Resisting or Disobeying a Police Officer: Is It a Crime?

Article 151, as amended by Republic Act No. 10951 (2017), reads:

The words "not being included in the provisions of the preceding articles" mean that Article 151 applies when the act is not a heavier crime such as direct assault under Article 148.

In Mallari v. People (2020), the Supreme Court quoted two elements:

1. A person in authority or an agent is engaged in the performance of official duty or gives a lawful order to the offender.
2. The offender resists or seriously disobeys that person or agent.

The first element shows that the officer must be acting in the course of official duty or giving a lawful order. Whether an order or an arrest was lawful in a given case is decided by the court on the evidence. Rules on when police may arrest without a warrant are on the page on arrest without a warrant.

Yes. In Mallari, the Court said: "A police officer is an agent of a person in authority." Article 151 covers both persons in authority (such as a barangay chairman) and their agents (such as police officers). The second, lighter paragraph is written only for disobedience to an agent that is not serious.

When the force is serious. In Mallari, the Supreme Court said that when a person being apprehended by a police officer "resists or uses force that is not dangerous, grave, or severe, the offense is not direct assault under Article 148". Instead, the offense is resistance and disobedience under Article 151.

In Balsamo v. People (2023), a man ran from a police officer who had grabbed his arm, punched the officer in the chest and shut a gate on the officer's fingers. He was charged with direct assault. The Court said the force in direct assault must be "serious or more than a sudden blow, slapping, or punching". It found him guilty of resistance to an agent of a person in authority and added that the two crimes have similar elements, "varying only as to the degree of seriousness of the offender's resistance."

No. Mallari and Balsamo were decided on facts before Republic Act No. 10951 and show the old fines of a few hundred pesos. Those amounts applied to old facts. The fines in the article today are the ones quoted above.

These are made-up examples to show how the rules work. They are not advice for any real case.

Ana argues with a police officer who is clearing a sidewalk. When he grabs her arm, she pulls away and pushes him once. Under Mallari and Balsamo, force that is not serious points to resistance under Article 151, not direct assault.

Boyet keeps driving his tricycle after a police officer at a checkpoint tells him to stop, then stops a few meters later. Whether this is disobedience at all, and whether it is serious, depends on the facts and on the lawful order given. If it is disobedience to an agent that is not serious, the second paragraph of Article 151 applies.

Marlon struggles and kicks hard at the officers arresting him, and one officer is injured. Serious force against an agent may be direct assault under Article 148. The prosecutor and the court decide.

Arresto mayor runs from 1 month and 1 day to 6 months, and arresto menor from 1 to 30 days (Article 27). See also the table of penalty durations. For how long police may hold a person before charges are filed, see how long can police detain you without charges.

See also the comparison direct assault vs resistance and disobedience, the question on direct assault and its penalty and the table of persons in authority and agents.

Talk to a lawyer if you were arrested or charged for resisting or disobeying an officer, or if the charge is direct assault and the force may not have been serious. Whether the order or the arrest was lawful and how serious the resistance was are questions for the evidence. If you cannot afford a lawyer, see Free legal help in the Philippines for the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) and other options.