Art. 178. Using fictitious name and concealing true name.

— The penalty of arresto mayor and a fine not to exceed 500

pesos shall be imposed upon any person who shall publicly
use a fictitious name for the purpose of concealing a crime,
evading the execution of a judgment, or causing damage.

-Any person who conceals his true name and other personal
circumstances shall be punished by arresto menor
or a fine not to exceed 200 pesos.
What is a fictitious
name?
Any other name
which a person publicly
applies to himself
without authority of law
is a fictitious name. (US.
vs. To Lee 35 Phil. 4)

I. Elements (using fictitious
name):
1. That the offender uses a name other
than his real name.
2. That he uses that fictitious name
publicly.
3. That the purpose of the offender is:
a. to conceal a crime;
b. to evade the execution of a
judgment; or to cause damage to public
interest.
Causing damage must be to public interest.
If the purpose is for causing damage, it
must be damage to public interest. If it is
damage to private interest, the crime will be
estafa under Art. 315, subdivision 2, par. (a).
Signing fictitious name in an application for
passport is publicly using such fictitious
name.
The signing of a fictitious name, i.e., Jalijali,
instead of To Lee Piu, in an application for
passport, is publicly using a fictitious name. (US
vs. To Lee Piu, 35 Phil. 4)
How to evade the execution of judgment or to conceal a crime
using fictitious name?

Where a person takes the place of another who has been convicted by final
judgment, that person is guilty of using a fictitious name punishable under Art.
178, and not of evasion of the service of the sentence, because the real convict
alone is guilty thereof.

It seems that such person is also liable for delivering prisoners from jail under
Art. 156, by helping the escape of the real convict by other means.

The prisoner who is replaced must necessarily use the name of

another, and in this case he is also guilty of using a fictitious name to evade the
execution of the judgment against him. And the one who takes his place has to use
a fictitious name to conceal the crime of delivering a prisoner from jail.

II. Elements (concealing true
name):
1.That the offender conceals —
a. his true name; and
b. all other personal circumstances.
2. That the purpose is only to
conceal his identity.
Distinctions between use of fictitious
name and concealing true name:
Use of Fictitious Name Concealing True Name
• Element of publicity must be • Element of publicity is not
present. necessary.
• The purpose in use of • It is merely to conceal
fictitious name is any of those identity.
three enumerated: (to conceal
a crime, to evade the
execution of a judgment, or to
cause damage).
 Commonwealth Act No. 142
(ANTI-ALIAS LAW) Regulating the
Use of Aliases,
was amended by Republic Act No.
6085
 Acts Punishable:

Using any name of different from the one with which a person was registered at birth in the office
of the local civil registry, or with which he was baptized for the first time, or, in case of an alien,
with which he was registered in the Bureau of Immigration upon entry; or such substitute name
as may have been authorized by a competent court.
 The instances when a second name can be used by an individual under the law:

1. As a pseudonym solely for literary, cinema, television, radio or other entertainment purposes, and in athletic events
where the use of pseudonym is a normally accepted practice;
Example: Jose Rizal, who used pseudonyms that included Dimasalang and Laong Laan;

2. When the use of the second name or alias is judicially authorized and duly recorded in the proper local civil registry;

3. The use of a fictitious name or a different name belonging to a single person in a single instance without any sign or
indication that the user intends to be known by this name in additional to his real name for that day forth.

For instance, if an actor uses an alias or pseudonym for cinema, he is not allowed to use the screen name for other
purposes. If the actor is going to run for public office, the use of screen name is prohibited unless a competent court
approves it.

