Short answer. Under Article 268 it can, but only on three conditions together: the release is voluntary and within three days of the start of the detention, the purpose intended was not attained, and it happens before criminal proceedings are instituted. Miss any one and the reduction does not apply.
What the law says
If the offender shall voluntarily release the person so kidnapped or detained within three (3) days from the commencement of the detention, without having attained the purpose intended, and before the institution of criminal proceedings against him
Revised Penal Code, Article 268 — Slight Illegal Detention. Read the full provision →
Three conditions, joined by "and"
The article provides for a lower penalty if the offender shall voluntarily release the person so kidnapped or detained within three (3) days from the commencement of the detention, without having attained the purpose intended, and before the institution of criminal proceedings against him. Every element of that sentence is a requirement, and they are cumulative. A release inside three days that achieved what the detention was for does not qualify. Neither does one that came after proceedings had begun, however quickly it followed. The conditions are not weighed against each other; each must be satisfied.
"Voluntarily" and the point the clock starts
The release must be the offender's own act. A person taken from custody by others, or freed because the detention was discovered and could not be maintained, has not been voluntarily released within the sense of the article. The three days run from the commencement of the detention, not from any later moment such as the making of a demand or the arrival of the police. Both of those points are commonly misread, and both are questions of fact that will be established from the record rather than from the account of the person relying on them.
What it reduces, and what it does not
This is a lower penalty within the same article, not a discharge. Criminal liability is not extinguished by the release, the offence remains the one the article describes, and civil liability arising from it is a separate matter that the provision says nothing about. It is also confined to the offence this article defines — the graver form of illegal detention is dealt with in another provision on its own terms, and a reduction available here cannot simply be transported there. Which article a case falls under is decided by the circumstances alleged.
Why this is not a plan to act on
Read as guidance for someone presently holding a person, this provision offers nothing safe: the conditions are strict, whether they were met is decided later by a court on evidence, and nothing about the outcome of any case can be predicted from the text. If someone is being held now, that is a matter for the authorities immediately and not for calculation. If you are already facing a charge, what will matter is the documented sequence — when the detention began, when the release occurred, and when proceedings were instituted.
Related provisions
- Revised Penal Code, Article 268 — Slight Illegal Detention
- Revised Penal Code, Article 269 — Unlawful Arrest