Pananagutan ng tumatangkilik sa mga nakaw na bagay

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | February 12, 2026

Dear Chief Acosta,

May nakita akong tindahan na nagbebenta ng mga murang cellphone na sa sobrang baba ng presyo ay nakakaenganyong bumili. Ngunit sinabihan ako ng kapatid ko na ang mga ito ay maaaring galing sa nakaw, sapagkat tila palugi ang pagbebenta nito. May pananagutan ba sa batas kung nakabili ka ng isang nakaw na bagay, tulad ng cellphone? – Christian

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Dear Christian,

Ang pagtangkilik sa mga nakaw na bagay ay mariing tinututulan ng ating gobyerno at may kaakibat na kaparusahan sang-ayon sa Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1612 o ang tinatawag na Anti-Fencing Law. Sa Seksyon 2 ng P.D. No. 1612, nakasaad na ang Fencing ay tumutukoy sa “any act of any person who, with intent to gain for himself or for another, shall buy, receive, possess, keep, acquire, conceal, sell or dispose of or shall buy and sell, or in any manner deal in any article, item, object or anything of value which he knows, or should be known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.” 

Sa kaso na Benito Estrella Y Gili vs. People of the Philippines (G.R. No. 212942, June 17, 2020, sa panulat ni Honorable Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting) ay ipinaliwanag ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman na: 

“The law on Fencing does not require the accused to have participated in the criminal design to commit, or to have been in any wise involved in the commission of, the crime of robbery or theft. The essential elements of the offense are: 

Notably, Fencing is a malum prohibitum, and PD 1612 creates a prima facie presumption of Fencing from evidence of possession by the accused of any good, article, item, object or anything of value, which has been the subject of robbery or theft.

Criminal law has long divided crimes into acts wrong in themselves called "acts mala in se," and acts which would not be wrong but for the fact that positive law forbids them, called "acts mala prohibita." This distinction is important with reference to the intent with which a wrongful act is done. The rule on the subject is that in acts mala in se, the intent governs, but in acts mala prohibita, the only inquiry is, has the law been violated? When an act is illegal, the intent of the offender is immaterial.”

Maliwanag sa nabanggit na ang pagtangkilik sa isang bagay na bunga ng pagnanakaw ay may kaakibat na kriminal na pananagutan. Kung ang nasabing bagay na bunga ng pagnanakaw ay matatagpuan sa iyo, maaaring sumapat na basehan ito upang mapanagot ka sa batas na nabanggit.

Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.

Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.