SC affirms imprisonment for seller of fake money

THE Supreme Court (SC) upheld the rulings that sentenced a man to prison for illegal possession and use of fake banknotes.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, the SC’s Second Division denied the petition by Allan Gacasan that challenged the rulings of the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

In a buy-bust operation conducted in Bukidnon on 10 November 2018, the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) arrested Gacasan after selling fake banknotes to a confidential CIDG agent.

Gacasan was caught in possession of 100 pieces of fake 1000-Piso bills and 25 pieces of fake 500-Piso bills. Said bills were confirmed to be counterfeit upon examination by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The RTC convicted Gacasan for the crime of illegal possession and use of false banknotes under Article 168 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended. The CA affirmed the conviction, but Gacasan subsequently appealed the decision before the SC.

The BSP has the exclusive power and authority to issue coins and banknotes for circulation in the Philippines.

To protect and promote the integrity of Philippine currency, the BSP conducts joint anti-counterfeiting operations with law enforcement agencies, such as the CIDG, the primary investigation arm of the PNP.

Since 2010, the BSP has conducted 129 anti-counterfeiting operations that led to the arrest of 212 suspects and the confiscation of more than 46,100 pieces of counterfeit Philippine banknotes with a notional value of PHP35,427,000.00.

The BSP has filed 194 cases related to counterfeiting, 78 of which have been concluded, with 76 cases or 97.4 percent resulting in the conviction of the accused.

The BSP requests the public to report any information on currency counterfeiting to the nearest police station or to the BSP Payments and Currency Investigation Group through e-mail (pcig@bsp.gov.ph) or telephone ([02] 8988-4833 or [02] 8926-5092).