Text of the provision
Art. 290. Discovering secrets through seizure of correspondence. - The penalty of prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000) shall be imposed upon any private individual who in order to discover the secrets of another, shall seize his papers or letters and reveal the contents thereof. If the offender shall not reveal such secrets, the penalty shall be arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000). This provision shall not be applicable to parents, guardians, or person entrusted with the custody of minors with respect to the papers or letters of the children or minors placed under their care or custody, nor to spouses with respect to the papers or letters of either of them.
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 private individual who seizes another’s papers or letters and reveals their contents to discover his secrets suffers prisión correccional in its minimum and medium periods and a fine not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000); if he does not reveal the secrets, arresto mayor and the same fine ceiling. It does not apply to parents, guardians or custodians as to their minors’ papers, nor to spouses as to each other’s.
Questions about this provision
- Can parents read their child's private letters without committing an offense?
- Is opening my spouse's letters or messages a crime under the penal code?
Related provisions
- Article 289 — Coercing Labor Or Capital Combinations.
- Article 291 — Revealing Secrets By Employee.
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.