President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure increasing the penalty for perjury.
Perjury is the deliberate or intentional giving of false evidence in the court where the evidence is material.
Duterte signed Republic Act 11594 on Oct. 29.
According to the new law, perjury is punishable with prision mayor in its minimum period (from six years and one day to eight years) to its medium period (from eight years and one day to 10 years).
If the individual charged is a public officer or employee, the penalty would be P1,000,000 and perpetual absolute disqualification from holding any government position.
The previous maximum penalty for perjury was imprisonment of two years and two months.
The new law also added the word “willfully” in Article 184, which describes the act of offering false testimonies in evidence. John Ezekiel J. Hirro