Short answer. Piracy on the high seas is committed when a person, out on the high seas, attacks or seizes a vessel, or — being neither a crew member nor a passenger of that vessel — seizes all or part of its cargo, equipment, or the personal belongings of its crew or passengers. Article 122 punishes it.
What the law says
The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be inflicted upon any person who, on the high seas, shall attack or seize a vessel or, not being a member of its complement nor a passenger, shall seize the whole or part of the cargo of said vessel, its equipment or personal belongings of its complement or passengers.
Revised Penal Code, Article 122 — Piracy And Mutiny. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The same penalty shall be inflicted in case of mutiny on the high seas.
Revised Penal Code, Article 122 — Piracy And Mutiny. Read the full provision →
The two ways Article 122 is committed
Article 122 describes piracy in two forms, and either is enough. The first is an attack on the ship itself: any person who, on the high seas, shall attack or seize a vessel. The second targets what the ship carries: a person not being a member of its complement nor a passenger who shall seize the whole or part of the cargo of said vessel, its equipment or personal belongings of its complement or passengers. In everyday terms, piracy is a violent or forcible taking at sea — seizing the vessel, or robbing it of cargo, gear or the belongings of those aboard. It is the maritime counterpart of robbery, committed on the open sea rather than on land.
Who can be a pirate — the outsider requirement
The cargo-seizure form of piracy has a built-in limit: it punishes someone who is not a member of the ship's complement (its crew) and not a passenger. In other words, the offender there is an outsider who preys on the vessel from without. This is what separates piracy from an ordinary theft committed by a crewman or a passenger against the ship or fellow travellers, which is dealt with under other provisions of the law. The attack-or-seize-the-vessel form, by contrast, is about forcibly taking the ship itself. The setting is also essential: the acts must occur on the high seas, the waters beyond any single nation's territorial control.
Mutiny carries the same penalty
Article 122 covers not only piracy but mutiny on the high seas, providing that The same penalty shall be inflicted in case of mutiny on the high seas. Mutiny is different in character from piracy: it is a revolt or insubordination by the ship's own crew or passengers against the lawful command of the vessel — an uprising from within, rather than an attack from outside. The Code groups the two because both strike at the safety and order of a ship at sea, and both are treated with equal severity. So the same article can reach either the outsider who seizes a vessel or its cargo, or the insider who rises up against the ship's authority.
The penalty, and what this article does not cover
The penalty fixed by Article 122 is reclusion temporal, a term of imprisonment running into the second decade, and heavier penalties apply where the piracy is attended by the aggravating features set out in the provisions that follow. Two limits are worth noting. First, this article speaks to acts on the high seas; piracy committed within Philippine territorial waters is addressed by separate special legislation, not by this provision. Second, the article defines the crime — it does not resolve questions of jurisdiction over foreign offenders or the interaction with international law, which can be complex where several countries are involved. A charge under this article is grave, and anyone facing or reporting one should seek counsel promptly.