Title
Aquino y Velasquez vs. People
Case
G.R. No. 217349
Decision Date
Nov 7, 2018
Maria Fe Cruz Aquino was convicted for forging documents (marriage contract, birth certificates, driver’s license) to support U.S. visa applications, violating RA 8239. The Supreme Court upheld her conviction, affirming jurisdiction, due process, and sufficient evidence, modifying penalties under the Indeterminate Sentence Law.
forging documents
false documents
passport application

Case Summary (G.R. No. 217349)

Factual Background

The record showed that on or before the afternoon of November 3, 1997, Vice Consul Ted Archibal, of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the United States Embassy, received a call from the non-immigrant visa section, through a consular officer, because the documents submitted by a female applicant with two minor children were suspected to be fraudulent. The suspected documents included: three passports—Philippine Passport No. BB081492 under “Ma. Preciosa Cruz Aquino,” Philippine Passport No. CC628586 under “Kim Mariel Cruz Aquino,” and Philippine Passport No. CC673078 under “Leonore Coleen Cruz Aquino”; a Marriage Contract between Juanito T. Aquino and Ma. Preciosa Cruz; Certificates of Live Birth for “Kim Mariel Cruz Aquino” and “Leonore Coleen Cruz Aquino”; and a Philippine Driver’s License No. N02-97-097256 bearing “Ma. Preciosa Cruz Aquino.” The applicant was later identified as Aquino.

Archibal spoke with Aquino and then verified with the National Statistics Office whether the submitted documents existed. A certification dated November 3, 1997 stated that there was no marriage between Juanito T. Aquino and Ma. Preciosa Cruz, contrary to what the submitted Marriage Contract reflected. The Land Transportation Office also certified that the name “Aquino, Ma. Preciosa Cruz” did not exist in its records of issued licenses. After the verification, Archibal reported the matter to Interpol through National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Agent Mario Garcia, who proceeded immediately to the United States Embassy. Archibal then turned over the custody of Aquino and the documents to the NBI for further investigation.

Informations and the Charges

Seven separate Informations were filed before the Regional Trial Court of Manila, charging Aquino with three counts of falsification of passport-related statements under Section 19, paragraph (b)(1) of Republic Act No. 8239, and four counts related to forgery and/or use of forged passport or travel documents under Section 19, paragraph (c)(1) of the same statute. The prosecution’s theory, as expressed in the Informations, involved (1) making false statements in the passport applications to secure passports under the mentioned names with intent to use them for a United States visa application; and (2) forging specified documents as supporting documents for passport applications and using them in applying for a United States visa application.

In the Informations corresponding to Criminal Case Nos. 97-161311 to 97-161313, Aquino was charged with making false statements in passport applications bearing names of her and her children: “KIM MARIEL CRUZ AQUINO,” “MA. PRECIOSA CRUZ AQUINO,” and “LEONORE COLEEN CRUZ AQUINO,” allegedly to secure issuance of Philippine passports under those names and to apply for a U.S. visa. In the Informations corresponding to Criminal Case Nos. 97-161314 to 97-161317, Aquino was charged with forging and using documents as supporting documents in her application for a U.S. visa, specifically identifying a Marriage Contract, birth certificates, and a Driver’s License bearing the asserted names.

Trial Court Proceedings

After Aquino’s arraignment and the commencement of joint trial, the Regional Trial Court rendered a decision on March 6, 2009 finding Aquino guilty beyond reasonable doubt of all offenses charged. The trial court imposed, for the counts relating to false statements (Criminal Case Nos. 97-161311 to 97-161313), a fine of P30,000.00 and imprisonment of five (5) years each. For the forgery and use-related counts (Criminal Case Nos. 97-161314 to 97-161317), the trial court imposed a fine of P75,000.00 and imprisonment of eight (8) years each.

Aquino filed a Motion for Reconsideration on August 26, 2009, which the trial court denied on February 23, 2010.

