FALSE DECLARATIONS – Lying about your credentials can land you in jail

According to popular employment website Jobstreet.com, it is fairly common for job seekers to declare false information in their resumes. People routinely do that through various means – from declaring unearned degrees, to playing fast and loose with dates to cover employment gaps, to making up jobs and titles entirely.

Consequences range from mere embarrassment, to having a job offer withdrawn, or worse, getting fired from your work if the lie was discovered after the applicant has been hired. What’s not widely known is the fact that in the Philippines, job seekers can actually face legal liability for lying about their credentials.

Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code explains that estafa by means of deceit happens when people commit fraud “by using fictitious name, falsely pretending to possess power, influence, qualifications, property, credit, agency, business or imaginary transactions, or by means of other similar deceits.”

For its part, the Supreme Court upheld a conviction in connection to estafa by means of deceit in Franco vs People of the Philippines (G.R. 171328) which was decided in 2011. In that case, the SC ruled that the losing party be imprisoned from four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional as minimum to thirteen (13) years of reclusion temporal as maximum.

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Mark Pere Madrona

The Filipino Scribe (TFS) is managed by Mark Pere Madrona, a multi-awarded writer and licensed professional teacher from the Philippines.

Mr. Madrona earned his master’s degree in history from the University of the Philippines-Diliman last 2020. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in journalism cum laude from the same university back in 2010. His area of interests includes Philippine journalism, history, and politics as well as social media.

Know more about him here: https://www.filipinoscribe.com/about/.

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