The Civil Service Commission (CSC) yesterday warned against the unauthorized use of its logo, stating that the act may be subjected to criminal prosecution and result in jail time.
The CSC said its logo has appeared in several civil service examination review materials and that this was done without its express authority.
“The CSC wishes to inform the general public that it has not given permission to any individual or entity to use its logo in such materials,” the CSC said in its advisory.
“It also does not sell reviewers or conduct review classes or give permission to any person or entity to undertake the same,” it added.
Unauthorized use of the CSC logo may be a violation of applicable laws, including Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code. The said provision reads:
“Article 177. Usurpation of authority or official functions. – Any person who shall knowingly and falsely represent himself to be an officer, agent or representative of any department or agency of the Philippine Government or of any foreign government, or who, under pretense of official position, shall perform any act pertaining to any person in authority or public officer of the Philippine Government, or any agency thereof, without being lawfully entitled to do so, shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods.”
The CSC added that Republic Act No. 9416*, also known as the Anti-Cheating Law, prohibits the unauthorized possession, use, reproduction, and any form of dissemination of examination materials, in whole or in part, by an individual, group, or review center, from an unauthorized source.
This means copying of examination questions, tearing any page of the test booklet, bringing home the test booklet or any of its pages, and other similar instances such as possession of test booklets by review centers, are not allowed.
The CSC said that these are considered acts of cheating punishable by imprisonment of not less than six years and one day but not more than 12 years, and a fine of not less than Php50,000.00. | CSC-PR
