What Is the Penalty for Theft in the Philippines?

The main definition is in Article 308:

So there are four parts: the property belongs to someone else, it is taken, the taker intends to gain from it, and the owner did not consent. If the taking involves violence, intimidation or force upon things, it is no longer theft. Article 293 calls that robbery.

If the owner handed the property over in trust or on commission, and the person who received it later kept it, the case may instead be estafa by abuse of confidence. See Estafa in the Philippines.

See also the comparison theft vs estafa.

It can be. Article 308 lists three more acts that are also theft. The first is about lost property:

The other two are: taking the fruits or objects of damage you maliciously caused to someone else's property, and entering an enclosed estate or a field where trespass is forbidden, without the owner's consent, to hunt, fish or gather fruits, cereals or other farm or forest products.

Article 309, as amended by Republic Act No. 10951 (2017), sets the penalty by the value of the thing stolen. The ranges below come from the table of durations in Article 76 of the Code.

Two special rows apply when the value is not over ₱500:

• Hunting, fishing or gathering on enclosed land (the third act in Article 308): arresto menor or a fine of up to ₱20,000.
• Hunger or poverty: if the offender acted "under the impulse of hunger, poverty, or the difficulty of earning a livelihood" for himself or his family, arresto menor in its minimum period (1 to 10 days) or a fine of up to ₱5,000.

The table shows what the law allows, not the sentence a person will receive. The court fixes the actual sentence using other rules of the Code and the facts. For the full table with a source for every row, see Theft penalties by amount.

Before Republic Act No. 10951, Article 309 still used the much lower peso values set when the Code was passed in 1930. In Corpuz v. People (2014), the Supreme Court said it could not change such old amounts itself, because that would be judicial legislation. Congress later raised the values in Republic Act No. 10951. It applies retroactively where it is favorable to the accused or to a person already serving a final sentence.

When it is qualified theft. Article 310 raises the penalty by two degrees above the Article 309 bracket when, for example, the theft is committed by a domestic servant or with grave abuse of confidence, or the property is a motor vehicle, mail matter or large cattle, or it is taken during a fire, typhoon, earthquake or other calamity. See What is qualified theft?

This page does not cover whether taking a car or motorcycle falls under a separate special law.

Usually yes, once the item has been taken. In Valenzuela v. People (2007), the Supreme Court held that there is no frustrated theft: theft is complete once the offender gets possession of the thing, even without a chance to dispose of it. See Caught shoplifting before leaving the store.

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

Bong finds a phone on a jeepney seat and keeps it instead of returning it to the owner or handing it to the local authorities. Under Article 308, this can be theft. The value of the phone decides the bracket.

Mark takes a ₱15,000 bicycle that was left unlocked outside a store and rides away. No one was threatened and nothing was forced open. The value is over ₱5,000 up to ₱20,000, so the bracket is arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period (2 months and 1 day to 2 years and 4 months).

Tonyo, out of work, takes ₱300 worth of rice from a store to feed his children. If the court finds he acted under the impulse of hunger or poverty, Article 309 allows arresto menor in its minimum period or a fine of up to ₱5,000.

Dindo climbs into a fenced mango orchard with a "No Trespassing" sign and picks ₱400 worth of mangoes. That is the third act of theft in Article 308, punished by arresto menor or a fine of up to ₱20,000.

Write down what was taken, its value and how you know it, and keep receipts, photos and the names of witnesses. Value matters because it decides the bracket. Under Rule 110 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, a criminal case starts with a complaint filed with the proper officer for preliminary investigation. For offenses that do not need a preliminary investigation, the complaint goes directly to the Municipal Trial Court or Municipal Circuit Trial Court, or to the office of the prosecutor. In Manila and other chartered cities, the complaint is filed with the office of the prosecutor, unless their charters provide otherwise. If you were paid with a check that bounced, nothing was taken from you without your consent, so the question is usually BP 22 or estafa, not theft; see BP 22 vs estafa.

Talk to a lawyer if you are accused of theft, if you receive a subpoena, or before you file a complaint. A lawyer can check whether the facts are theft, qualified theft, robbery or estafa, how the value will be proven, and which bracket applies. If you cannot afford a lawyer, see Free legal help in the Philippines for the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) and other options.