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Criminals, Outlaws and Bandits of the Philippines

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Top Surnames

Alvero, Ampatuan, Anzures, Aquino and 16 others
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Profiles

Love 'em or loathe 'em, the "bad boys" and "naughty girls" of history have kept generations fascinated!

This sub-project aims to organize genealogical data on notable personalities with Filipino ancestry, convicted of criminal acts or bandits pursued by the law. Find more at the master project page, Families of the Philippines.

Image: Macario Sakay (third from left, front row) was declared President of the Tagalog Republic -- one of two movements which fought the Spanish and the Americans. Sakay was photographed with his Cabinet: (first row, L-R) Julián Montalan, Francisco Carreon, Sakay, Lucio de Vega (second row, L-R) León Villafuerte, Benito Natividad.

WARNING: Please, do not add profiles into this project if their appeal against their conviction is still ongoing. Only those convictions that are final and executory will be added into this project.

International Profiles

  • Leandro Aragoncillo - convicted of spying against the United States Government in 2007.
  • Sarah Balabagan - imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates from 1994–1996 for murder. She was initially sentenced to death, but was later returned to the Philippines.
  • David Bunevacz - found guilty of fleecing investors to finance his cannabis vape pens business. He was sentenced by California court to spend 210 months or 17 and a half years in prison and was ordered to pay about $35 million in restitution for the victims of his alleged ponzi scheme.
  • Flor Contemplacion - executed in Singapore for murder. Her execution caused strain in Singapore-Philippines diplomatic relations.
  • Andrew Cunanan - convicted for first-degree murder, second-degree murder and armed robbery.
  • Marvin "Shyboy" Mercado - serving eight life sentences without parole in the United States for killing eight people and attempting to kill another ten in 1995 in Los Angeles, a crime spree that authorities dubbed as the “summer of madness.”
  • Carmen Mory - convicted of war crimes in 1947 and sentenced to death by hanging. She committed suicide in her cell.
  • Cesar Sayoc - accused of sending pipe bombs to critics of Donald Trump in 2018.
  • Ronald Singson - arrested on July 11, 2010 in Hong Kong due to drug possession, pleaded guilty to drug possession, and was sentenced to one year instead of two-and-a-half years imprisonment on February 21, 2011, released from prison on January 14, 2012
  • Mary Jane Veloso - convicted and sentenced to death for smuggling heroin into Indonesia.
  • Jill Vidal - pleaded guilty to heroin possession in Tokyo in 2009, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for three years. She was deported back to Hong Kong and did not serve any prison time.

Local Profiles

Arson

  • Vincent Crisologo - convicted of arson in 1970 for burning Barangay Ora Centro and Ora Este in the town of Bantay, Ilocos Sur and was sentenced with a penalty of double life imprisonment. He served time in jail starting from June 1972 and was pardoned via an absolute pardon by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1980.
  • Dolphy Jr. - sentenced to life imprisonment for arson that resulted in six deaths in 1981, pardoned in 1998 by Joseph Estrada, and was released on September 28 of the same year.

Banditry
During the Philippine American War between 1903-1907, the Brigandage Act of Nov. 12, 1902 interpreted all acts of armed resistance to American rule as banditry. These men were called "bandoleros".

Blasphemy

  • Carlos Celdrán - sued by lay Catholics, sentenced to one year, one month, and 11 days imprisonment in 2013, exiled to Madrid, where he resided until his death.

