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Article 161. Counterfeiting the Great Seal

of the Government of the Philippine

Islands, Forging the Signature or Stamp

of the Chief Eecutive

Acts punished

1. Forging the great seal of the Governmentof the Philippines;

2. Forging the signature of the President;

3. Forging the stamp of the President.

When in a State document, the signature of

the President is forged, the crime is not

falsification of public document. t isforging the signature of the !hief e"ecutive.

#he Signature of the !hief e"ecutive must

be forged. f !hief $"ecutive left %ith his

secretar& a signature in blan' and adocument is %ritten above it, the crime is

not under (rt.1)1 but Falsification b& publicofficer or private individual under (rt. 1*1

or 1*2.

Article 16!. "sing Forged Signature or

Counterfeit Seal or Stamp

Elements

1. #he great seal of the +epublic %ascounterfeited or the signature or stamp of

the !hief $"ecutive %as forged b& anotherperson;2. ffender 'ne% of the counterfeiting or

forger&;

3. -e used the counterfeit seal or forgedsignature or stamp.

ffender under this article should not be the

forger. ther%ise, it %ould fall under (rt1)1.

Article 16#. $a%ing and Importing and

"ttering False Coins

Elements

1. #here be false or counterfeited coins;2. ffender either made, imported or uttered

such coins;

3. n case of uttering such false or

counterfeited coins, he connived %ith the

counterfeiters or importers.

&inds of coins the counterfeiting of 'hich

is punished(

1. Silver coins of the Philippines or coins ofthe !entral an' of the Philippines;

2. !oins of the minor coinage of the

Philippines or of the !entral an' of the

Philippines;3. !oin of the currenc& of a foreign countr&.

When is a coin false or counterfeited/

if it is forged

if it is not authori0ed b& government

as legal tender if it is a spurious cop& imitation of

the design of a genuine coinImportation means bringing into port.mportation is complete before entr& at the

!ustoms -ouse.Uttering is passing counterfeited coins. tincludes their deliver& or the act of giving

them a%a&.

Former coins %ithdra%n from circulationma& be counterfeited under this article.

Article 16). $utilation of Coins

Acts punished

1. utilating coins of the legal currenc&,

%ith the further re4uirements that there be

intent to damage or to defraud another;2. mporting or uttering such mutilated

coins, %ith the further re4uirement that there

must be connivances %ith the mutilator orimporter in case of uttering.

Mutilation means to ta'e off part of themetal either b& filing it or substituting it foranother metal of inferior 4ualit&.

#he coin must be of legal tender in

mutilation. !oins of foreign countr& notincluded.

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*e+uisites of mutilation under the *PC

1 !oin mutilated is of legal tender;

2 ffender gains from the precious metaldust abstracted from the coin; and

3 t has to be a coin.

Article 16. Selling of False or $utilated

Coin, 'ithout Connivance

Acts punished

1. Possession of coin, counterfeited or

mutilated b& another person, %ith intent to

utter the same, 'no%ing that it is false ormutilated;

Elements

a. Possession;

b. With intent to utter; and c. 5no%ledge.

2. (ctuall& uttering such false or mutilatedcoin, 'no%ing the same to be false or

mutilated.

Elements

a. (ctuall& uttering; andb. 5no%ledge, re4uire that the

counterfeited coin is legal tender.Possession,ether actual or constructive, of

the counterfeiter or importer is not punished

as a separate offense.

Article 166. Forging -reasur or /an%

0otes or ther 2ocuments Paa3le to

/earer4 Importing and "ttering Such

False or Forged 0otes and 2ocuments

Acts punished

1. Forging or falsification of treasur& or

ban'notes or other documents pa&able to

bearer;2. mportation of such false or forgedobligations or notes;

3. 6ttering of such false or forged

obligationsor notes in connivance %ith the forgers or

importers.

Importation means to bring them into the

Phils %hich presupposes that the obligations

or notes are forged or falsified in a foreigncountr&.

Uttering means offering obligations or notes

'no%ing them to be false or forged W7such offer is accepted %ith a representation

b& %ords or action that8s that the& are

genuine and %ith an intent to defraud.6ttering forged bills must be %ith

connivance to constitute a violation of (rt.

