Text of the provision

Art. 25. Penalties which may be imposed. -The penalties which may be imposed, according to this Code, and their different classes, are those included in the following SCALE PRINCIPAL PENALTIES Capital punishment: Death. Afflictive penalties: Reclusion perpetua, Reclusion temporal, Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification, Perpetual or temporary special disqualification, Prision mayor. Correctional penalties: Prision correccional, Arresto mayor, Suspension, Destierro. Light penalties: Arresto menor, Public censure. Penalties common to the three preceding classes: Fine, and Bond to keep the peace. ACCESSORY PENALTIES Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification, Perpetual or temporary special disqualification, Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for, the profession or calling, Civil interdiction, Indemnification, Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and proceeds of the offense, Payment of costs.

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

This article lists every penalty the Code may impose, arranged in a scale. Principal penalties run from capital punishment (death) through afflictive penalties (reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, perpetual or temporary absolute or special disqualification, prision mayor), correctional penalties (prision correccional, arresto mayor, suspension, destierro), and light penalties (arresto menor, public censure), with fine and bond to keep the peace common to all three classes. Accessory penalties — disqualification, suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for, the profession or calling, civil interdiction, indemnification, forfeiture or confiscation of the instruments and proceeds of the offense, and payment of costs — attach in addition.

Related provisions

On this text. This article is reproduced as the Revised Penal Code enacted it, verified word-for-word against two independent sources. Republic Act No. 10951 (2017) revised the penalty amounts in many other articles of this Code; where an amount appears below it is the figure this article itself carries.

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

Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment (Act No. 3815), verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The Revised Penal Code has been amended many times; this page reproduces the text as those sources carry it. The annotation and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.