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Statute
Philippine Revised Penal Code
Article
Art. 171
Topic
Falsification by public officer, employee or notary or ecclesiastic minister
Status
In force, as amended
Year
1930
Cited by
Multiple Supreme Court decisions

The provision

Art. 171. Falsification by public officer, employee or notary or ecclesiastic minister. — The penalty of prision mayor and a fine not to exceed One million pesos (₱1,000,000) shall be imposed upon any public officer, employee, or notary who, taking advantage of his official position, shall falsify a document by committing any of the following acts:

1. Counterfeiting or imitating any handwriting, signature or rubric;

2. Causing it to appear that persons have participated in any act or proceeding when they did not in fact so participate;

3. Attributing to persons who have participated in an act or proceeding statements other than those in fact made by them;

4. Making untruthful statements in a narration of facts;

5. Altering true dates;

6. Making any alteration or intercalation in a genuine document which changes its meaning;

7. Issuing in an authenticated form a document purporting to be a copy of an original document when no such original exists, or including in such a copy a statement contrary to, or different from, that of the genuine original; or

8. Intercalating any instrument or note relative to the issuance thereof in a protocol, registry, or official book.

The same penalty shall be imposed upon any ecclesiastical minister who shall commit any of the offenses enumerated in the preceding paragraphs of this article, with respect to any record or document of such character that its falsification may affect the civil status of persons.

Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms

Punishes a public officer, employee, or notary who abuses his official position to falsify a document, with imprisonment (prision mayor) and a fine of up to one million pesos. It lists eight falsifying acts—forging signatures, faking someone's participation, misquoting statements, lying in a narration of facts, altering dates, or changing a genuine document's meaning, among others. The same penalty covers a religious minister whose falsification can affect a person's civil status.

An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.

As amended: the fines and monetary thresholds in this provision reflect the amendments introduced by RA 10951 (2017).

Cases applying this article

Other Supreme Court decisions also apply this article.

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Reviewed by the Intellegal Legal Team for currency against amending laws and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Research aid — not legal advice. Verify the current text against the Official Gazette. Provisions may have been amended or repealed. Using this page creates no attorney-client relationship. For legal advice, consult a Philippine lawyer.