compel the nuisance to be corrected or removed. It does not require proving a crime, and it does not result in criminal penalties. Criminal prosecution is a different track altogether: it is pursued as an offense against the public, under penal law or a local ordinance, rather than as a private claim between the parties affected by the nuisance.
Abatement is a third, non-judicial option
The third remedy Article 699 lists, "abatement, without judicial proceedings," is different again — it refers to removing or ending the nuisance itself, without going through a court case at all. That it sits in the same list as prosecution and a civil action underscores how the article treats a public nuisance: as a problem the law allows multiple, distinct responses to, with criminal prosecution being a genuinely available option and not merely a theoretical one.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), et al. vs. City Advertising Ventures Corporation, G.R. No. 182944, November 9, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Linda Rana vs. Teresita Lee Wong, et al./Sps Rosario and Wilson Uy, et al. vs. Sps. Reynaldo and Linda Rana, G.R. No. 192861 / G.R. No. 192862, June 30, 2014 — read the decision on LawPhil →