1)).Notes and other obligations and securities

that ma& be forged or falsified under (rt 1))

are9

a. treasur& or ban' notes certificates,

andb. other obligations and securities

pa&able to bearer

Article 165. Counterfeiting, Importing,

and "ttering Instruments 0ot Paa3le to

/earer

Elements

a. #here is an instrument pa&able to

order or other documents of creditnot pa&able to bearer;

b. ffender either forged, imported or

uttered such instrument;Connivance is not required in uttering if the

utterer is the forger,

Article 16. Illegal Possession and "se of

False -reasur or /an% 0otes and ther

Instruments of Credit

Elements

1. (n& treasur& or ban' note or certificate or

other obligation and securit& pa&able to

bearer, or an& instrument pa&able to order orother document of credit not pa&able to

bearer is forged or falsified b& another

person;2. ffender 'no%s that an& of those

instruments is forged or falsified;

3. -e either :

a. uses an& of such forged or falsified

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instruments; or

b. possesses %ith intent to use an& of

such forged or falsified instruments.Intent to possess is not intent to use. Mere

possession alone is not a criminal offense. It

must be with intent to use.

Article 167. 8o' forger is committed

1. & giving to a treasur& or ban' note

or an& instrument pa&able to beareror to order mentioned therein, the

appearance of a true and genuine

document;2. & erasing, substituting,

counterfeiting, or altering b& an&

means the figures, letters, %ords, orsign contained therein.

Forgery includes falsification and

counterfeiting.Giving checks the appearance of true and

genuine document is forgery.

he essence of forgery is giving a documentthe appearance of a true and genuine

document.

Article 159. Falsification of :egislative

2ocuments

Elements

1. #here is a bill, resolution or ordinanceenacted or approved or pending approval

b& either -ouse of the egislature or an&

provincial board or municipal council;2. ffender alters the same;

3. -e has no proper authorit& therefor;

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to, or different from, that of the genuine

original; or

h. ntercalating an& instrument or noterelative to the issuance thereof in a protocol,

registr&, or

official boo'. of (rt

1*1, the la% re4uires that there be a genuinedocument %here the intercalation or

alteration is made changing its meaning. in other paragraphs, of (rt 1*1,

falsification ma& be committed b&

simulating or fabrication a document.

ounterfeiting and !eigning

n ounterfeiting,there must be1 an intentor attempt to imitate and

2 that the t%o signatures?hand%ritings, the

genuine and the forged, bear someresemblance to each other.

n feigning, there is no original signature,

hand%riting, or rubric but a forger& of asignature, hand%riting or rubric that does

not e"ist.

a'ing untruthful statements in a narrationof facts. #here must be a narration of facts

not of conclusion of la% and there must be a

legal obligation on the part of the accused todisclose the truth of the facts narrated.

#he perversion of truth in the narration of

facts must be made %ith the %rongful intentof in@uring a third person. f the document

falsified is a public document, %rongful

intent is not essential.

ltering #rue Dates

a. Aate must be essential.

b. (ltering dates in official receipts toprevent the discover& of

malversation is falsification.

c.Ma$ing alteration or intercalation

lteration %hich spea's the truth is notfalsification. #he alteration must affect the

integrit& or change the effects of the

documents.

Article 15!. Falsification 3 Private

Individual and "se of Falsified

2ocuments

Acts punished1. Falsification of public, official or

commercial document b& a privateindividual;

2. Falsification of private document b& an&

person;3. 6se of falsified document.

Elements under paragraph 1

1. ffender is a private individual or publicofficer or emplo&ee %ho did not ta'e

advantage of his official position;

2. -e committed an& act of falsificationunder (rt 1*1;

3. #he falsification %as committed in a

public, official, or commercial document orletter of e"change.

#here are four $inds of documents9

1 Public document in the e"ecution of%hich, a person in authorit& or notar&

public has ta'en part;

2 fficial document in the e"ecution of%hich a public official ta'es part;

3 !ommercial document or an&

document recogni0ed b& the !ode of!ommerce or an& commercial la%; and

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7#$9 Private document ma& ac4uire the character

of a public document %hen it becomes part of an

official record and is certified b& a public officer dul&

authori0ed b& la%.

Public document is broader than the term officialdocument. efore a document ma& be considered

official, it must first be a public document. ut not allpublic documents are official documents. #o become

an official document, there must be a la% %hich

re4uires a public officer to issue or to render such

document. $"ample9 ( cashier is re4uired to issue an

official receipt for the amount he receives. #he

official receipt is a public document %hich is anofficial document.

!ash disbursement vouchers are not commercial

documents.

ere blan' forms of an official document is not

itself a document. t is necessar& that the blan'

spaces be filled and the signature of the part&

authori0ed to issue it be %ritten b& another in the

counterfeited instrument. #he possessor of a falsified document is presumed

to be the author of the falsification. ut thispresumption is not applied %here the evidence is

e"tremel& doubtful.

Aamage or intent to cause damage is not

necessar& as the principal thing punished is the

violation of public faith and destruction of truth.

ac' of malice or criminal intent is a defense in

falsification of public document.

