Short answer. Under Article 221 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act No. 10951, a public officer who fails to make a required payment from government funds faces arresto mayor and a fine of five to twenty-five percent of the unpaid sum. The same penalty applies to refusal to deliver public property when ordered by competent authority.
What the law says
Any public officer under obligation to make payment from Government funds in his possession, who shall fail to make such payment, shall be punished by arresto mayor and a fine from five (5) to twenty-five (25) percent of the sum which he failed to pay.
Revised Penal Code, Article 221 — Failure To Deliver Public Funds. Read the full provision →
The two scenarios Article 221 covers
Article 221 of the Revised Penal Code addresses two related situations. The first is a public officer who holds government funds and is legally obligated to make a payment from them — a disbursement, a salary, a lawful claim — but fails to do so. The second is a public officer ordered by a competent authority to deliver property under the officer's custody or administration, who refuses to make that delivery. Both situations involve a public officer holding government money or property and failing to fulfill a duty of release. The penalties differ in how the fine is computed.
Penalty for failing to pay from public funds
For the failure-to-pay scenario, Article 221 prescribes arresto mayor — imprisonment of one month and one day to six months — plus a fine ranging from five to twenty-five percent of the sum the officer failed to pay. The percentage-based fine means the heavier the unpaid obligation, the larger the fine. A failure to release a large disbursement carries a correspondingly larger financial penalty. This structure ties the sanction directly to the harm: the financial exposure the officer created by withholding funds.
Penalty for refusing to deliver public property
When the offense involves property — not money — the fine is graduated by the value of the thing that was not delivered. Article 221 sets a floor: the fine shall not be less than ₱10,000 as amended by Republic Act No. 10951. The imprisonment penalty remains arresto mayor. This minimum floor prevents a trivial fine when the property involved has a low estimated value. The court has discretion within the percentage range, but cannot impose a fine below the statutory minimum.
Current amounts under Republic Act No. 10951
The ₱10,000 minimum fine stated in Article 221 reflects the current text as amended by Republic Act No. 10951, enacted in 2017, which updated monetary figures throughout the Revised Penal Code. Older editions still print the 1930 amounts, which are far lower. Any reproduction of Article 221 that does not cite RA 10951 may be showing outdated figures. Article 221 is distinct from malversation — it applies to the specific failure to release funds or property the officer was obligated to hand over, not to the broader misappropriation of public funds that malversation covers.