Short answer. Yes. Article 226 of the Revised Penal Code creates two penalty tiers based on the seriousness of the damage caused. Serious damage triggers prisión mayor; damage that is not serious reduces the penalty to prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods. Disqualification is added in both cases.
What the law says
The penalty of prisión correccional in its minimum and medium period and a fine not exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos (₱200,000), whenever the damage caused to a third party or to the public interest shall not have been serious.
Revised Penal Code, Article 226 — Removing Or Destroying Official Documents. Read the full provision →
Two tiers of punishment under Article 226
Article 226 of the Revised Penal Code punishes a public officer who removes, destroys, or conceals documents or papers officially entrusted to him. The statute divides this into two levels based on the harm caused. When the act causes serious damage to a third party or to the public interest, the penalty is prisión mayor (six years and one day to twelve years) and a fine up to ₱200,000. When the damage is not serious, the penalty falls to prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods (six months and one day to four years and two months) with the same fine ceiling. Both tiers carry an additional penalty of disqualification. The current fine figures reflect the 2017 amendment by Republic Act No. 10951.
The disqualification applies in both cases
Regardless of which penalty tier applies, Article 226 also imposes an additional penalty of temporary special disqualification in its maximum period to perpetual disqualification. This means a convicted officer faces loss of the right to hold public office for an extended or even permanent period, on top of imprisonment and the fine. The disqualification is not reserved for the more serious variant — it applies in every case, whether the damage was serious or not. For a career public servant, this additional penalty is often the most consequential aspect of a conviction.
What the article covers: removal, destruction, concealment
The article reaches three distinct acts: removing documents from where they are kept, destroying them, and concealing them. Concealment is not limited to physical hiding — any act that places documents beyond access or official use can satisfy this element. The documents need only be ones officially entrusted to the officer; they do not need to be particularly sensitive or classified. Official custody is the defining feature, not the secrecy or importance of the content.
What 'serious damage' means
The statute does not define 'serious damage,' leaving it to be determined by the facts of each case. Relevant considerations include whether the destruction affected pending proceedings, deprived parties of evidence they could not otherwise recover, prevented the public from accessing rights or entitlements documented in the records, or permanently erased information the government needed to function. Damage to a single private party may or may not be serious depending on its magnitude; damage to the public interest is measured differently. The distinction between serious and non-serious damage is one a lawyer can help assess based on the specific documents involved and the consequences of their loss.