Text of the provision

Art. 288. Other similar coercions; (Compulsory purchase of merchandise and payment of wages by means of tokens. - The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine ranging from Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000), or both, shall be imposed upon any person, agent or officer of any association or corporation who shall force or compel, directly or indirectly, or shall knowingly permit any laborer or employee employed by him or by such firm or corporation to be forced or compelled, to purchase merchandise or commodities of any kind. The same penalties shall be imposed upon any person who shall pay the wages due a laborer or employee employed by him, by means of tokens or objects other than the legal tender currency of the Philippines, unless expressly requested by the laborer or employee.

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 mayor or a fine ranging from Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000), or both, are imposed on any person, agent or officer of an association or corporation who forces or compels — or knowingly permits the compelling of — a worker to buy merchandise or commodities. The same penalties apply to anyone who pays wages in tokens or objects other than legal tender, unless the laborer or employee expressly asked for it.

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.