Short answer. Under Article 227 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act No. 10951, a public officer who breaks or permits the breaking of official seals on property under custody faces prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods, temporary special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding ₱400,000.
What the law says
Any public officer charged with the custody of papers or property sealed by proper authority, who shall break the seals or permit them to be broken, shall suffer the penalties of prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods, temporary special disqualification and a fine not exceeding Four hundred thousand pesos (₱400,000).
Revised Penal Code, Article 227 — Officer Breaking Seal. Read the full provision →
Who Article 227 targets
Article 227 of the Revised Penal Code applies specifically to a public officer who is charged with the custody of papers or property that has been sealed by proper authority. The officer is the custodian — the person entrusted with safeguarding the sealed item, precisely because it has been placed under official seal. The article reaches both the officer who actively breaks the seal and the officer who permits the seal to be broken by someone else. Both omission and commission are covered: it is not enough to say the officer did not personally break it.
The three penalties
Article 227 imposes three distinct penalties simultaneously. First, prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods — imprisonment from six months and one day to four years and two months. Second, temporary special disqualification, which removes the officer from public office for the period the law prescribes. Third, a fine not exceeding ₱400,000, reflecting the current amounts under Republic Act No. 10951. All three apply together; the officer faces imprisonment, career consequences, and a financial penalty. The Indeterminate Sentence Law applies to fix the actual prison term.
What 'sealed by proper authority' means
The offense requires that the seals were placed by proper authority — a court, an administrative agency, or another official body with the legal power to seal property. Seals placed on property pursuant to a court order, a search warrant, an attachment, or an administrative closure order are classic examples. The seal signals to everyone — including the custodian — that the property must remain intact and undisturbed. Breaking such a seal violates the authority that placed it and undermines the legal process the seal was meant to protect.
RA 10951 and the current fine ceiling
The ₱400,000 fine ceiling in Article 227 is the figure as amended by Republic Act No. 10951, enacted in 2017, which updated the monetary penalties throughout the Revised Penal Code. Older reproductions of the Code still print the 1930 figures. Any source that does not cite RA 10951 may be showing an outdated penalty amount for this offense. Temporary special disqualification — the career penalty — is unaffected by RA 10951 in its structure; what changed are the monetary ceilings on the fine component.