Short answer. Yes. Article 142 specifically punishes any person who shall write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libels against the Government, or any of its duly constituted authorities, as one of several acts that constitute inciting to sedition, carrying prisión correccional in its maximum period and a fine updated by Republic Act No. 10951.
What the law says
or upon any person or persons who shall utter seditious words or speeches, write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libels against the Government, or any of the duly constituted authorities thereof
Revised Penal Code, Article 142 — Inciting To Sedition. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The penally of prisión correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding Four hundred thousand pesos (₱400,000) shall be imposed upon any person who, without taking any direct part in the crime of sedition, should incite others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition
Revised Penal Code, Article 142 — Inciting To Sedition. Read the full provision →
Scurrilous libel against the government is named directly
Article 142 lists this exact conduct among the acts it punishes. Or upon any person or persons who shall utter seditious words or speeches, write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libels against the Government, or any of the duly constituted authorities thereof. Writing scurrilous libels against the government is not treated as a separate, lesser wrong here — the article places it directly alongside uttering seditious words and speeches as conduct that falls within inciting to sedition.
This provision targets incitement, not direct participation in sedition
The article's opening frames the whole provision around incitement rather than the crime of sedition itself. The penally of prisión correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding Four hundred thousand pesos (₱400,000) shall be imposed upon any person who, without taking any direct part in the crime of sedition, should incite others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition. Writing scurrilous libels against the government fits this framework as a means of incitement, distinct from actually participating in an act of sedition itself.
What makes libel against the government 'scurrilous' matters
The article's language specifically targets scurrilous libels — a qualifier suggesting something beyond ordinary criticism or disagreement with government policy. This article does not itself define precisely where legitimate criticism ends and scurrilous libel begins, so that line depends heavily on the specific content and manner of what was written, not merely on the fact that the government was criticized at all.
The penalty reflects a 2017 update
The Four hundred thousand peso fine ceiling in this article is not the original 1930 figure — it reflects Republic Act No. 10951, enacted in 2017, which revised fine amounts throughout the Revised Penal Code. Anyone consulting an older printing of this article should be aware that the fine amount shown there may no longer represent the current maximum under the law as it stands today.