G.R. No. L-4087
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. AMADOR BARRIOS, defendant-appellant.
March 12, 1908

FACTS:
In 1906, Amador Barrios served as the municipal treasurer of New Washington, Capiz, and concurrently as deputy provincial treasurer. In his official capacity, he was responsible for public funds and maintaining the municipal cashbook, where he recorded receipts and expenditures. On October 29, 1906, Barrios made several entries in the cashbook, purporting to show payments of P40.00 to Juan Oquendo (justice of the peace fees), P247.82 for municipal employee salaries, and P162.91 for police force salaries.

Upon inspection by Provincial Treasurer George P. Banner, it was discovered that these amounts, although entered as paid, had not actually been disbursed to the respective parties. When Barrios was asked to produce corresponding vouchers, he could not, and confessed that the amounts had not been paid. Further investigation revealed that Barrios had appropriated these sums for himself, forming part of a larger embezzlement. Another entry showed P66.66 paid to the municipal president, Florencio Melocoton, but only P34 was actually given, with Barrios withholding P32.

The provincial fiscal charged Barrios with falsification of a public document. The Court of First Instance of Capiz found him guilty and sentenced him to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of cadena temporal, accessory penalties, a fine of 250 pesetas, and costs. Barrios appealed the judgment.

ISSUE:
Whether Amador Barrios is guilty of the crime of falsification of a public document under Article 300, No. 4, of the Penal Code.

RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the lower court, finding Amador Barrios guilty of falsification of a public document.

The Court held that Barrios, taking advantage of his public office as municipal and deputy provincial treasurer, made false entries in the municipal cashbookan official public documentby recording sums as paid to the justice of the peace, municipal employees, and police force, when in fact he never paid them. Instead, he withdrew and appropriated these funds for his personal use, thereby preventing the truth from being recorded in the official accounts. His confession and the subsequent investigation confirmed that he converted the money to his own use, not due to lack of cash as he had initially implied. The Court found no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, thus imposing the penalty in its medium degree.

The Court affirmed the conviction and the penalty of cadena temporal, but modified the fine to 1,250 pesetas, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, given the nature of the main penalty.