Text of the provision
Art. 114. Treason - Any Filipino citizen who levies war against the Philippines or adheres to her enemies, giving them aid or comfort within the Philippines or elsewhere, shall be punished by reclusion perpetua to death and shall pay a fine not to exceed Four million pesos (₱4,000,000). No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two
(2) witnesses at least to the same overt act or on confession of the accused in open court. Likewise, an alien, residing in the Philippines, who commits act of treason as defined in paragraph 1 of this article shall be punished by reclusion temporal to death and shall pay a fine not to exceed Four million pesos (₱4,000,000).
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Act No. 3815, as amended. Reproduced in full from the official enactment and verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings.
What this article means
A Filipino citizen who levies war against the Philippines or adheres to her enemies, giving them aid or comfort, here or abroad, suffers reclusion perpetua to death and a fine not to exceed Four million pesos (₱4,000,000). Conviction requires the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or a confession in open court; a resident alien who commits the same acts suffers reclusion temporal to death and the same fine ceiling.
Related provisions
- Article 109 — Apportioning Civil Liability.
- Article 118 — Inciting To War Or Reprisals.
Penalty amounts. The text above is the article as amended by Republic Act No. 10951 (2017), which revised the property values and fines throughout this Code. Older reproductions of the Revised Penal Code still print the 1930 amounts — for theft and estafa they show 12,000 and 22,000 pesos where the current figures run to millions. Check which version any source you rely on is giving you.
The death penalty. This article still refers to the penalty of death. Republic Act No. 9346 (2006) prohibits the imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines. In its place the law imposes reclusión perpetua where the Revised Penal Code’s nomenclature is used, or life imprisonment where it is not. Read this article subject to that prohibition.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.