Short answer. Prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine of up to two hundred thousand pesos for the founders, directors, and presidents. Article 147 punishes those who found or lead associations organized to commit crimes or for purposes contrary to public morals; mere members face arresto mayor. The fine comes from Republic Act No. 10951.
What the law says
shall be imposed upon the founders, directors, and presidents of associations totally or partially organized for the purpose of committing any of the crimes punishable under this Code or for some purposed contrary to public morals.
Revised Penal Code, Article 147 — Illegal Associations. Read the full provision →
The offense
Article 147 punishes the organisation of illegal associations. The heavier penalty falls on the leaders, being imposed upon the founders, directors, and presidents of associations totally or partially organized for the purpose of committing any of the crimes punishable under this Code or for some purposed contrary to public morals. Two kinds of illegal purpose bring an association within the article: one aimed, wholly or partly, at committing crimes under the Code, and one directed at ends contrary to public morals. It is the illicit purpose behind the association, and a person's role in founding or leading it, that the law targets.
Leaders and members are punished differently
The article distinguishes by role. Its principal penalty, prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods together with a fine of up to two hundred thousand pesos, is reserved for the founders, directors, and presidents, the people who create and steer the illegal association. Mere members of such associations suffer the lighter penalty of arresto mayor. This gradation reflects the greater responsibility of those who organise and lead an unlawful group compared with those who simply belong to it. The fine on the leaders reflects the amounts set by Republic Act No. 10951's 2017 revision of the Code.
What makes an association illegal here
The article does not punish association in general, which is a protected freedom, but only associations with the specific unlawful purposes it names: committing crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code, or pursuing objects contrary to public morals. An association organised, entirely or in part, around such aims is the target. The focus on purpose is important, because it is the group's illicit objective, not the mere fact of people joining together, that transforms an association into the criminal enterprise the law forbids and punishes through this provision.
Why organizing such groups is a crime
Punishing the founders and leaders of criminal or immoral associations lets the law strike at organised wrongdoing at its source. A structured association can commit crimes more effectively and repeatedly than isolated individuals, so the State treats the very act of creating and heading such a group as dangerous. By penalising the organisers more heavily and members more lightly, Article 147 aims squarely at those most responsible for bringing an unlawful association into being and directing its purposes, while still reaching those who lend it their membership.