MANILA - The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading a measure that imposes heavier penalties against perjury to "put an end to the practice of fake news and false testimonies."

With 20 affirmative votes and neither negative votes nor abstentions, the chamber approved Senate Bill No. 1354 which increases the penalty of lying while under oath to a jail term between 6 years and a decade.

Public officials who would commit perjury will also have to pay a fine of P1 million, and face perpetual disqualification from holding any appointive or elective position in government, according to the approved version of the bill.

"A solemn oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is exactly what it is: solemn," Lacson said after casting his vote.

"To desecrate the solemnity of that oath, and worse, with the deliberate and evil purpose of destroying other people’s lives whom they could have succeeded in putting away for the rest of their lives by their lies, thus denying them the basic and sacred right to freedom, is most detestable," he said.

Lacson said the passage of the stricter law on perjury became "personal" to him after he endured "9 long and tortuous years" after he was tagged in the Dacer-Corbito murder case.

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In 2000, former Supt. Cezar Mancao tagged Lacson as the mastermind of the murder of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

The former police chief-turned-senator went into hiding, until the Court of Appeals dismissed the murder charges filed against him in 2011.

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The allegations were "based on perjured sworn statements from characters obviously suborned by malevolent officials in the highest echelons of the government bureaucracy," Lacson said in his explanatory speech, noting that voted in favor of the bill with "very strong reservations."

"I can only pray that fate will not bring you there. But if and when it comes to that, I’m afraid you will look back and regret why you did not vote with me on this issue," he said.
The new penalties will not cover false statements made during congressional inquiries, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chair Richard Gordon said in an earlier statement.

"It might deter people from attending or make them very reticent about attending or giving testimonies," he said.

"Besides, Congress still has the power of contempt that we can exercise against those who will attempt to deceive us by giving falsehoods and we can also file criminal charges against them," he said.

The 2 chambers of Congress are expected to meet in a bicameral conference to tackle the measure once the House passes a counterpart bill.