Short answer. Two things, not one. He faces the same criminal penalty as anyone else — imprisonment, a fine, or both, at the court's discretion — and in addition suffers the penalties provided under civil service laws, rules and regulations. The section makes the administrative consequence cumulative.
What the law says
In addition, if the offender is a government official or employee he shall suffer the penalties provided under civil service laws, rules and regulations.
RA 9048, Section 9 — Imprisonment Fine Or Both. Read the full provision →
What the law says
A person who violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction, be penalized by imprisonment of not less than six (6) years but not more than twelve (12) years
RA 9048, Section 9 — Imprisonment Fine Or Both. Read the full provision →
'In addition' is the operative phrase
In addition, if the offender is a government official or employee he shall suffer the penalties provided under civil service laws, rules and regulations. The administrative consequence is not an alternative offered to officials in place of prosecution, and it is not a discount. It is layered on top of the ordinary penalty, which for everyone is A person who violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction, be penalized by imprisonment of not less than six (6) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or a fine, or both, at the court's discretion. The official is exposed to the whole of that and to the civil service track as well.
The Act incorporates rather than enumerates
Notice what the section does not do. It does not list the administrative sanctions, set a range for them, or say which offence attracts which. It points at civil service laws, rules and regulations and adopts whatever they provide. So the answer to what an official actually faces administratively is not found in this statute at all — it is found in the civil service framework, which has its own catalogue of offences and its own graduated sanctions, and which is applied by a different body from the court hearing the criminal case.
Two proceedings, two standards
The criminal liability attaches upon conviction, which means the full criminal standard of proof and a trial. The administrative case is a distinct proceeding with its own procedure and its own, lower, evidentiary threshold. Because the Act treats them as cumulative rather than sequential, an official should not assume that one outcome disposes of the other, in either direction. For the person who lodged the complaint, this is worth knowing too: the administrative route is generally the faster of the two, and it is where the officer's continued handling of records is actually addressed.
What conduct is in view
The penalty binds a person who violates any of the provisions of this Act, so for a registrar or consular officer the exposure tracks the duties the statute gives him: correcting an entry outside the two categories the law permits, acting on a petition without the supporting documents it requires, skipping the posting or the publication, or failing to transmit the decision and records to the Office of the Civil Registrar General. Each of those safeguards exists because this process replaces a judge, and the penalty clause is what makes them more than advice.
Related provisions
- RA 9048, Section 1 — Correction Without A Court
- RA 9048, Section 5 — Form Contents And Publication
- RA 9048, Section 6 — Posting Decision And Transmittal
- RA 9048, Section 9 — Imprisonment Fine Or Both