The law's main objective is to put a lid on Chinese's common practice of using aliases, which brings confusion
especially in the business field. However, the use of alias is allowed when the name has been recorded in civil register and
authorized by proper judicial proceedings.
Summary:
 Case…

Example of violation of the Anti-Alias

THE UNITED STATES vs. TO LEE PIU
Law: G.R. No. 11522 September 26, 1916

Aside from the name "Ong Hick

Lian," appellee is using the alias ISSUE:
Ong." There is no evidence that appellee
has been baptized with
the later name or that he has been known WON To Lee Piu was guilty of crime using
by it since childhood, or that the court a false name.
has authorized the use thereof. Appellee
has, therefore, committed a violation of
the Anti-Alias Law. (Hock Lian vs.
Republic, 17 SCRA 188)

FACTS:
The appellant was charged with
crime using a false name.
He came to the Philippine Islands in
1911 and presented a section six
certificate, wherein his name appears as
To Lee Piu.
Thereafter, he attached to an
application for a passport the name of
Toribio Jalijali. Said application was
accompanied by the affidavits of two
witnesses and by a baptismal certificate
showing that a person by that name was
born in the Philippine Islands in 1878.
On the trial appellant signed the name Toribio Jalijali to the
application for a passport; he testified that he was born in the Philippine
Islands, that his name is Toribio Jalijali, that he went to China at an
early age, and, feeling doubtful as to his ability to prove his right to re-
enter, applied to the American consul at Canton for a section six
certificate; that, on such application, he stated to the consul that his
name was Toribio Jalijali.
The charge is prosecuted on the theory that To Lee Piu is
appellant’s correct name and that the name Toribio Jalijali is false.
It is contended on his appeal saying that:
"Upon the issue as to whether the two names were identical the
evidence is to the effect that To Lee Piu is the nearest that the word
Toribio can be written in Chinese characters, and that it is the way in
which a Chinese interpreter would naturally write such a word.
ISSUE:
WON To Lee Piu was guilty of crime using a false Desiring to return to China, or travel in other parts of the
name. world and, at the same time, be permitted to return to the
Philippine Islands at will, he sought to obtain a passport as a citizen
RULING: of the Philippine Islands under the sovereignty of the United States.

The Court found To Lee Piu guilty of the crime
of using a false name.
From the fact and circumstances in evidence it
appears established beyond a reasonable doubt that
the appellant used the name of another person for
the purpose of deceiving the Government and, by
that deception, to obtain a passport.
In order to accomplish his purpose it was necessary for him to
show to the authorities of the Philippine Islands issuing passports
that he was in fact a citizen of the Philippine Islands and as such
entitled to a passport. He thereupon took unto himself a Filipino
name, one not his own, and made his application for a passport
attaching to his application the name Toribio Jalijali.

He came to the Philippine Islands as a Chinese

person traveling for curiosity and pleasure, his
certificate stated that he was a Chinese person, and
that his name was To Lee Piu. He came to the
Philippine Islands upon those representations; and,
by virtue of the certificate obtained thereby, was
permitted to enter the country.
 Hence, the defendant’s statements are unworthy of credence,
RULING: that his claim that he was born in the Philippine Islands is false,
and that the name Toribio Jalijali now claimed by the defendant is
As to the different between the two names. To false and assumed.
Lee Piu and Toribio Jalijali, a single pronunciation
of, the two names serves to demonstrate beyond Elements (using fictitious Case Application
question their complete unlikeness. name):

It is true that the name Toribio when
pronounced by a Chinaman may sound like To Lee
Piu. But it must be observed, in the first place, that
the name assumed by the appellant and signed to
the application for a passport is not Toribio but
Toribio Jalijali; and, in the second place, that under
which he presented himself to the American consul
at Canton, was not Toribio nor Toribio Jalijali, but
To Lee Piu, thus clearly implying that he belonged
to the family or tribe of To, and, therefore, was not
of Philippine origin or birth.
1. That the offender uses a name
other than his real name.
2. That he uses that fictitious name
publicly.
That the purpose of the offender is:
a. to conceal a crime;
b. to evade the execution of a
judgment; or to cause damage
to public interest.
The appellant used Toribio Jalijali other
than his real name: To Lee Piu
The signing of the passport application
constituted the use of fictitious name
publicly.
To escape conviction of the use of
fictitious name, appellant stated under
oath in his application for a passport that
his name was Toribio Jalijali and that he
was born in Santa Cruz, Manila, on the
27th of April, 1878, to raise in the mind of
the trial court a reasonable doubt on the
subject.