(File photo)
MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the 10-year imprisonment of a man in Bukidnon province who was convicted of illegal possession and use of counterfeit money.
In a 12-page decision promulgated on Aug. 23, 2023 and published online recently, the SC's Second Division denied the petition of accused Allan Gacasan challenging the rulings of the Court of Appeals and the lower court on his case.
In December 2019, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 11 Judge Jeanne Marie Abarienttos-Sabio convicted Gacasan for illegal possession and use of false treasury or bank notes.
The accused had been caught in possession of 100 pieces of fake PHP1,000 bills and 25 pieces of fake PHP500 bills during a buy-bust operation by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Nov. 10, 2018.
The court rejected Gacasan's claim of ignorance of the contents of the envelope which he handed over to an undercover policeman.
The court also said his narrative that an unidentified person threw an envelope beside him remains uncorroborated.
Citing precedent cases, the court said “the burden to explain satisfactorily the possession of the counterfeit notes is on the accused.”
The SC said the RTC itself noticed that the accused’s defense showed he knew the illicit nature of the transaction.
“If Gacasan truly does not know about the illicit contents of the envelope, he would not have adamantly denied possession of a harmless envelope by his unsubstantiated claim of a stranger throwing it near his location,” it said.
The CA’s Cagayan de Oro Station on Dec. 9, 2021 affirmed the lower court's decision.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has the exclusive power and authority to issue coins and banknotes for circulation in the Philippines.
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.
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 ([email protected]) or telephone ([02] 8988-4833 or [02] 8926-5092). (PNA)
