Someone keeps threatening me by text and chat, saying they'll hurt me or my family. Is that a crime, and what can I do?

Why

Under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code, grave threats is committed by anyone who threatens another with inflicting on him, his honor, his property, or his family any wrong amounting to a crime. The penalty depends on the threat. If the offender demanded money or imposed any other condition, the penalty is tied to the crime threatened: one degree lower if he got what he wanted and two degrees lower if he did not, and imposed in its maximum period if the threat was made in writing or through a middleman. If the threat was not subject to any condition, the penalty is arresto mayor (one month and one day to six months) and a fine.

Lesser threats have their own articles. Article 283 (light threats) covers a threat to commit a wrong that is not a crime, made with a demand or condition, and is punished by arresto mayor. Article 285 (other light threats) covers threatening someone with a weapon or drawing a weapon in a quarrel other than in lawful self-defense, orally threatening harm that is not a crime, and threats made in the heat of anger that the person does not persist in. Under Article 284, a court may also require the person who made grave or light threats to post a bond not to molest the person threatened.

Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175) covers crimes under the Revised Penal Code committed by, through, and with the use of information and communications technologies, and imposes a penalty one degree higher. Threats that are gender-based, sexual, or misogynistic, or that come with cyberstalking or incessant messaging, may also be gender-based online sexual harassment under Section 12 of the Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313), which the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group receives complaints for. If the person threatening you is your husband, ex-partner, boyfriend, or the father of your child, threatening to cause you or your child physical harm is also violence against women and their children under Section 5 of RA 9262, and you can ask for a protection order.

Timing matters. Under Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code, light offenses such as other light threats under Article 285 prescribe in just two months, while offenses punishable by arresto mayor prescribe in five years. Threats between neighbors or acquaintances living in the same city or municipality may first have to go through barangay conciliation under RA 7160 when the penalty is low. Threats punished more heavily, including many online threats because of RA 10175's one-degree increase, fall outside the barangay's authority and go straight to the prosecutor.

Your evidence is usually the messages themselves. Keep the original phone or account, and do not delete the conversation even after taking screenshots, because investigators and prosecutors may need to confirm that the messages are real and came from the sender's number or account.