What does the law say about the use of aliases?
Individuals using aliases have been a popular topic since the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte showed receipts for her office's confidential funds bearing signatures of people with seemingly dubious names, sounding like food brands, fruits, animals, and Filipino phrases.
During the Sept. 7 impeachment trial, Philippine Statistics Authority assistant national statistician Marizza Grande was asked by the defense about whether the agency kept a repository of aliases.
"Aliases that have been judicially approved, na may authority na binigay 'yung court, meron pong record ang civil registry. In fact, we stored those that have been registered and annotated doon sa kanilang subject na birth certificate," she said.
As aliases continue to be brought up during the impeachment trial, an underlying question has come up about whether such alternative names can be used legally at all.
According to University of the East law professor Oscar Tan, citing the Supreme Court, "An 'alias' generally refers to another name a person uses, or intends to use, publicly and habitually in addition to his real name."
In which instances, then, will the law recognize the use of these other names?
Who can use aliases legally?
According to Commonwealth Act No. 142, or the Anti-Alias Act, as amended by RA 6085 in 1969, the regular use of an alias is prohibited "except 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..."
"Its basic purpose is to prevent confusion about a person's true identity by regulating the use of names other than the person's real or registered name," Tan told PhilSTAR L!fe.
Per SC, the Anti-Alias Law was inspired by Chinese nationals using different names for different transactions. "I assume they meant Chinese nationals, not Chinese Filipinos," the law professor said.
"However, not every isolated use of a false or different name is automatically a violation," said Tan.
The law dictates that if a person insists on using an alias outside of the entertainment and sports industries, they will have to petition for it through legal channels and specify the reasons why they want to use an alias.
Further, the law authorizes only one alias per person, if at all.
When circumstances demand an alias
There are legitimate reasons a person may want to use an alias, said Tan.
One reason would be that they are already commonly known by their alias. They may also need to use an alias to trace and connect records filed under different names; or they may just have been given court authority to use an alias.
"But even an authorized alias generally does not replace the person's real name," Tan told L!fe.
"The Anti-Alias Law states that, in a public or private transaction or document, the person must state his real or original name together with any alias or pseudonym he is authorized to use," he continued.
According to Tan, the law provides special cases where individuals are allowed to use aliases. Republic Act No. 6981, or the Witness Protection Act, is one such law, where an individual is entitled to a "change of personal identity".
Separate rules
On Aug. 5, former Commission on Audit–Internal Control and Fraud Audit Office auditor Roderick Wamil appeared at Duterte's impeachment trial as a witness for the prosecution. In reply to Sen. Bam Aquino's query on whether COA allows the use of aliases, Wamil said, "Based on the provision of the joint circular [No. 2015-01], it is neither allowed nor prohibited."
Tan said government agencies can have their own rules regarding the use of aliases. "COA can make rules on how it processes documents with aliases," he said.
"But agency rules cannot override a law," he added. "How an agency processes certain records would not override the Anti-Alias Law and its broader prohibitions."
As the conversation on the use of aliases progresses, the law remains clear in that aliases are only legal and acceptable under specific circumstances.