Corruption

  • Andal Ampatuan Jr. - convicted of 21 counts of graft, and was sentenced to a total of up to 210 years imprisonment in 2023.
  • Sajid Ampatuan - guilty of four counts of graft and four counts of malversation of public funds in 2022.
  • Jejomar Binay Jr. - guilty of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the service in connection with the irregularities in the construction of the Makati Science High School (MSHS), and was sentenced to perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
  • Linda Cadiao-Palacios - convicted of graft, and was sentenced to nine years imprisonment in 2005 by Sandiganbayan, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2009.
  • Ace Durano - convicted of graft over the development of the Department of Tourism's 2009 wall calendar, worth ₱2.7 million, that allegedly failed to undergo a public bidding, and was sentenced to 6-10 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office in 2021
  • E. R. Ejercito - convicted and sentenced to 6 to 8 years in prison for graft over an anomalous insurance deal when he was mayor of Pagsanjan in 2008.
  • Antonio Floirendo Jr. - convicted of graft over his family's land deal with the government, and was sentenced to 6-8 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office in 2020
  • Edward Hagedorn - convicted of malversation of public property involving unaccounted 14 pieces of Armalite rifles in 2013, and was sentenced to 2-7 years imprisonment, perpetual disqualification from holding public office and loss of all retirement of gratuity benefits, as well as P490,000 fine with interest.
  • Gregorio Ipong - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced former North Cotabato second district representative Gregorio Ipong to up to 27 years in prison for graft and malversation in connection with the alleged misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel amounting to P4.9 million in 2007.
  • Raul Rodrigueza Lee - convicted of two counts of graft in 2017 and another two counts of graft in 2021, and was sentenced to 6-10 years imprisonment per count on the former and 12 years on the latter, among other punishments.
  • Jun Lozada - convicted of graft together with his brother after NBN–ZTE deal corruption scandal in 2007.
  • Imelda Marcos - guilty of seven counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in 2018, and was sentenced to 6-11 years per count
  • Romulo Neri - convicted of grave misconduct over NBN–ZTE scandal, and was perpetually disqualified from government service.
  • Roderick Paulate - convict of graft and nine counts of falsification of public documents, and was sentenced to 62 years imprisonment in 2022
  • Prospero Pichay Jr. - convicted of graft in connection with the misuse of P780 million in funds of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) in 2009, and was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment in 2022
  • Jovito Plameras Jr. - convicted of graft and sentenced him to a prison term of six years and a month to a maximum of 10 years in 2008. He was also penalized with perpetual disqualification from holding public office. Later, he was pardoned by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2017.
  • Joel Reyes - convicted of graft in 2017 for giving unwarranted benefit to a mining firm in 2006, which was granted small-scale mining permits despite exceeding the allowable extraction limit, and was sentenced to 6-8 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office; indicted for the murder of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega in 2011.
  • Jesus Salceda - posthumously convicted of graft in relation to the 2004 fertilizer fund scam in 2017, and was supposedly sentenced to 12-20 years imprisonment.
  • Augusto Syjuco Jr. - indicted of two counts of graft, died while on trial on January 13, 2020
  • Judy Syjuco - convicted of two counts of graft in connection with the misuse of her ₱20-million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2006, and were sentenced to 6-8 years imprisonment per count, a joint civil liability payment of ₱6.9 million and perpetual disqualification from holding public office in 2021.
  • Milagrosa Tan - found guilty of graft for purchasing emergency supplies worth P16 million without public bidding when she was Samar governor. The court sentenced Tan to a maximum jail term of 115 years for graft and malversation of public funds.
  • Eduardo Veloso - convicted of two counts each of graft and malversation in the misuse of the former legislator’s ₱24.2 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2007, and was sentenced to six years and one month to 10 years imprisonment for each count of graft, and 12 years and one day to 18 years, eight months and one day for each count of malversation, plus fine of ₱24 million and perpetual disqualification from holding public office in 2023.

Contempt of Court

  • Persida Acosta - found guilty of indirect contempt for violating section 3, rule 71, of the Rules of Court, and of grossly undignified conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice under section 33, canon VI of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) – the new code of conduct for lawyers. Acosta was ordered to pay P30,000 for the indirect contempt, and P150,000 for grossly undignified conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.
  • Marc Cagas - fined after found guilty of indirect contempt of court for questioning the Supreme Court’s dismissal of his petition to stop the plebiscite on the creation of Davao Occidental province in 2014.
  • Lorraine Badoy-Partosa - found guilty of indirect contempt over her “vitriolic statements and outright threats” against a court judge in 2022 by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2024, and was sentenced to a fine of PhP 30,000..

Estafa (Spanish for Fraud)

