Short answer. No. Article 203 prohibits any agent, attorney, or other person handling the preparation or filing of an employees' compensation claim from demanding or charging any fee for that service, and voids any agreement that says otherwise. Violation carries a fine or imprisonment, or both.
What the law says
Prohibition. No agent, attorney or other person pursuing or in charge of the preparation or filing of any claim for benefit under this Title shall demand or charge for his services any fee, and any stipulation to the contrary shall be null and void. The retention or deduction of any amount from any benefit granted under this Title for the payment of fees for such services is prohibited. Violation of any provision of this Article shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than five thousand pesos, or imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Labor Code, Article 203 — No Fees For Claims. Read the full provision →
Who the prohibition covers
Article 203 is not limited to lawyers. It applies to any agent, attorney or other person pursuing or in charge of the preparation or filing of a claim for benefit under the relevant Title. That broad wording reaches recruiters, fixers, or anyone else who offers to prepare or file an employees' compensation claim on your behalf, not just licensed professionals. Whoever is actually doing the work of preparing or filing the claim on your behalf falls within the article's reach, regardless of how they describe themselves or what credentials they claim to hold.
Any contrary agreement is void
Even if you signed something agreeing to pay a fee for this kind of help, the article says any stipulation to the contrary shall be null and void. A written agreement charging a fee for preparing or filing this specific claim does not become enforceable just because both sides signed it; the article overrides that agreement by its own force.
Deducting the fee from your benefit is also barred
The article goes further than banning an upfront charge. It also prohibits the retention or deduction of any amount from any benefit granted under this Title for the payment of fees for such services. That closes an obvious workaround: someone cannot legally help you file the claim for free on paper and then quietly take a cut once your benefit is released.
The penalty attached to a violation
Article 203 backs the prohibition with a criminal penalty: a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than five thousand pesos, or imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than one year, or both, at the court's discretion. The article does not itself describe how a complaint against a violator is filed or which office receives it, so this page will not speculate on procedure the text does not provide. What it does make plain is that this is not treated as a minor infraction to be quietly negotiated away between you and whoever demanded the fee — it is a punishable offense.