Blackmail, often synonymous with extortion, is a criminal act that involves threatening an individual to obtain money or other benefits.
It is also the “extortion of money from a person by threats of accusation or exposure or opposition in the public prints,…obtaining of value from a person as a condition of refraining from making an accusation against him, or disclosing some secret calculated to operate to his prejudice.”
The word “blackmail” is synonymous with “extortion” — the exaction of money either for the performance of a duty, the prevention of an injury, or the exercise of an influence. Oftentimes, it is extorted by threats, operating on fear, or by promises to conceal or offers to expose the weaknesses, the follies, or the crime of the victim. (Pena v. Aparicio, AC No. 7298, June 25, 2007)
The roots of the term “blackmail” trace back to 16th-century Scotland, where it referred to payments made to chieftains for protection against pillage. Over time, the term evolved to encompass various forms of extortion in different contexts.
Those who watched the award-winning theater production of “Hamilton” in the Philippines last year would have learned about the blackmail against the lead character, Alexander Hamilton. It was one of America’s earliest political sex scandals that involved blackmail.
In 1791, Hamilton, then America’s first treasury secretary as well as a married man, became romantically involved with Maria Reynolds, who was a young woman who claimed she needed money because her husband had abandoned her. However, Reynold’s husband reappeared on the scene and forced Hamilton to pay him money in order for him to keep quiet about the affair.
Legal framework against blackmail in the Philippines
The Philippine legal system tackles blackmail under several provisions of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Article 283 of the RPC punishes the crime of Light Threats. This crime is committed when any person makes a threat to commit a wrong, that does not constitute a crime, against someone, their honor or property, or his family, and demands money or imposes any other condition.
The penalty for the crime is Arresto Mayor, which is imprisonment of 1 month and 1 day to 6 months.
The elements of the crime of Light Threats are as follows:
- The offender makes a threat to commit a wrong;
- The wrong does not constitute a crime;
- There is a demand for money or that other condition is imposed, even though not unlawful; and
- The offender has attained his purpose or, that he has not attained his purpose
Note that in Light Threats, the wrong threatened to be committed upon the victim if they do not pay the money demanded or comply with the conditions does not constitute a crime.
In the case of Alexander Hamilton, the threat or blackmail against him was to expose his adulterous affair with another woman, which act of exposing the affair is not a crime in itself.
On the other hand, if the threat upon the person, or his honor or property or family, constitutes a wrong that is a crime, then the crime committed will be the more serious crime of Grave Threats.
The RPC also punishes the act of threatening 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. (Art. 356, RPC)
Aside from the foregoing crimes punished by the RPC, there is Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which provides for an increased penalty for crimes punished by the Revised Penal Code and special laws when they are committed by, through and with the use of information and communications technologies.
Blackmail, whether committed under Articles 282, 283 or 356 of the RPC with the use of electronic communications such as Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram or other electronic means — i.e. cyber extortion, carries with it the punishment of 1 degree higher than the penalty provided for in the RPC.
Notably, aside from the penalty of imprisonment, the offender may also be required to post bail guaranteeing that they will not molest the person threatened otherwise, they shall also be imposed the penalty of Destierro, i.e. banishment from a certain area.
Even lawyers must be careful in sending demand letters on behalf of their clients. In the administrative case of Pena v. Aparicio (AC No. 7298, June 25, 2007), a lawyer wrote a demand letter for his client against a company reiterating his client’s claim for separation pay. However, in addition to the basic demand, the letter contained a threat to the company as follows.
“BUT if these are not paid on August 10, 2005, we will be constrained to file and claim bigger amounts including moral damages to the tune of millions under established precedence of cases and laws. In addition to other multiple charges like:
- Tax evasion by the millions of pesos of income not reported to the government.
- Criminal Charges for Tax Evasion
- Criminal Charges for Falsification of Documents
- Cancellation of business license to operate due to violations of laws.
These are reserved for future actions in case of failure to pay the above amounts as settlements in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).”
The Supreme Court pointed out that the demand letter contained more than just a simple demand to pay as it contained a threat to file retaliatory charges against the company which have nothing to do with his client’s claim for separation pay. The letter was designed to secure leverage to compel complainant to yield to their claims.
Since the matter was an administrative complaint and not a criminal complaint for threats, the Supreme Court only sanctioned the lawyer with a Reprimand and a warning that a repetition of the same or similar act will be dealt with more severely.
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The author, Atty. John Philip C. Siao, is a practicing lawyer and founding Partner of Tiongco Siao Bello & Associates Law Offices, an Arbitrator of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission of the Philippines, and teaches law at the De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno School of Law. He may be contacted at jcs@tiongcosiaobellolaw.com. The views expressed in this article belong to the author alone.