Title
People vs. Enfermo
Case
G.R. No. 148682-85
Decision Date
Nov 30, 2005
Former NRCP employee Angel Enfermo convicted of malversation and falsification for misappropriating public funds, forging signatures, and misusing employee salaries.
malversation
falsification of public documents
double issuing checks

Case Summary (G.R. No. 148682-85)

Factual Background

The NRCP discovered bank reconciliation deficits for June, July and November 1993 that totaled overstatements of P80,000, P60,000 and P60,000. A fraud audit revealed double issuances of government checks, each covered by a single disbursement voucher. Two incidents produced the principal criminal prosecutions: first, double issuance of checks payable to Aurora Dacanay for P38,446.13 (original Check No. 0000163230-BB issued February 26, 1993 and a second Check No. 0000026186-CC issued May 19, 1993); second, double issuance of checks payable to Jose M. Bernaldez for P30,000 (original Check No. 0000096515-CC issued August 13, 1993 and another Check No. 0000026624-CC). The second checks were presented for encashment at the Paranaque branch of Land Bank of the Philippines and were cashed by appellant, who acknowledged receipt on the dorsal portion of the questioned checks. The prosecution alleged that the payees’ signatures on the second checks were falsified and that appellant misappropriated the proceeds. Separate payroll claims arose when employees Marie Christine Avanzado and Lanie P. Manalo did not receive salary and productivity incentive disbursements and testified that appellant admitted spending the funds and promised to reimburse them after they signed the payroll documents.

Trial Court Proceedings

The Office of the Ombudsman filed a dozen informations but many were dismissed for failure to present evidence; those dismissals survived certiorari review. The only matters tried against appellant were Criminal Cases Nos. 111086 and 111087 for malversation through falsification of public documents and Criminal Cases Nos. 111089 and 111091 for estafa through falsification of public documents, in which appellant alone was charged. The Regional Trial Court convicted appellant on all four counts, finding that appellant, by reason of his office, had responsibility for disbursement and encashment and had taken public funds intended for others.

Prosecution Evidence at Trial

The prosecution presented testimony establishing appellant’s position and duties from Alejandro Rodanilla. Accountant Luz Acosta Aramil testified to the unreconciled bank records and to the existence of duplicate checks. Documentary exhibits included disbursement vouchers, bank statements, copies of the questioned checks, and audit reports. The Commission on Audit resident auditor, Ma. Eugenia Rodil, testified to the results of the fraud audit. Avanzado and Manalo testified regarding their nonreceipt of salary or incentive and appellant’s statements that he had spent the money and would repay it. The National Bureau of Investigation prepared a handwriting examination reportedly matching appellant’s signatures on the questioned checks with specimen signatures, but the NBI officer who prepared the report did not testify.

Defense Contentions

Appellant denied committing falsification. He argued that the signature acknowledging receipt on the dorsal portion of the checks was his own and therefore he could not have forged his own signature; he contested the absence of direct proof that he forged the payees’ signatures and the failure of the prosecution to present the NBI handwriting expert to authenticate the report. He challenged the admission of photocopies of the checks given that the originals remained with the Commission on Audit. With respect to the payroll matters, appellant asserted that the employees had signed the payrolls, thereby effecting transfer of the funds to them and converting the money into private property that could lawfully be lent or used by others.

Court of Appeals Ruling

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s convictions but modified the penalties. The appellate court held that the prosecution proved the elements of malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code. The court rejected appellant’s contention that the NBI expert was indispensable, reasoning that nonexpert testimony by Accountant Aramil, who was familiar with appellant’s handwriting, sufficed under Section 22, Rule 132 to establish the genuineness of appellant’s signature on the questioned checks. The court applied the presumption recognized in Maliwat v. CA that a person found in possession of and who profited from a forged document is presumed to be the forger in the absence of satisfactory explanation. The court admitted photocopies of the checks because appellant had not objected formally during the prosecution’s offer of evidence. On penalties the Court of Appeals modified the sentences for the large amount malversations to reclusion perpetua and imposed indeterminate sentences for the smaller amounts in accordance with Article 217, paragraph 2, and the Indeterminate Sentence Law.

Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

Appellant raised assignments of error questioning (a) whether the checks were actually in his possession; (b) whether the signatures on the two questioned checks were his; (c) whether he falsified the signatures of Dacanay and Bernaldez; (d) the admissibility of photocopies of the checks; (e) whether the payroll funds taken were public funds; and (f) whether the penalties imposed in Criminal Cases Nos. 111086 and 111087 and in Criminal Cases Nos. 111089 and 111091 were proper.

Supreme Court’s Analysis on Possession, Forgery and Falsification

The Court held that the evidence established that the questioned checks were within appellant’s possession in the exercise of his official functions as disbursing officer. The signatures appearing on the dorsal portions of the questioned checks acknowledged receipt and were either appellant’s or attributable to him. The Court applied the presumption articulated in Maliwat v. CA that one who is found in possession of and who used a forged document and profited thereby is presumed to be the forger in the absence of satisfactory explanation. The Court found that visual comparison established that the payees’ signatures on the second checks were not genuine and that appellant, who presented and cashed the checks and received their proceeds, could not adequately explain those circumstances. The Court further held that the NBI handwriting expert’s testimony was not indispensable because Accountant Aramil gave lay testimony establishing familiarity with appellant’s handwriting under Section 22, Rule 132. The Court therefore concluded that malversation through falsification of public documents was proven for Criminal Cases Nos. 111086 and 111087.

Supreme Court’s Analysis on the Payroll Matters and Nature of the Funds

The Court rejected appellant’s argument that the payroll signatures converted the funds into private property before appellant used them. Relying on established authority exemplified by Director of Commerce and Industry v. Concepcion, the Court reaffirmed the rule that monies in the hands of disbursing officers remain public funds until actually paid over to the person entitled to them. The testimony showed that appellant took the funds prior to delivery to Avanzado and Manalo. The Court therefore held that the funds retained their public character when appellant appropriated them and that appellant’s use of those funds constituted malversation. The Court also explained that a misnaming of the offense in the information does not control; the factual recital determines the character of the offense, and the courts may properly convict for the crime established by the evidence even if the caption named a different offense.

Supreme Court’s Analysis on Admissibility of Photocopies and Handwriting Evidence

The Court sustained the admission of photocopies of the questioned checks because appellant failed to object during the prosecution’s formal offer of evidence and thus was deemed to have accepted their admissibility. The Court reiterated that expert handwriting testimony, while useful, is not mandatory where a witness acquainted with the handwriting testifies under Section 22, Rule 132. The Court therefore treated Aramil’s testimony as sufficient to corroborate authorship of the signatures attributed to appellant.

Supreme Court’s Analysis on Penalties

On the penalty for the checks involving P38,446.13 and P30,000, the Court determined that Article 217, paragraph 4 applies because the amounts exceeded P22,000, and that the penalty for the complex crime must be the penalty for the most serious offense applied in its maximum period under Article 48. The Court concluded that the proper penalty was therefore reclusion perpetua, which is an indivisible penalty to which the Indeterminate Sentence Law doe

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