PD 1829: Obstruction of Justice (promulgated by Pres.

Ferdinand Marcos)

Objective is to discourage public indifference or apathy towards the

apprehension and prosecution of criminal offender; it is necessary to penalize
acts which obstruct or frustrate or tend to obstruct or frustrate the successful
apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders.
Penalty (section 1): prision correccional in its maximum, or a fine ranging
from 1000 to 6000 pesos, or both
o Value this is because the decree was promulgated in 1976
Persons liable: any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes,
frustrates, or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and
prosecution of criminal cases (element number 1)
Punishable acts: preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal
proceeding or from reporting the commission of any offense or the
idsentity of any offender/s by means of bribery, misrepresentation, deceit,
intimidation, force or threats;
o RPC Art. 282 Grave Threats arrresto mayor and a fine not exceeding
500 pesos
o RPC Art. 286 Grave Coercions prision correccional and a fine not
exceeding 6000 pesos
o PRC Art. 210 Bribery penalty ranges from prision correccional to
prision mayor;
Altering, destroying, suppressing, or concealing any paper, record,
document, or object, with intent to impair its verity, authenticity,
legibility, availability, or admissibility as evidence in any investigation
of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;
o RPC Art. 171, 172 Falsification penalty ranges from prision
correccional to prision mayor and fine
violation of the integrity of the document
o RPC Art. 226 Infidelity in the custody of documents penalty ranges
from prision correccional to prision mayor and fine
Important note: if any of the acts mentioned herein is penalized by any other
law with a higher penalty, the higher penalty shall be imposed.
Harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of any person he
knows, or has reasonable ground to belief or suspect, has committed any
offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest, prosecution,
and conviction;
o RPC Art. 19 accessories
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 or
purposes;
o CA 142 as amended by RA 6085 Anti-Alias Law penalty is one year
to five years and fine from 5000 pesos to 10000 pesos
Cannot be charged for both anti-alias and obstruction of justice
because the penalties are the same

PRC Art. 178 Using fictitious name and concealing true name
penalty arresto mayor and fine not exceeding 500 pesos
Making, presenting or using any record, document paper or object with
knowledge of its falsity and with intent to affect the course or
outcome of the investigation of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;
o RPC Art. 184 Offering false testimony in evidence penalty is prision
correccional
Soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to accept any benefit in consideration of
abstaining from, discontinuing, or impeding the prosecution of a criminal
offender;
o RPC Art. 210 Bribery penalty ranges from prision correccional to
prision mayor
Offender is most likely a public prosecutor or officer
Threatening directly or indirectly another with the infliction of any wrong
upon his person, honor or property or that of any immediate member or
members of his family in order to prevent a person from appearing in the
investigation of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases, or imposing a
condition, whether lawful or unlawful, in order to prevent a person from
appearing in the investigation of or in official proceedings in criminal cases;
o RPC Art. 282 Grave Threats arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding
500 pesos
Giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law
enforcement agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the
life or property of the victim;
or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence (not
supposed to be disclosed yet) by investigating authorities for purposes of
background information and not for publication and publishing or
disseminating the same to mislead the investigator or the court.
Additional Penalty: if any of the foregoing acts is committed by a public
official or employee, he shall, in addition to the penalties provided
thereunder, suffer perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
In Posadas vs. Ombudsman (G.R. No. 131492, 29 September 2000), certain
officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) were charged for violating PD
1829 (paragraph c above). The UP officers objected to the warrantless arrest
of certain students by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). According to
the Supreme Court, the police had no ground for the warrantless arrest. The
UP Officers, therefore, had a right to prevent the arrest of the students at the
time because their attempted arrest was illegal. The need to enforce the law
cannot be justified by sacrificing constitutional rights.
o