Article 44Act No. 3815, Sec./Art. 44

Arresto-Its accessory penalties.-The penalty of arresto shall carry with it that of suspension of the right to hold office and the right of suffrage during the term of the sentence.

REVISED PENAL CODE TEXT AND SPECIAL PENAL LAWS

she

shall

marry

before

her

delivery

or

before

the

expiration of the period of three hundred and one day

after the legal separation. (repealed by RA No 10655,

March 13, 2015)

Article 352. Performance of illegal marriage ceremony. -

Priests or ministers of any religious denomination or sect,

or civil authorities who shall perform or authorize any

illegal

marriage

ceremony

shall

be

punished

in

accordance with the provisions of the Marriage Law.

Title Thirteen CRIMES AGAINST HONOR

Chapter One LIBEL

Section One . - Definitions, forms, and punishment of this

crime.

Article 353. Definition of libel. - A libel is public and

malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real

or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or

circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or

contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken

the memory of one who is dead.

Article 354. Requirement for publicity. - Every defamatory

imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true,

if no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is

shown, except in the following cases:

1. A private communication made by any person to

another in the performance of any legal, moral or social

duty; and

2. A fair and true report, made in good faith, without any

comments or remarks, of any judicial, legislative or other

official proceedings which are not of confidential nature,

or of any statement, report or speech delivered in said

proceedings, or of any other act performed by public

officers in the exercise of their functions.

Article 355. Libel means by writings or similar means. - A

libel

committed

by

means

of

writing,

printing,

lithography,

engraving,

radio,

phonograph,

painting,

theatrical exhibition, cinematographic exhibition, or any

similar means, shall be punished by prision correccional

in its minimum and medium periods or a fine ranging

from Forty thousand pesos (P40,000) to One million two

hundred thousand pesos (P1,200,000), or both, in addition

to the civil action which may be brought by the offended

party.

Article 356. Threatening to publish and offer to present

such publication for a compensation. - The penalty of

arresto mayor or a fine from Forty thousand pesos

(P40,000) to Four hundred thousand pesos (P400,000), or

both, shall be imposed upon any person who threatens

another to publish a libel concerning him or the parents,

spouse, child, or other members of the family of the latter

or upon anyone who shall offer to prevent the publication

of such libel for a compensation or money consideration.

Article 357. Prohibited publication of acts referred to in

the course of official proceedings. - The penalty of arresto

mayor or a fine of from Forty thousand pesos (P40,000)

to Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000), or both, shall

be imposed upon any reporter, editor or manager or a

newspaper, daily or magazine, who shall publish facts

connected with the private life of another and offensive to

the honor, virtue and reputation of said person, even

though said publication be made in connection with or

under the pretext that it is necessary in the narration of

any judicial or administrative proceedings wherein such

facts have been mentioned.

Article 358. Slander. - Oral defamation shall be punished

by arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision

correccional in its minimum period if it is of a serious and

insulting nature; otherwise the penalty shall be arresto

menor or a fine not exceeding Twenty thousand pesos

(P20,000).

Article 359. Slander by deed. - The penalty of arresto

mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its

minimum period or a fine ranging from Twenty thousand

pesos

(P20,000)

to

One

hundred

thousand

pesos

(P100,000) shall be imposed upon any person who shall

perform any act not included and punished in this title,

which shall cast dishonor, discredit or contempt upon

another person. If said act is not of a serious nature, the

penalty shall be arresto menor or a fine not exceeding

Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000).

Section Two. - General provisions

Article 360. Persons responsible. - Any person who shall

publish, exhibit, or cause the publication or exhibition of

any defamation in writing or by similar means, shall be

responsible for the same.

The author or editor of a book or pamphlet, or the editor

or business manager of a daily newspaper, magazine or

serial

publication,

shall

be

responsible

for

the

defamations contained therein to the same extent as if he

were the author thereof.

The criminal and civil action for damages in cases of

written defamations as provided for in this chapter, shall

be filed simultaneously or separately with the court of

first instance of the province or city where the libelous

article is printed and first published or where any of the

offended parties actually resides at the time of the

commission

of

the

offense:

Provided, however, That

where one of the offended parties is a public officer

whose office is in the City of Manila at the time of the

commission of the offense, the action shall be filed in the

Court of First Instance of the City of Manila, or of the city

or province where the libelous article is printed and first

published, and in case such public officer does not hold

office in the City of Manila, the action shall be filed in the

Court of First Instance of the province or city where he

held office at the time of the commission of the offense

or where the libelous article is printed and first published

and in case one of the offended parties is a private

individual, the action shall be filed in the Court of First

Instance of the province or city where he actually resides

at the time of the commission of the offense or where the

libelous matter is printed and first published: Provided,

further, That the civil action shall be filed in the same

court where the criminal action is filed and vice versa:

Provided, furthermore, That the court where the criminal

action or civil action for damages is first filed, shall

acquire jurisdiction to the exclusion of other courts: And,

provided, finally, That this amendment shall not apply to

cases of written defamations, the civil and/or criminal

actions which have been filed in court at the time of the

effectivity of this law.

Preliminary investigation of criminal action for written

defamations as provided for in the chapter shall be

conducted by the provincial or city fiscal of the province

or city, or by the municipal court of the city or capital of

the province where such action may be instituted in

accordance with the provisions of this article.

No criminal action for defamation which consists in the

imputation of a crime which cannot be prosecuted de

oficio shall be brought except at the instance of and upon

complaint expressly filed by the offended party. (As

amended by R.A. 1289, approved June 15, 1955, R.A. 4363,

approved June 19, 1965).

Article

361.

Proof

of

the

truth.

- In every criminal

prosecution for libel, the truth may be given in evidence

to the court and if it appears that the matter charged as

libelous is true, and, moreover, that it was published with

good motives and for justifiable ends, the defendants

shall be acquitted.

Proof of the truth of an imputation of an act or omission

not constituting a crime shall not be admitted, unless the

imputation shall have been made against Government

employees with respect to facts related to the discharge

of their official duties.

© Compiled By RGL

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