Short answer. Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons is committed when someone takes another's personal property, with intent to gain, by using force on the victim or by frightening them into giving it up. Article 294 grades the penalty by the harm done — heaviest when the robbery is attended by killing, rape, or serious injuries.
What the law says
Any person guilty of robbery with the use of violence against or intimidation of any person shall suffer
Revised Penal Code, Article 294 — Robbery With Violence Against Or Intimidation Of Persons. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The penalty of reclusion perpetua to death, when by reason or on occasion of the robbery, the crime of homicide shall have been committed, or when the robbery shall have been accompanied by rape or intentional mutilation or arson.
Revised Penal Code, Article 294 — Robbery With Violence Against Or Intimidation Of Persons. Read the full provision →
What the crime is
Article 294 punishes robbery committed against a person, as opposed to robbery by breaking into a place. The essence is taking someone else's personal property, with intent to gain, through violence against or intimidation of a person. The article opens by providing that Any person guilty of robbery with the use of violence against or intimidation of any person shall suffer a range of penalties depending on the circumstances. Two ingredients define it: the unlawful taking of property belonging to another with the purpose of profiting, and the means used — actual force on the victim's body, or intimidation that overpowers the victim's will, such as a threat at knifepoint. It is the presence of violence or intimidation on a person that sets this apart from other property crimes.
The penalty rises with the harm done
Article 294 does not set one flat penalty; it grades punishment by what happens to people during the robbery. At the top, the gravest penalty applies when by reason or on occasion of the robbery, the crime of homicide shall have been committed, or when the robbery shall have been accompanied by rape or intentional mutilation or arson. Below that, the penalty steps down through several levels according to the seriousness of any physical injuries inflicted on a victim, and further down where the violence or intimidation was carried to a degree clearly unnecessary. The lightest bracket covers robbery with violence or intimidation in all other cases. In short, the more grievous the harm to persons, the heavier the penalty the article imposes.
Reading the penalty against later laws
The penalties in the article as printed must be read against two later statutes. First, the current wording — including its reference to reclusion perpetua to death for the gravest form — comes from Republic Act No. 7659 (1993); older copies of the Revised Penal Code still show the original 1930 penalties, so a source that differs may simply be out of date. Second, and decisively, Republic Act No. 9346 (2006) abolished the death penalty in the Philippines. So although the article still says 'to death', that penalty can no longer be imposed; in its place the courts impose reclusión perpetua. Any answer about the punishment today has to be read subject to that prohibition.
How it differs from theft, and its limits
The line between this crime and theft turns on the violence or intimidation: take property by stealth or without confronting a person and it is generally theft, not robbery under this article. Where killing accompanies the robbery, the law treats the combined act as a single special complex crime rather than two separate offences, which is why the gravest penalty attaches. What Article 294 does not do is define every related situation — robbery in an inhabited house, or robbery by a band, are dealt with in their own provisions — and it does not fix civil compensation, which is decided separately. Because the exact charge and penalty turn on fine factual distinctions about the force used and the injuries caused, a case of this weight calls for counsel at once.