HANDWRITING EXPERTS ARE USUALLY HELPFUL IN THE EXAMINATION OF FORGED DOCUMENTS BECAUSE OF THE TECHNICAL PROCEDURE INVOLVED IN ANALYZING THEM, BUT RESORT TO THESE EXPERTS IS NOT MANDATORY OR INDISPENSABLE TO THE EXAMINATION OR THE COMPARISON OF HANDWRITINGS.

A finding of forgery does not depend entirely on the testimonies of handwriting experts, because the judge must conduct an examination of the questioned signature in order to arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to its authenticity.  The opinions of handwriting experts are not binding upon courts, especially when the question involved is mere handwriting similarity or dissimilarity, which can be determined by a visual comparison of specimens of the questioned signatures with those of the currently existing ones.  Moreover, Section 22 of Rule 132 of the Rules of Court likewise explicitly authorizes the court, by itself, to make a comparison of the disputed handwriting “with writings admitted or treated as genuine by the party against whom the evidence is offered, or proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the judge.” (Pontaoe v. Pontaoe, G.R. No. 159585, April 22, 2008).