%lements under paragraph &

a. ffender committed an& of the actsof falsification e"cept (rticle 1*1*,that is, issuing in an authenticated

form a document purporting to be a

cop& of an original document %hen

no such original e"ists, or includingin such a cop& a statement contrar&

to, or different from, that of the

genuine original;b. Falsification %as committed in an&

private document;

c. Falsification causes damage to athird part& or at least the falsification%as committed %ith intent to cause such

damage.

ere falsification of public document is not

enough as it is necessar& that it must cause damage to

a third person or must be committed %ith intent tocause such

damage.

t is also not necessar& that the offender profited

or hoped to profit b& the falsification.

When the falsification is a necessar& means to

commit another crime, the t%o crimes form a

comple" crime under (rt. . 7ote that the documentfalsified as a necessar& means must be public, official

or commercial. #here is no comple" crime of estafa through

falsification of a private document because the

immediate effect of falsification of a private

document is the same as that of estafa.

Generall&, falsification has no attempted or

frustrated stage. ut there ma& be a frustratedfalsification if the falsification is imperfect. +e&es

Falsification of a Pu3lic document

Falsification of a Private document

ere falsification is enough. Pre@udice to

3rd person or intent to cause it is enough

!ommitted b& an& of the > means under (rt

1*1 !annot be committed b& the %a&s in par* B > of (rt 1*1

%lements under the last paragraph

n introducing in a @udicial proceeding :

1 ffender 'ne% that the document %asfalsified b& another person;

2 #he false document is in (rticles 1*1 or

1*2 1 or 2;

-e introduced said document in evidence inan& @udicial proceeding.

In use in any other transaction:1 ffender 'ne% that a document %asfalsified b& another person;

2 #he false document is embraced in

(rticles1*1 or 1*2 1 or 2;

3 -e used such document;

#he use caused damage to another or at leastused %ith intent to cause damage.

.

Article 15#. Falsification of ;ireless,Ca3le, -elegraph and -elephone

$essages, and "se of Said Falsified

$essages

Acts punished

1. 6ttering fictitious %ireless, telegraph or

telephone message;%lements

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1. ffender is an officer or emplo&ee of the

government or an officer or emplo&ee of a

private corporation, engaged in the serviceof sending or receiving %ireless, cable or

telephone message;

2. -e utters fictitious %ireless, cable,telegraph or telephone message.

2. Falsif&ing %ireless, telegraph or

telephone message;%lements

1. ffender is an officer or emplo&ee of the

government or an officer or emplo&ee of a

private corporation, engaged in the serviceof sending or receiving %ireless, cable or

telephone message;

2. -e falsifies %ireless, cable,

telegraph or telephone message.3. 6sing such falsified message.%lements

1. ffender 'ne% that %ireless, cable,

telegraph, or telephone message %as

falsified b& an officer or emplo&ee of thegovernment or an officer or emplo&ee of a

private corporation, engaged in the service

of sending or receiving %ireless, cable or

telephone message;2. -e used such falsified dispatch;

3. #he use resulted in the pre@udice of a third

part& or at least there %as intent to causesuch pre@udice.

#he public officer, to be liable, must be

engaged in the service of sending orreceiving %ireless, cable or telephone

message.

Private individual cannot be a principal

b& direct participation in falsification oftelegraphic dispatches under (rt. 1*3 unless

he is an emplo&ee of a corporation engaged

in the business of sending or receiving%ireless, telegraph or telephone message.

Private individual can be criminall&

liable as principal b& inducement infalsification of telegraphic dispatches.

Article 15). False $edical Certificates,

False Certificates of $erit or Service, Etc.

Persons lia3le

1"hysician or surgeon %ho, in connection%ith the practice of his profession, issues a

false certificate it must refer to the illness

or in@ur& of a person;C#he crime here is false medical certificate

b& a ph&sician.D

2"ublic officer %ho issues a false certificateof merit of service, good conduct or similar

circumstances;

C#he crime here is false certificate of merit

or service b& a public officer.D3"rivate person %ho falsifies a certificate

falling %ithin the classes mentioned in the

t%o preceding subdivisions.

C#he crime is false medical certificate b&private person or false certificate of merit

or service b& a private personD #he falsification of the certificate of large

cattle is not covered b& (rt 1*< but b& (rt

1*1 or 1*2. !ertificate of residence for voting

purposes is certificate of Esimilar

circumstances.

Article 15. "sing False Certificates

Elements

1. #he follo%ing issues a false certificate9a. Ph&sician or surgeon, in connection %ith

the practice of his profession, issues a false

certificate;b. Public officer issues a false certificate of

merit of service, good conduct or similar

circumstances;

c. Private person falsifies a certificatefalling %ithin the classes

mentioned in the t%o preceding

subdivisions.2. ffender 'no%s that the certificate %as

false; -e uses the same.

When an& of the false certificatesmentioned in (rt. 1*< is used in the @udicial

proceedings.

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