Text of the provision

Art. 267. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention. - Any private individual who shall kidnap or detain another, or in any other manner deprive him of his liberty, shall suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death: 1. If the kidnapping or detention shall have lasted more than three days. 2. If it shall have been committed simulating public authority. 3. If any serious physical injuries shall have been inflicted upon the person kidnapped or detained; or if threats to kill him shall have been made. 4. If the person kidnapped or detained shall be a minor, except when the accused is any of the parents, female or a public officer. The penalty shall be death penalty where the kidnapping or detention was committed for the purpose of extorting ransom from the victim or any other person, even if none of the circumstances above-mentioned were present in the commission of the offense. When the victim is killed or dies as a consequence of the detention or is raped, or is subjected to torture or dehumanizing acts, the maximum penalty shall be imposed.

Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Act No. 3815, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659 (1993). Reproduced in full from the text of the amending Act itself, verified word for word against the LawPhil, ChanRobles and Official Gazette renderings of that Act.

What this article means

The felony of depriving another of liberty, committed by a private individual — a public officer who detains a person without legal ground commits arbitrary detention under Article 124 instead. What makes the detention serious rather than slight is the presence of one of the listed circumstances: the length of the detention, simulation of public authority, serious physical injuries or threats to kill, or the status of the victim. Detention for ransom carries the maximum penalty even if none of those circumstances is present.

Related provisions

This is the amended text. The text above is the article as amended by Republic Act No. 7659 (1993), taken from the text of that Act itself. Reproductions of the Revised Penal Code — including both of the sources this site verifies against — still print the 1930 article, which carries a different penalty. 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

Note. The text of the provision above is not taken from the reproductions of the Revised Penal Code. Republic Act No. 7659 (1993) rewrote this article, and the widely-circulated compilations still print the 1930 text without saying so, so the text above is reproduced from the amending Act itself and was verified word for word against three independent renderings of that Act. 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.