Short answer. Arresto mayor in its maximum period to prisión correccional in its minimum period and a fine of up to two hundred thousand pesos. Article 174 punishes a physician or surgeon who, in connection with his practice, issues a false certificate. The fine comes from Republic Act No. 10951; a private person who falsifies such a certificate faces arresto mayor.
What the law says
Any physician or surgeon who, in connection with the practice of his profession, shall issue a false certificate
Revised Penal Code, Article 174 — False Certificates. Read the full provision →
The offense
A medical certificate carries weight precisely because a physician's professional word stands behind it. Article 174 punishes the abuse of that trust, reaching any physician or surgeon who, in connection with the practice of his profession, shall issue a false certificate. The offense lies in a doctor putting his professional authority behind a certificate he knows to be false, whether about a person's health, fitness, cause of death, or similar matters. It is the falsity, coupled with the professional capacity in which the certificate is issued, that the law punishes.
The penalty
For the erring physician or surgeon, the penalty is arresto mayor in its maximum period to prisión correccional in its minimum period, together with a fine of up to two hundred thousand pesos. The peso ceiling on that fine reflects the revision made by Republic Act No. 10951 in 2017, so the current amount comes from that law rather than the Code's original figure. The punishment combines a period of imprisonment with a monetary penalty, marking the seriousness of a professional lending false certification.
Public officers and private persons too
Article 174 is not limited to doctors. It also punishes a public officer who issues a false certificate of merit or service, of good conduct, or of similar circumstances, on the same penalty as the physician. And it provides that a private person who falsifies a certificate of the kinds mentioned faces the penalty of arresto mayor. So the provision guards several categories of certificates whose truth people rely on, and it reaches the professional, the official, and the ordinary private forger, each according to the terms the article sets.
Why false certificates are punished
Certificates issued by doctors and officials are trusted shortcuts: employers, courts, agencies, and individuals act on them without independently verifying the underlying facts. A false medical certificate can excuse absences, support fraudulent claims, or mislead a court, and a false certificate of merit or good conduct can secure undeserved advantages. Punishing those who issue or falsify them protects the reliability of documents society leans on. For a physician, the lesson is that certifying what he knows to be untrue, in connection with his practice, is a criminal act, not a mere favour.