Short answer. No, not as a general rule. Article 85 of the Labor Code makes it every employer's duty to give employees not less than sixty minutes of time-off for their regular meals, subject only to regulations the Secretary of Labor may prescribe. A break shorter than an hour does not meet this standard on its own.
What the law says
Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe, it shall be the duty of every employer to give his employees not less than sixty (60) minutes time-off for their regular meals.
Labor Code, Article 85 — Meal Periods. Read the full provision →
The sixty-minute floor
Article 85 sets a clear number: it shall be the duty of every employer to give his employees not less than sixty (60) minutes time-off for their regular meals. The phrasing establishes a floor, not a suggested target — not less than sixty minutes means an hour is the minimum every employer owes for a regular meal break, and a shorter period does not, on its own, satisfy this article's duty.
The duty is framed as the employer's obligation
The article places the obligation squarely on the employer: it shall be the duty of every employer. This is not phrased as something an employee has to request or negotiate for — it is stated as a standing duty that attaches to the employment relationship itself. So the starting expectation under this article is that meal time-off of at least an hour is simply owed, not something contingent on the employee asking for it.
The qualification the article itself allows
Article 85 opens with a qualifier: subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe. This means the sixty-minute duty is not entirely without exception under the article's own terms — the Secretary of Labor has authority to issue regulations that may adjust how this duty applies in particular situations. The article's text does not itself describe what those regulations say or when they might permit something different from the general sixty-minute rule; it simply acknowledges that such regulations can exist.
What this means if your break is shorter
If your employer routinely gives you less than sixty minutes for your regular meal without pointing to a specific regulation from the Secretary of Labor that allows it, that arrangement runs against the duty this article states in plain terms. Because the exception depends on regulations this article does not spell out, the safest approach is to ask what specific basis, if any, is being relied on for a shorter break, rather than simply accepting that it is allowed.