Legal basis and amendment made
- Section 1 amends Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.
- The amendment revises the penalty ranges and additional penalties for malversation of public funds or property.
Core offense and accountability standard
- Article 217 provides that any public officer who, by reason of the duties of his office, is accountable for public funds or property commits malversation when he does any of the following.
- The public officer must be treated as guilty if he appropriates public funds or property.
- The public officer is also guilty if he takes or misappropriates or consents to the taking or misappropriation of such funds or property.
- The public officer is likewise guilty if, through abandonment or negligence, he permits any other person to take the public funds or property wholly or partially, or if he is otherwise guilty of the misappropriation or malversation.
Presumption and burden of proof mechanism
- Article 217 establishes a presumption: failure of a public officer to have duly forthcoming public funds or property that he is charged with, upon demand by any duly authorized officer, is prima facie evidence that he put such missing funds or property to personal uses.
Penalties by amount involved
- Article 217 imposes a graduated penalty based on the amount involved in the misappropriation or malversation.
- If the amount does not exceed PHP 200, the penalty is prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods.
- If the amount is more than PHP 200 but does not exceed PHP 6,000, the penalty is prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods.
- If the amount is more than PHP 6,000 but is less than PHP 12,000, the penalty is prision mayor in its maximum period to reclusion temporal in its minimum period.
- If the amount is more than PHP 12,000 but does not exceed PHP 22,000, the penalty is reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum periods.
- If the amount exceeds PHP 22,000, the penalty becomes reclusion temporal in its maximum period to reclusion perpetua.
Additional mandatory penalties
- Article 217 requires that, in all cases, persons guilty of malversation also suffer perpetual special disqualification.
- Article 217 also requires a fine equal to the amount of the funds malversed, or a fine equal to the total value of the property embezzled.