Short answer. Reclusion temporal. Article 161 punishes anyone who forges the Great Seal of the Government of the Philippines, or the signature or stamp of the Chief Executive, with reclusion temporal. It carries no fine, only this substantial prison term, reflecting how gravely the law treats counterfeiting the highest symbols of state authority.
What the law says
The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be imposed upon any person who shall forge the Great Seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands or the signature or stamp of the Chief Executive.
Revised Penal Code, Article 161 — Counterfeiting The Great Seal. Read the full provision →
The offense
Article 161 guards the most authoritative symbols of the State. It provides that the penalty of reclusion temporal shall be imposed upon any person who shall forge the Great Seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands or the signature or stamp of the Chief Executive. The crime consists in counterfeiting the Great Seal, by which the government authenticates its most solemn acts, or in forging the signature or stamp of the head of the executive branch, the President. These are the marks by which the nation's supreme authority is expressed, and imitating them falsely is treated as an attack on that authority itself.
The penalty is imprisonment, with no fine
The punishment fixed by the article is reclusion temporal, a lengthy term of imprisonment running into years. Notably, the article imposes no fine alongside it; the sanction is the prison term alone. This distinguishes it from many forgery provisions that pair imprisonment with a monetary penalty. The absence of a fine does not signal leniency, since reclusion temporal is among the more serious afflictive penalties; rather, it reflects that the offense is treated as a grave wrong against the State whose gravity is expressed through a substantial deprivation of liberty.
What is protected
Two things fall under the article's protection: the Great Seal of the Government, and the signature or stamp of the Chief Executive. The Great Seal authenticates official documents and acts at the highest level, while the President's signature and stamp mark decisions and communications emanating from the head of state. Forging either lets a wrongdoer clothe a false document in the appearance of the government's or the President's own authorisation. The article shields both from counterfeiting, keeping the symbols of supreme authority reliable and beyond imitation.
Why the law treats it so seriously
Counterfeiting the Great Seal or the President's signature is not ordinary forgery, because of what those marks represent. A document bearing a forged Great Seal or presidential signature could be used to command obedience, authorise action, or deceive on a national scale, trading on the trust that attaches to the highest office. By imposing reclusion temporal, Article 161 places this offense among the grave crimes, reflecting the danger that falsifying the emblems of supreme state authority poses to public order and to confidence in the acts of government.