Intent to gain is immaterial in falsification of public documents

Dear PAO,

I am a police officer. I issued a Temporary Operator's Permit (TOP) to my son who is a minor. One day, after my son met a minor accident, it was discovered during the course of the investigation that he had no driver's license. The fact that I falsified his date of birth to make it appear that he is of age was also discovered. May I set up lack of intent to gain or to cause damage to third persons as a defense to exculpate me from prosecution for falsification?Joland

Dear Joland,

To address your question on whether lack of intent to gain or to cause damage to third person may be set up as a defense in the criminal prosecution for falsification of public documents, we refer you to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Liwanag vs. People, (GR 205260, July 29, 2019), penned by the Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier, where the Supreme Court explained: