Quisumbing indicted over false statements

Wesy Quisumbing, the scion of a prominent clan who is at loggerheads with his family, was indicted by the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor's Office for violation of the law on registry of civil status for allegedly making false statements when he claimed to be the father of fraternal twins born two years after he underwent sex transplant.

Assistant provincial prosecutor Marvin de la Peña recommended that two counts for violation of Section 16 of the Republic Act 3753, otherwise known as the Law on Registry of Civil Status, be filed against Quisumbing.

Provincial prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba approved the recommendation and ordered the filing of the case before the court.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Manila-based lawyer John Vincent Ocampo for two counts of falsification of public documents against Quisumbing after the latter claimed that he was the father of twins Michael Joseph and Sarah Giselle Bijuan Quisumbing.

Ocampo said Quisumbing made untruthful statements when he executed an affidavit on May 27, 1998 before the Municipal Civil Registrar of Consolacion for the delayed registration of birth and application for the issuance of birth certificates of the twins allegedly born on April 11, 1998.

Ocampo said he came to know about it because he worked as assisting counsel of Lawyer Raymond Fortun in connection with the cases filed by Quisumbing against lawyers Katrina Legarda and Iris Bonifacio.

Legarda and Bonifacio, who were former lawyers of Quisumbing, were sued for allegedly squealing on his business "secrets" and "list of assets."

Ocampo said it is impossible for Quisumbing to have impregnated the mother of the twins, Concepcion Bijuan, sometime in 1997 because he already had a permanent sex reassignment surgery in 1996, which means that his male genitalia, including the scrotum and testicles, were surgically removed and replaced with a female sex organ.

Ocampo said Quisumbing violated Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code when he made the untruthful statements that allegedly caused damage to the integrity of public records, the state and his own relatives.

But the prosecutor's office viewed it differently. De la Peña, in his recommendation, said that Quisumbing's false statements are more of a violation of the law on registry of civil status rather than a falsification of public documents.

De la Peña said his perusal of records of the certificates of live birth of the twins showed a discrepancy in the entry of the date of marriage of their parents. The record shows that the parents of Michael were married on October 18, 1989 while those of Sarah Giselle were married on October 19, 1989.

Quisumbing moved for the dismissal of the case because he merely acted in good faith and for the best interest of the children. He claimed he did not benefit from the alleged falsification of documents and no damage has been caused either to the government or to any person.

But according to the prosecutor, good faith and the absence of criminal intent are not valid defenses because the case is punishable under a special law. - Fred P. Languido