THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LICERIO P.

SENDAYDIEGO, JUAN SAMSON and

ANASTACIO QUIRIMIT, defendants. JUANSAMSON, defendant-appellant.

FACTS:

Crime/s Committed - In these three cases of malversation through falsification, the prosecution's theory
is that in 1969 Licerio P. Sendaydiego, the provincial treasurer of Pangasinan, in conspiracy with Juan
Samson y Galvan, an employee of a lumber and hardware store in Dagupan City, and with Anastacio
Quirimit, the provincial auditor, as an accomplice, used six (6) forged provincial vouchers in order to
embezzle from the road and bridge fund for 57,048.23 pesos.

The lower court acquitted the auditor, Quirimit and found Sendaydiego and Samson guilty of
malversation through falsification of public or official documents. thus, Sendaydiego and Samson
appealed to this Court.

Defense of the accused - Samson denied the authenticity of his two signatures on each of the six
vouchers showing that he received from Sendaydiego the amounts covered thereby as representative of
the lumber and hardware firm and that he presented the vouchers to the provincial s treasurer 's office.
Sendaydiego testified that Samson's signatures are genuine.

Sendaydiego died on October 5, 1976. His appeal as to his criminal liability was dismissed. Death
extinguished his criminal liability remained.

Rule of Law – Malversation by private individuals

 Sendaydiego the provincial treasurer" Samson an employee of a hardware and lumber store"
and Quirimit the provincial auditor were charged with malversation with the first two as
principals and the last one as an accomplice.
 They use six vouchers to secure permits to release money for alleged repairs for abridge that
entailed purchase or lumber and hardware products.
 The vouchers needed to be signed by city engineers but it was proven that the signatures were
falsified
 Samson delivered the vouchers inside Sendaydiegos once where the latter paid in cash.
 Samson and Quirimit signed the vouchers. It would later be held that Quirimit is innocent and
was only doing his job to sign documents authorized by Sendaydiego
 It was contested in the lower court that Samson didn't sign the vouchers. Hand writing experts
testified that his specimen signatures and the ones on the vouchers were different. They then
found out that he used different signature on purpose but they were written by the same hand.
 Sendaydiego died during the pendency of the case. It easily was proven beyond reasonable
doubt that he was a principal. His estate is liable for indemnity

ISSUE:
Whether or not several falsification and malversation are separate offenses and thus constitute six
separate or distinct offenses.
HELD:

The crimes committed in these three cases are not complex. Separate crimes of falsification and
malversation !ere committed. These are not cases !here the execution of asingle act constitutes t!o
grave or less grave felonies or where the falsification !as used as ameans to commit malversation.In the
six vouchers the falsification was used to conceal the malversation. It is settled thatif the falsification !as
resorted to for the purpose of hiding the malversation, the falsification andmalversation are separate
offenses