WHEN THE USE OF ALIASES VIOLATES THE LAW

Iqbals alleged use of aliases violates law referring to the allegation of Davao City Representative Carlo
Nogales that the use of an alias by MILF Spokesman Mohagher Iqbal, apparently not his real name, in
official documents violates the Revised Penal Code and the Anti-Alias law which prohibit the use of
pseudonyms in public documents.
What is an alias?
An alias is a name or names used by a person or intended to be used by him publicly and habitually
usually in business transactions in addition to his real name by which he is registered at birth or
baptized the first time or substitute name authorized by a competent authority. A mans name is
simply the sound or sounds by which he is commonly designated by his fellows and by which they
distinguish him but sometimes a man is known by several different names and these are known as
aliases.
What is the objective of the law?
The objective and purpose of Commonwealth Act No. 142 (An Act to Regulate the Use of Aliases) is
to primarily curb the common practice among the Chinese of adopting scores of different names
and aliases which created tremendous confusion in the field of trade. Such a practice almost
bordered on the crime of using fictitious names which for obvious reasons could not be successfully
maintained against the Chinese who, rightly or wrongly, claimed they possessed a thousand and one
names. CA. No. 142 thus penalized the act of using an alias name, unless such alias was duly
authorized by proper judicial proceedings and recorded in the civil register.
Is the use of an alias automatically penalized?
Under C.A. 142, the use of a fictitious name or a different name belonging to another person in a
single instance without any sign or indication that the user intends to be known by this name in
addition to his real name from that day forth does not fall within the prohibition.
What are the relevant laws on false names?
(a) the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2002 which requires banks and other covered institutions to
establish and record the true identity of their clients based on official documents;
(b) the Revised Penal Code which penalizes the public use of a fictitious name for the purpose of
concealing a crime, evading the execution of a judgment, or causing of damage (1st paragraph, Art

178), the concealment of a persons true name and other personal circumstances (2nd paragraph,
Art. 178), and the act of defrauding another by using a fictitious name (4th paragraph, Art. 315);
(c) the Civil Code of the Philippines which prohibits the use of different names and surnames, except for
pen and stage names (Art. 379 and 380);
(d) the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 which penalizes any individual who shall be evade the
immigration laws by appearing under an assumed or fictitious name (Sec. 45);
(e) the Tax Reform Act of 1997, as amended, which made it unlawful for any person to enter any false or
fictitious name in a taxpayers books of accounts or records;
(f) Presidential Decree No. 1829, which penalizes any individual who shall knowingly or willfully
obstruct, impede, frustrate or delay the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and
prosecution of criminal cases by publicly using a fictitious name for the purpose of concealing a
crime evading prosecution or the execution of a judgment, or concealing his true name and other
personal circumstances for the same purpose (Sec. 1[d]); and
(g) Commonwealth Act No. 142, as amended by RA No. 6085, which penalizes any person who shall use
any name different from the one with which he was registered at birth in the office of the local civil registry,
or with which he was baptized for the first time, or with which he was registered in the Bureau of
Immigration, or such substitute name as may have been authorized by a competent court (Sec. 1);
Art. 178. Using fictitious name and concealing true name. The penalty of arresto mayor and a fine
not to exceed 500 pesos shall be imposed upon any person who shall publicly use a fictitious name for
the purpose of concealing a crime, evading the execution of a judgment or causing damage.
Any person who conceals his true name and other personal circumstances shall be punished by
arrestomenor or a fine not to exceed 200 pesos.
The anti-alias law, on the other hand, is Commonwealth Act No. 142 (An Act to Regulate the Use of
Aliases), as amended by Republic Act No. 6085, which provides:
Sec. 1. Except as a pseudonym solely for literary, cinema, television, radio or other entertainment
purposes and in athletic events where the use of pseudonym is a normally accepted practice, no
person shall use any name different from the one with which he was registered at birth in the office of the
local civil registry, or with which he was baptized for the first time, or, in case of an alien, with which he
was registered in the bureau of immigration upon entry; or such substitute name as may have been
authorized by a competent court.

Sec. 2. Any person desiring to use an alias shall apply for authority therefor in proceedings like
those legally provided to obtain judicial authority for a change of name, and no person shall be allowed
to secure such judicial authority for more than one alias. The petition for an alias shall set forth the
persons baptismal and family name and the name recorded in the civil registry, if different; his immigrants
name, if an alien; and his pseudonym;if he has such names other than his original or real name,
specifying the reason or reasons for the use of the desired alias.The judicial authority for the use
of alias, the Christian name and the alien immigrants name shall be recorded in the proper local
civil registry, and no person shall use any name or names other than his original or real name unless the
same is or are duly recorded in the proper local civil registry.
Sec. 3. No person having been baptized with a name different from that with which he was registered at
birth in the local civil registry; or in case of an alien registered in the bureau of immigration upon entry; or
any person who obtained judicial authority to use an alias; or who uses a pseudonym, shall represent
himself in any public or private transaction or shall sign or execute any public or private
document without stating or affixing his real or original name and all names or aliases or
pseudonym he is or may have been authorized to use.
Sec. 5. Any violation of this Act shall be punished with imprisonment of from one year to five years and a
fine of P5,000 to P10,000.
PEOPLE VS. ERAP

April 2, 2009

Sections 1 and 2 of CA No. 142, as amended, read:

