Text of the provision

Art. 285. Other light threats. - The penalty of arresto menor in its minimum period or a fine not exceeding Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) shall be imposed upon: 1. Any person who, without being included in the provisions of the next preceding article, shall threaten another with a weapon, or draw such weapon in a quarrel, unless it be in lawful self-defense. 2. Any person who, in the heat of anger, shall orally threaten another with some harm not constituting a crime, and who by subsequent acts shows that he did not persist in the idea involved in his threat: Provided, That the circumstances of the offense shall not bring it within the provisions of Article 282 of this Code. 3. Any person who shall orally threaten to do another any harm not constituting a felony.

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

Arresto menor in its minimum period or a fine not exceeding Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) punishes one who threatens another with a weapon or draws it in a quarrel outside lawful self-defence; one who in the heat of anger orally threatens harm not amounting to a crime and then shows he did not persist; and one who orally threatens harm not constituting a felony.

Questions about this provision

Related provisions

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

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.