Text of the provision
Art. 213. Frauds against the public treasury and similar offenses. - The penalty of prisión correccional in its medium period to prisión mayor in its minimum period, or a fine ranging from Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to Two million pesos (₱2,000,000), or both, shall be imposed upon any public officer who: 1. In his official capacity, in dealing with any person with regard to furnishing supplies, the making of contracts, or the adjustment or settlement of accounts relating to public property or funds, shall enter into an agreement with any interested party or speculator or make use of any other scheme, to defraud the Government; 2. Being entrusted with the collection of taxes, licenses, fees and other imposts, shall be guilty of any of the following acts or omissions:
(a) Demanding, directly or indirectly, the payment of sums different from or larger than those authorized by law.
(b) Failing voluntarily to issue a receipt, as provided by law, for any sum of money collected by him officially.
(c) Collecting or receiving, directly or indirectly, by way of payment or otherwise things or objects of a nature different from that provided by law. When the culprit is an officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue or the Bureau of Customs, the provisions of the Administrative Code shall be applied.
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 public officer who, in dealing with supplies, contracts or the settlement of public accounts, enters into an agreement or scheme to defraud the Government — or who, being a collector of taxes, licenses and fees, demands amounts different from or larger than allowed, fails to issue a receipt, or collects things of a different nature — suffers prisión correccional in its medium period to prisión mayor in its minimum period, or a fine ranging from Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to Two million pesos (₱2,000,000), or both. If the culprit is with the Bureau of Internal Revenue or Bureau of Customs, the Administrative Code applies.
Questions about this provision
Related provisions
- Article 209 — Betrayal Of Trust By A Lawyer.
- Article 214 — Other Frauds By Officials.
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.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.