Title
Pacasum vs. People
Case
G.R. No. 180314
Decision Date
Apr 16, 2009
Public officer falsified employee clearance to claim salary, forging a colleague's signature; Supreme Court upheld conviction based on circumstantial evidence.
falsification of public documents
signature forgery
imitating signature

Case Summary (G.R. No. 180314)

Factual Background

Normallah A. Pacasum, then Regional Secretary of the Department of Tourism, ARMM, caused the preparation of an Employees Clearance dated about August 2000 in apparent compliance with a memorandum of Nur Misuari dated 8 August 2000 directing liquidation of outstanding cash advances. The Employees Clearance bore a signature purportedly of Laura Y. Pangilan, Supply Officer I, which the latter denied. The original Employees Clearance was examined by Subaida K. Pangilan, Human Resource Management Officer V, who also concluded the signature was not that of Laura Y. Pangilan. The bearer who presented the original was identified as a niece and staff member of petitioner, referred in the records as Marie Cris or Maricris Batuampar.

Charges and Issues Framed at Pretrial

Petitioner was charged with falsification of a public document under Article 171, paragraph 1, Revised Penal Code, accused of imitating the signature of Laura Y. Pangilan in order to claim salary for August and September 2000. The parties’ agreed issues were whether petitioner falsified the Employees Clearance by imitating Laura Y. Pangilan’s signature and whether petitioner took advantage of her official position in committing the crime.

Prosecution’s Case

The prosecution presented three witnesses: Subaida K. Pangilan, who inspected the original Employees Clearance and recognized that the signature attributed to Laura Y. Pangilan was not genuine; Laura Y. Pangilan, who denied signing petitioner’s Employees Clearance, executed a joint complaint-affidavit, and certified the nonturnover of government property by petitioner; and Rebecca A. Agatep, a telegraph operator who testified to the transmission and receipt of telegram subpoenas sent by the Office of the Special Prosecutor. The prosecution offered numerous documentary exhibits including a photocopy of the Employees Clearance and related memoranda and certifications, all of which the trial court admitted.

Defense Case

Petitioner testified in denial. She asserted she did not herself affix or cause the affixation of Laura Y. Pangilan’s signature, that her assistant secretary Marie Cris handled the clearance, that she had no cash advances and therefore did not need the Employees Clearance to draw salary, and that Executive Secretary Randolph C. Parcasio told her she could receive salary because of reappointment. The defense also offered witnesses including Atty. Jose I. Lorena, who stated that the Misuari memorandum concerned only outstanding cash advances and that a COA credit notice, not an Employees Clearance, was the requisition for withholding salaries.

Evidentiary Proceedings and Original-document Issue

The prosecution did not produce the original Employees Clearance at trial. The record shows the prosecution served telegram subpoenas on petitioner and Marie Cris Batuampar ordering production of the original before the Office of the Special Prosecutor, but the original was not produced. The Sandiganbayan admitted the photocopy of the Employees Clearance as secondary evidence under the exceptions to the best-evidence rule in Rule 130, Sec. 3 and Sec. 6, concluding the original was in the control of the adverse party and reasonable notice to produce it had been given.

Trial Court Findings and Sentence

The Sandiganbayan found that the signature of Laura Y. Pangilan in petitioner’s Employees Clearance was falsified and that petitioner, although not shown to have done the imitation with direct evidence, was the material author or caused the forgery. The court applied the presumption that one who possesses and profits from a falsified document is the forger in the absence of satisfactory explanation. The court sentenced petitioner, with the Indeterminate Sentence Law applied, to suffer an indeterminate penalty of two years, four months, and one day of prision correccional as minimum to eight years and one day of prision mayor as maximum, and to pay a fine of P2,000.

Issues on Appeal to the Supreme Court

Petitioner challenged the Sandiganbayan decision for grave abuse of discretion, arguing that (1) the evidence did not support the conclusion that she benefited from the falsification and therefore could not be presumed its author, (2) the Misuari memorandum did not require her to secure an Employees Clearance to draw salary, (3) the photocopy of the Employees Clearance lacked probative value because the original was not produced, and (4) the trial court short-circuited her right to present additional witnesses thereby denying due process.

Supreme Court Ruling

The Supreme Court affirmed the Sandiganbayan’s conviction and denial of motions for reconsideration and new trial. The Court held that the critical issues were whether the signature of Laura Y. Pangilan was imitated and who imitated or caused the imitation. The Court found that Laura Y. Pangilan’s unequivocal denial of the signature established a prima facie case of falsification. The Court ruled that falsification of a public document is consummated by imitation or counterfeiting of a signature, irrespective of whether the falsified document was used to procure benefit; the question of profit is immaterial to the commission of falsification under Article 171.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court reiterated the elements of falsification under Article 171, paragraph 1, Revised Penal Code: (1) the offender is a public officer or employee; (2) the offender takes advantage of official position; and (3) the offender falsifies a document by counterfeiting or imitating a handwriting or signature. The Court found all elements satisfied: petitioner was a public officer who caused preparation of an Employees Clearance and thus had the duty, occasion, and capacity to intervene in the document’s preparation. On the question of whether the Misuari memorandum rendered the Employees Clearance irrelevant, the Court distinguished the memorandum’s effectiveness as to COA credit notices beginning 1 September 2000 and held the Employees Clearance remained the document in issue for the release of salaries prior to that date. The Court explained the legal distinction between falsification and use of falsified documents, observing that the falsification was completed upon imitation. The Court invoked the established presumption that, absent satisfactory explanation, a person found in possession of and who made use of a falsified document and who profited thereby may be presumed to be the forger, citing precedents relied upon by the trial court. The Court found petitioner failed to rebut the prima facie case and failed to present Marie Cris Batuampar as a witness despite ample opportunity; the failure to present her testimony was fatal to petitioner’s defense. The Court further held that the admission of the photocopy was proper under Rule 130, Sec. 3(b) and Sec. 6, because the original was under the control of the adverse party and the prosecution had given reasonable notice to produce it.

Evidentiary and Procedure Observations

The Court gave deference to trial-court determinations on witness credibility and the weight of testimony. It emphasized that denial, if uncorroborated, is of weak evidentiary value. The Court found the Sandiganbayan afforded petitioner repeated opportunities to present evidence, recounted the multiple resets and admonitions in the record, and concluded no denial of due process occurred. The Court also restated that in forgery cases courts may rely on circu

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