Short answer. Yes. Under Article 219 of the Revised Penal Code, a public officer who unlawfully leaves or attempts to leave the Philippines without first securing a Commission on Audit certificate that his accounts have been finally settled commits a crime, punishable by arresto mayor, a fine, or both.
What the law says
Any public officer who unlawfully leaves or attempts to leave the Philippines without securing a certificate from the Commission on Audit showing that his accounts have been finally settled
Revised Penal Code, Article 219 — Leaving Country Without Clearance. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to Two hundred thousand pesos
Revised Penal Code, Article 219 — Leaving Country Without Clearance. Read the full provision →
The offense in plain terms
Article 219 makes it a crime for a responsible public officer to skip his audit clearance before travelling abroad. The provision punishes Any public officer who unlawfully leaves or attempts to leave the Philippines without securing a certificate from the Commission on Audit showing that his accounts have been finally settled. Two points stand out. The officer must be one who is accountable — someone with accounts to render. And the crime is complete even on an attempt to leave; he does not have to succeed in boarding the flight for liability to arise.
Who this binds, and why the clearance exists
The article speaks to accountable public officers — those who handle public funds or property and must account for them. The Commission on Audit certificate is the state's assurance that the officer has squared his books before he places himself beyond easy reach. The word unlawfully matters: an officer who has in fact settled his accounts, or who is not an accountable officer at all, is not caught merely for travelling. The offense targets the accountable officer who leaves with his accounts still open and no clearance to show for it.
The penalty
On conviction, Article 219 imposes arresto mayor — a short term of imprisonment — or a fine, or both. The peso range now printed in the article was set by Republic Act No. 10951 (2017), which revised the fines throughout the Revised Penal Code: the fine runs from Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to Two hundred thousand pesos. Older copies of the Code still show the much smaller 1930 figures, so anyone quoting the fine should confirm they are reading the RA 10951 text rather than a decades-old reproduction.
What the article does not reach
This provision is narrow. It does not punish an ordinary public employee with no accounts to settle for taking a trip abroad, and it is not a general travel ban on officials. Nor does it, by itself, resolve any shortage or liability the audit might reveal — that is a separate matter under other laws. Article 219 addresses one specific wrong: leaving, or trying to leave, the country while accountable and uncleared. Settling the accounts and obtaining the certificate before departure keeps an accountable officer outside its scope entirely.