19/11/2025
Yes. In Philippine criminal law, a prank can lead to criminal liability, even imprisonment, especially when it results in injury. This is where the principle of “praeter intentionem” becomes relevant.
Praeter intentionem means that the injurious result is greater than that intended by the offender. In other words, you didn’t mean for something really bad to happen, but because it did, the law will still hold you responsible.
When you perform a prank meant to annoy, embarrass, or “just have fun,” you are already treading into the territory of Unjust Vexation. This crime punishes acts that are annoying, irritating, disturbing, or humiliating, even if no serious harm was intended.
Now, if your prank leads to something more serious, for example, the victim slips on the floor, hits their head, and sustains serious physical injuries, your liability increases.
At this point, the law does not look at what you intended (which may have been just to annoy), but at the actual result of your acts.
Therefore, you may be criminally liable for Serious Physical Injuries because that is the felony actually committed.
However, you will be entitled to the mitigating circumstance of not having intended to commit so grave a wrong as that which you committed.
This means the court may reduce your penalty, but it does not erase your criminal liability. You are still answerable for the consequences of your act.
In short:
👉🏻Yes, you can be imprisoned for a prank if it causes harm or injury.
👉🏻Your lack of intention to harm is not a defense, it is only a mitigating factor.
👉🏻Criminal liability attaches to the wrong actually committed, not merely to what you intended.
So kahit prank lang yan, kung may nasaktan, may pananagutan ka pa rin sa batas at pwede ka parin makulong.