Homicide / Murder

  • Andal Ampatuan Sr., Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan - main perpetrators of the Maguindanao massacre, the former died while on trial in 2015, while the latter two were convicted of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to reclusión perpetua in 2017.
  • Anwar Ampatuan Sr., Anwar Ampatuan Jr. and Anwar Sajid Ampatuan - found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to reclusión perpetua without parole during Maguindanao massacre in 2009.
  • Narding Anzures - convicted of the murder of film actress Lilian Velez and her maid in 1948. He died in prison from tuberculosis.
  • Grepor Belgica - convicted as an adult, at 16 years old, for murder and pardoned in 1976. He is now a born-again Christian pastor.
  • Danilo Guades - accused of multiple murders after hacking to death 10 people with a bolo and injured 17 more in 2007.
  • Rafael Lacson - convicted for the murder of Moises Padilla Jr. in 1951, and was sentenced to death, but was reduced to reclusión perpetua upon an appeal at the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
  • Antonio Leviste - convicted of homicide for the death of Rafael de las Alas. He was paroled in 2013.
  • Juan Luna - killed his wife, Paz Pardo de Tavera, and his mother-in-law, Juliana Gorricho, and wounded his brother-in-law, Félix Pardo de Tavera; acquitted in 1893 on the grounds of a crime of passion
  • Imee Marcos - convicted for the false imprisonment, kidnapping, wrongful death, and the deprivation of rights for Archimedes Trajano in 1993 in Hawaii
  • Juan Severino Mallari - first documented serial killer in the Philippines; confessed in killing 57 people serving as parish priest of his native town of Magalang, Pampanga; executed by hanging in 1840.
  • Mariano Noriel - sentenced to death for the murder of a man in the Bacoor cockpit in May 1909; executed by hanging in 1915.
  • Jonel Nuezca - convicted for the murder of mother and son in 2020
  • Allan Robes - shot Noel Orate to death on February 10, 2012, charged with murder which is still pending.
  • Claudio Teehankee Jr. - convicted by the Supreme Court in 1995 for the murder of Roland John Chapman and Maureen Hultman and sentenced to one count of reclusion perpetua and two counts of reclusion temporal. He was later released in 2008.
  • Vicente Valera - convicted for the murders of Luis Bersamin Jr. and his police escort SPO1 Adelfo Ortega in 2006, and was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for both charges in 2015.
  • Hubert Webb - the leading suspect in the Vizconde murders.

Illegal Possession of Firearms

Kidnapping

  • Jovito Palparan - On September 17, 2018, Palparan was sentenced to life imprisonment, after being convicted of kidnapping and serious illegal detention over the enforced disappearances of Cadapan and Empeño in 2006.
  • Dennis Roldan - kidnapped a Chinese-Filipino boy in 2005, found guilty in 2014 and is currently serving reclusión perpetua

Lascivious

Libel

  • Erwin Tulfo - found guilty by the Supreme Court of the Philippines of four counts of libel and was sentenced to pay a fine of ₱6,000 for each count and, along with his co-accused, ₱1,000,000 to the complainant as moral damages in 2008.
  • Raffy Tulfo - fined after being convicted of six counts of libel in 2010, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2019.
  • Philip Pichay - fined after being convicted of four counts of libel in 2011, later became the basis for his disqualification from public office in 2016 due to five-year ineligibility from running for public office.
  • Eli Soriano - fined after being convicted of two counts of libel in 2012, one of which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
  • Antonio Trillanes IV - fined after being convicted of libel in 2021 over statements he made against Jejomar Binay Jr. in 2015, where he accused the latter of bribery and corruption.

Misdemeanor

Perjury

  • Gwendolyn Ecleo-Pols - convicted of three counts of perjury due to the false statements made in her statement of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN) for the years 2006, 2007, and 2010, and was sentenced to one year imprisonment in 2017

Piracy

  • Emilio Changco - ceased commercial vessels in Philippine waters during the 1980s and the early 1990s.

Plunder

  • Joseph Estrada - pardoned in 2007
  • Janet Lim-Napoles - convicted of plunder on December 7, 2018, for her involvement in the PDAF scam, with the conviction being upheld by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on March 13, 2019.

Rape

  • Leo Echegaray - convicted of raping his 10-year-old daughter. He was the first Filipino given the death penalty after its reinstatement in the Philippines in 1993, some 23 years after the last judicial execution was carried out.
  • Romeo Jalosjos - found guilty of two counts of raping an 11-year-old girl and six counts of indecent exposure in 1997.

Rebellion

  • Pedro Abad Santos - sentenced to death in absentia for his guerilla activities, but was commuted to life imprisonment upon his return which was later pardoned by President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt.

Robbery

  • Dominador Jalosjos Jr. - convicted of robbery (January 22, 1969 in Cebu City) and was sentenced to prisión mayor on April 30, 1970.

Sedition

  • Felipe "Apo Ipe" Salvador - convicted of sedition in 1902, but he managed to escape from prison and returned to Central Luzon, until he was finally captured on July 24, 1910 in San Luis, Pampanga, and was prosecuted and executed on April 15, 1912.

Tax Evasion

  • Bongbong Marcos - convicted of tax evasion in 1995, and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and fine, but the Court of Appeals upheld his conviction for the failure of the filing of an income tax return under Section 45 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1977 while being acquitted of tax evasion under the charge of violating Section 50 of the same statute in 1997, that removed the penalty of imprisonment, therefore he only paid fine.

Treason

  • Aurelio Alvero - convicted of collaboration with the Japanese Imperial Army in 1945. He was in prison in 1945–47 and 1950–52.
  • Benigno Aquino Sr. - died while on bail and on trial for collaborating with the Japanese forces in 1947
  • Servillano Aquino - sentenced to hang in 1902 after fighting against the American forces, but was pardoned by President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt.
  • Gerardo de León - pardoned almost excuted by the Philippine government due to treason, but was pardoned at the last minute after he had secretly assisted the Filipino resistance as well.