Court of Appeals Decision and Partial Dismissal

On appeal, the Court of Appeals modified the trial court’s decision on September 4, 2013. It dismissed Criminal Case Nos. 97-161311 to 97-161313 for lack of jurisdiction, holding that the Informations should have been filed in the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City, rather than Manila. The Court of Appeals reasoned that the offenses relating to false statements were committed in Pasay City where the passport applications were filed with the Department of Foreign Affairs Office located at Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

The Court of Appeals explained the jurisdictional defect by underscoring that criminal jurisdiction is determined by the allegations in the information and that, as established by evidence, Aquino’s acts connected with the passport-related false statements were already “fait accompli” at the time she and the children applied for visas at the United States Embassy. Thus, it considered the “proper offense” to be the use or attempted use of passports secured by false statements, instead of the making of false statements, at least for purposes of the jurisdictional theory presented.

However, the Court of Appeals affirmed Aquino’s liability for the forgery-related counts under Section 19, paragraph (c)(2), Republic Act No. 8239, corresponding to Criminal Case Nos. 97-161314 to 97-161317, while reducing the fine and imprisonment to P60,000.00 and six (6) years, respectively. The Court of Appeals held that despite an error in the designation of the offense in the Informations—attributed to the prosecutor’s mislabeling—the Informations still effectively alleged the facts constituting the crime for conviction. It emphasized that what controls is not the title or designation of the offense but the recital of facts in the information, supported by proof at trial. It held that the prosecution established beyond reasonable doubt that Aquino forged documents related to the passport applications and used the forged documents to secure U.S. visas. It also held that the trial court had jurisdiction because one essential ingredient, namely the act of using the forged documents, was perpetrated in Manila.

On March 19, 2015, the Court of Appeals denied Aquino’s Motion for Partial Reconsideration.

Issues Raised on Petition for Review

Aquino challenged her conviction and alleged violations of constitutional rights. Her Petition raised issues that included alleged denial of due process and the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, and the contention that the documents presented—marriage contract, birth certificates, and driver’s license/LTO record—were not the types of documents punished under Section 19, paragraph (c) of Republic Act No. 8239. She also argued that her conduct in using allegedly forged documents for visa application did not constitute an offense, and that there was no proof of forgery for at least one of the documents.

Aquino further maintained that the Informations and the evidence failed to establish the specific elements required under the paragraph under which she was convicted, and she attacked the sufficiency and admissibility of certifications from government offices, asserting hearsay, violation of the best evidence rule, failure of authentication, and lack of testimony from the National Statistics Office and the Land Transportation Office officials to categorically state that the subject documents were forged.

Supreme Court’s Disposition and Reasoning on the Charged Offense

The Supreme Court denied the Petition for Review. It held that Aquino’s principal arguments were largely unavailing because the Information, read as a whole, sufficiently alleged the elements of the offense under Section 19, paragraph (c)(1), Republic Act No. 8239, as the trial and appellate courts recognized in their evaluation of the facts.

The Court applied the variance doctrine. It reiterated that the designation of the offense and the citation of the law were not controlling. What controlled was the recital of facts in the body of the Information with sufficient certainty to constitute an offense and to apprise the accused of the charge. Thus, even if the Information’s designation was inaccurate, that error did not vitiate the indictment where the facts alleged and proved established the elements of the criminal act.

The Court found that the Information alleged “use” of forged supporting documents in Aquino’s application for a U.S. visa, and that the pleading was couched in a parallel structure that included this “use” component. The Court also rejected Aquino’s assertion that due process was violated because the Information only alleged forgery and not “willful, unlawful and felonious use.” It held that the Information’s allegations already included the act of “used” the forged documents as supporting documents in the visa application.

The Court then addressed the elements of Section 19, paragraph (c)(1), Republic Act No. 8239: first, that the accused forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered any passport or travel document or any passport validly issued which had become void by a condition prescribed by law; and second, that the accused used, uses, or attempts to use, or furnishes to another for use, such false, forged, counterfeited, mutilated or altered passport or travel document or passport validly issued which had become void by the occurrence of a condition prescribed by law. The Court held that these elements were present in the evidence: Aquino submitted false supporting documents for passport applications, including those of her and her children, and she then used the fraudulently obtained passports and false supporting documents to apply for U.S. visas. The Court treated these acts as consummated at the time Aquino applied for the U.S. visas while possessing and using the fraudulently obtained passports and supporting documents, notwithstanding Aquino’s claim that she was applying for a U.S. visa and not for a Philippine passport at the time she was apprehended.

The Court further held that Aquino’s jurisdictional contention failed. It emphasized that while the prosecution associated certain transactions with the D

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