Section 1. Except as a pseudonym solely for literary, cinema, television, radio or other entertainment
purposes and in athletic events where the use of pseudonym is a normally accepted practice, no person
shall use any name different from the one with which he was registered at birth in the office of the local
civil registry or with which he was baptized for the first time, or in case of an alien, with which he was
registered in the bureau of immigration upon entry; or such substitute name as may have been authorized
by a competent court: Provided, That persons whose births have not been registered in any local civil
registry and who have not been baptized, have one year from the approval of this act within which to
register their names in the civil registry of their residence. The name shall comprise the patronymic name
and one or two surnames.
Section 2. Any person desiring to use an alias shall apply for authority therefor in proceedings like those
legally provided to obtain judicial authority for a change of name and no person shall be allowed to secure
such judicial authority for more than one alias. The petition for an alias shall set forth the person's
baptismal and family name and the name recorded in the civil registry, if different, his immigrant's name, if
an alien, and his pseudonym, if he has such names other than his original or real name, specifying the
reason or reasons for the desired alias. The judicial authority for the use of alias, the Christian name and
the alien immigrant's name shall be recorded in the proper local civil registry, and no person shall use any
name or names other than his original or real name unless the same is or are duly recorded in the proper
local civil registry.
How this law is violated has been answered by the Ursua definition of an alias a name or names used
by a person or intended to be used by him publicly and habitually usually in business transactions in
addition to his real name by which he is registered at birth or baptized the first time or substitute

name authorized by a competent authority. There must be a sign or indication that the user intends
to be known by this name (the alias) in addition to his real name from that day forth for the use of alias to
fall within the prohibition contained in C.A. No. 142 as amended.
What is the coverage of the indictment?
At its core, the issue is constitutional in nature the right of Estrada to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation against him. Under the provisions of the Rules of Court implementing this
constitutional right, a complaint or information is sufficient if it states the name of the accused; the
designation of the offense given by the statute; the acts or omissions complained of as
constituting the offense in the name of the offended party; the approximate date of the
commission of the offense; and the place where the offense was committed. As to the cause of
accusation, the acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense and the qualifying and
aggravating circumstances must be stated in ordinary and concise language and not necessarily in the
language used in the statute, but in terms sufficient to enable a person of common understanding to
know the offense charged and the qualifying and aggravating circumstances, and for the court to
pronounce judgment. The date of the commission of the offense need not be precisely stated in
the complaint or information except when the precise date is a material ingredient of the
offense. The offense may be alleged to have been committed on a date as near as possible to the
actual date of its commission.
The information must at all times embody the essential elements of the crime charged by setting forth the
facts and circumstances that bear on the culpability and liability of the accused so that he can properly
prepare for and undertake his defense.
The heretofore cited Information states that on or before 04 February 2000, OR sometime prior or
subsequent thereto,(it speaks only of a single day) in the City of Manila, Philippines and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused willfully, unlawfully and criminally
REPRESENT HIMSELF AS JOSE VELARDE IN SEVERAL TRANSACTIONS AND use and employ the
SAID alias Jose Velarde which is neither his registered name at birth nor his baptismal name, in signing
documents with Equitable PCI Bank and/or other corporate entities.
Broken down into its component parts, the allegation of time in the Information plainly states
that (1) ON February 4, 2000; (2) OR before (not about) February 4, 2000; (3) OR sometime prior or
subsequent to February 4, 2000, in the City of Manila, Estrada represented himself as Jose Velarde in
several transactions in signing documents with Equitable PCI Bank and/or other corporate entities.
Under this analysis, the several transactions involving the signing of documents with Equitable PCI Bank
and/or other corporate entities all had their reference to February 4, 2000; they were all made on or
about or prior or subsequent to that date, thus plainly implying that all these transactions took
place only on February 4, 2000 or on another single date sometime before or after February 4,
2000. To be sure, the Information could have simply said on or about February 4, 2000 to capture all
the alternative approximate dates. The reading would have been very different had the Information simply
used AND instead of OR to separate the phrases.
The repeated use of an alias within a single day cannot be deemed habitual, as it does not amount to a
customary practice or use. This reason alone dictates the dismissal of the petition under CA No. 142.
On or before single date
On or about various dates
The issues of publicity
To our mind, the presence of Lacquian and Chua when Estrada signed as Jose Velarde and opened Trust
Account No. C-163 does not necessarily indicate his intention to be publicly known henceforth as Jose

Velarde. Lacquian was the Chief of Staff with whom he shared matters of the highest and strictest
confidence, while Chua was a lawyer-friend bound by his oath of office and ties of friendship to
keep and maintain the privacy and secrecy of his affairs. Thus, Estrada could not be said to have
intended his signing as Jose Velarde to be for public consumption by the fact alone that Lacquian and
Chua were also inside the room at that time. All of Estradas representations to these people were
made in privacy and in secrecy, with no iota of intention of publicity.
The nature, too, of the transaction on which the indictment rests, affords Estrada a reasonable
expectation of privacy, as the alleged criminal act relate to the opening of a trust account a
transaction that R.A. No. 1405 considers absolutely confidential in nature.
The contention that trust accounts are not covered by the term deposits, as used in R.A. 1405, by the
mere fact that they do not entail a creditor-debtor relationship between the trustor and the bank, does not
lie. An examination of the law shows that the term deposits used therein is to be understood
broadly and not limited only to accounts which give rise to a creditor-debtor relationship between
the depositor and the bank.
Section 2 of the same law in fact even more clearly shows that the term deposits was intended to be
understood broadly:
SECTION 2. All deposits of whatever nature with bank or banking institutions in the Philippines
including investments in bonds issued by the Government of the Philippines, its political
subdivisions and its instrumentalities, are hereby considered as of an absolutely confidential nature
and may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or
office, except upon written permission of the depositor, or in cases of impeachment, or upon order of a
competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials, or in cases where the money
deposited or invested is the subject matter of the litigation.
The phrase of whatever nature proscribes any restrictive interpretation of deposits.