Multiple

  • Marcial "Baby" Ama - convicted of theft of money, supposedly to help fund a friend’s schooling. He later became a hitman in jail, as the leader of the Sige-Sige Gang. He later conducted the largest and deadliest jail riot, resulting in 9 deaths. He was executed via electric chair in 1961.
  • Jessie Javier Carlos - perpetrator of the 2017 Resorts World Manila attack, later committed suicide by self-immolation and gunshot
  • Ruben Ecleo Jr. - convicted of three counts of graft for the anomalous construction of a public market and town hall, and repairs of his cult's building in San Jose, Dinagat Islands when he was then mayor in the early 1990's, and was sentenced to 31 years imprisonment in 2006; and of parricide for the murder of his wife, Alona Bacolod-Ecleo in 2002, and was sentenced to reclusión perpetua or at least 30 years imprisonment in 2012; went into hiding, was arrested on July 30, 2020 in San Fernando, Pampanga, and was transferred to New Bilibid Prison, where he died.
  • Eddie Fernandez - fatally shot 28-year-old businessman Renato Pangilinan in the left chest on September 17, 1969, that resulted in his imprisonment until he was released in 1982; he was later involved in drug trafficking until he was killed in a shooutout with operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police in Makati in 1993.
  • Alvin Flores - implicated in dozens of high-profile killings and robberies, the most infamous being a brazen daylight raid on a Rolex store in Makati’s Greenbelt 5 in 2009. He died in October 2009 after a shootout with NBI agents in Cebu.
  • Paco Larrañaga - was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong. He was executed by lethal injection in 2004.
  • Nardong Putik - involved in murder, abductions, robberies and illegal possession of firearms. His biggest claim to infamy was his role in Cavite’s Maragondon Massacre in 1952, which resulted in the mayor and the police chief. He escaped jail three times. He died 1971, after a highway shootout with NBI agents.
  • Rolando Mendoza - perpetrator of the Manila hostage crisis, later killed by police in 2010
  • Elly Pamatong - died while on trial for illegal possession of firearms and explosives, as well as inverting the Philippine flag and usurpation of authority in 2021
  • Octavio Parojinog - was the first leader of the Kuratong Baleleng when it was organized by the Philippine military to stifle communist expansion in Western Mindanao. Parojinog also used the group to further his criminal activities such as robbery, kidnapping, and extortion.
  • Simeón Mandac - convicted of homicide for fatally kicking a Filipino prisoner in the stomach, and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 1910, and was additionally sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to rebellion later that year, but he was conditionally pardoned by Francis Burton Harrison in 1916.
  • Antonio Leyza Sanchez - convicted of rape and murders of Eileen Sarmenta and her friend, Allan Gomez, both students from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1993, as well as the murders of father-and-son Nelson and Ricky Peñalosa in 1991.
  • Asiong Salonga - involved in illegal possession and sale of firearms, homicide, collection of sum of money from businessmen, shot dead in 1951 by one of his companions, allegedly in a drinking spree.
  • Jaybee Sebastian - sentenced to two life imprisonment for two counts of kidnapping plus 17 years and four months to 20 years for carjacking imprisonment, died in 2020 due to COVID-19.
  • Dennis da Silva - found guilty of 15 counts of rape and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment for raping the 14-year-old child of his previous live-in partner in 2002. He was also sentenced with four to six-year prison sentences for four counts of child abuse.
  • Luis Taruc - pleaded guilty to rebellion in August 1954, and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, plus a "huge fine"; convicted for the murder of Feliciano Gardiner, and was sentenced to four life sentences; pardoned by Ferdinand Marcos in 1968.
  • Ben Tumbling - involved in robbery, carjacking, drug trafficking, and the killings of seven Philippine Constabulary officers, later killed by police.
  • Fabian Ver - involved in federal racketeering in the United States, as well as linkage to the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and fall guy Rolando Galman in the Philippines, died in 1998 in Bangkok, Thailand due to pulmonary complications.

Resources

  • "9 Extremely Notorious Pinoy Gangsters." FilipiKnow, 2016. http://bit.ly/2RL1UYs. Date accesed: 10 Jan 2019.
  • Takahata, Sachi. "The Crime Story of a Filipino who committed murder in Japan". Philippine Sociological Society, 1995. http://bit.ly/2RGCefj. Date accessed: 10 January 2019.

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