By Noreen Jazul

A legal expert advised the public to write dates in full format on important documents.

In an interview with ABS CBN News Saturday, Department of Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said documents with abbreviated dates could be susceptible to tampering or alteration.

“Pag nilagay mo lang na ‘/20’ yung taon, pwedeng gawin siyang 2019 or pababa or pwede din pataas, 2021 onwards,” Perete said.

Perete said it would be better not to abbreviate dates, especially in documents such as deeds of sales, complaints and affidavits.

“Halimbawa yung isang tao nag benta in 2020, tapos namatay siya in 2021, para maging ineffective yung sale dagdagan ko lang ng 21 iyon, at the time na patay na siya tsaka lang nag benta,” he said.

“There are offenses that are prescribed in four months or in six months, four years, five years pag binago mo lang yung dates na iyon, the court will not listen to you anymore because parang sasabihin nila na napaso na iyong karapatan na dumulog sa korte,” he added.

Earlier, a post advising the public to write the year 2020 in full went viral on social media.

“While writing a date in upcoming year 2020, we should write in its full format, e.g. 31/01/2020 and not as 31/01/20., bcoz (because) anyone can change it to 31/01/2000 or 31/01/2019 or in between any year to his convenience. This problem will persist only this year, “ the post read.