Revised Penal Code · Forgeries

Article 171

Falsification by public officer, employee or notary or ecclesiastic minister

Amended
By RA 10951 (2017)

Current text, as of October 15, 2026

The penalty of prisión 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 of position shall falsify a document by committing any of the following acts:

1. Counterfeiting or using 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.

Consolidated by Alleba from the 1930 text of Act No. 3815 (Lawphil) and the amending Republic Acts in our library. Amendments made by Presidential Decrees, Batas Pambansa or executive orders are not yet included. For information and research only, and not legal advice. This text may not reflect later amendments. For certified copies, refer to the Official Gazette or the issuing agency.