A law in the Philippines that punishes anyone who annoys another person has made to a website’s list

of weirdest laws in the world.

A provision in the Philippines’ Revised Penal Code (RPC) punishing “unjust vexation” has been included
in a list of “craziest laws in the world,” published by RVCJ Media, one of India’s leading websites on
viral content.

Unjust vexation is a crime based on Article 287 of the RPC, which states that “any other coercion of
unjust vexation shall be punished by arresto menor or a fine ranging from PHP5 (US$.10) to
PHP200(US$4) , or both.”

Seizing the belongings of a debtor to pay for his or her debt is also punishable under Article 287: “Any
person, who by means of violence shall seize anything belonging to his debtor for the purpose of
applying the same to the payment of the debt, shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor in its minimum
period and a fine equivalent to the value of the thing, but in no case less than PHP75 (US$1.50).The
defense counsel manifested in open court that he is moving for the waiver of the reading of
Information and that the accused will enter a plea of guilty to the offense charged.

The court checked the voluntariness of the plea of guilty and the accused confirmed that he
is indeed pleading guilty to the lesser offense of Unjust Vexation.

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered finding the accused, Arnold Ramirez, guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of the crime of UNJUST VEXATION under Art. 287 (2) of the Revised Penal Code, and
he is hereby sentenced to pay a fine of 200 pesos.

The court notes that the incident took place in 2016 before the effectivity of RA 10951.