MALACAÑANG
M a n i l a
PRESIDENTIAL
DECREE No. 1612
ANTI-FENCING
LAW OF 1979
WHEREAS, reports from law enforcement agencies
reveal that there is rampant robbery and thievery of government and private
properties;
WHEREAS, such robbery and thievery have become
profitable on the part of the lawless elements because of the existence of
ready buyers, commonly known as fence, of stolen properties;
WHEREAS, under existing law, a fence can be
prosecuted only as an accessory after the fact and punished lightly;
WHEREAS, is imperative to impose heavy
penalties on persons who profit by the effects of the crimes of robbery and
theft.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS,
President of the Philippines by virtue of the powers vested in me by the
Constitution, do hereby order and decree as part of the law of the land the
following:
Section 1. Title. This decree shall be known as the Anti-Fencing
Law.
Section 2. Definition of Terms. The
following terms shall mean as follows:
(a) "Fencing" is the 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 other 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.
(b) "Fence" includes any person,
firm, association corporation or partnership or other organization who/which
commits the act of fencing.
Section 3. Penalties. Any person guilty of fencing shall be
punished as hereunder indicated:
(a) The penalty of prision
mayor, if the value of the property involved is more than 12,000 pesos but not
exceeding 22,000 pesos; if the value of such property exceeds the latter sum,
the penalty provided in this paragraph shall be imposed in its maximum period,
adding one year for each additional 10,000 pesos; but the total penalty which
may be imposed shall not exceed twenty years. In such cases, the penalty shall
be termed reclusion temporal and the accessory penalty pertaining thereto
provided in the Revised Penal Code shall also be imposed.
(b) The penalty of prision
correccional in its medium and maximum periods, if
the value of the property robbed or stolen is more than 6,000 pesos but not exceeding
12,000 pesos.
(c) The penalty of prision
correccional in its minimum and medium periods, if
the value of the property involved is more than 200 pesos but not exceeding
6,000 pesos.
(d) The penalty of arresto
mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period, if the value of the
property involved is over 50 pesos but not exceeding 200 pesos.
(e) The penalty of arresto
mayor in its medium period if such value is over five (5) pesos but not
exceeding 50 pesos.
(f) The penalty of arresto
mayor in its minimum period if such value does not exceed 5 pesos.
Section 4. Liability of Officials of Juridical
Persons. If the fence is a partnership, firm, corporation or
association, the president or the manager or any officer thereof who knows or
should have known the commission of the offense shall be liable.
Section 5. Presumption of Fencing. Mere
possession of any good, article, item, object, or anything of value which has
been the subject of robbery or thievery shall be prima facie evidence of
fencing.
Section 6. Clearance/Permit to Sell/Used Second Hand Articles.
For purposes of this Act, all stores, establishments or entities dealing in the
buy and sell of any good, article item, object of anything of value obtained
from an unlicensed dealer or supplier thereof, shall before offering the same
for sale to the public, secure the necessary clearance or permit from the
station commander of the Integrated National Police in the town or city where
such store, establishment or entity is located. The Chief of
Constabulary/Director General, Integrated National Police shall promulgate such
rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. Any person
who fails to secure the clearance or permit required by this section or who
violates any of the provisions of the rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder shall upon conviction be punished as a fence.
Section 7. Repealing Clause. All laws or parts thereof, which are
inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.
Section 8. Effectivity. This Decree
shall take effect upon approval.
Done in the City of Manila, this 2nd day of
March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine.
RULES AND REGULATIONS TO CARRY OUT THE PROVISIONS OF
SECTION 6 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1612, KNOWN AS THE ANTI-FENCING LAW.
Pursuant to Section 6 of Presidential Decree
No. 1612, known as the Anti-Fencing Law, the following rules and regulations
are hereby promulgated to govern the issuance of clearances/permits to sell
used secondhand articles obtained from an unlicensed dealer or supplier
thereof:
I. Definition of Terms
1. "Used secondhand article" shall
refer to any goods, article, item, object or anything of value obtained from an
unlicensed dealer or supplier, regardless of whether the same has actually or
in fact been used.
2. "Unlicensed dealer/supplier"
shall refer to any persons, partnership, firm, corporation, association or any
other entity or establishment not licensed by the government to engage in the
business of dealing in or of supplying the articles defined in the preceding
paragraph.
3. "Store",
"establishment" or "entity" shall be construed to include
any individual dealing in the buying and selling used secondhand articles, as
defined in paragraph hereof.
4. "Buy and Sell" refer to the
transaction whereby one purchases used secondhand articles for the purpose of
resale to third persons.
5. "Station Commander" shall refer
to the Station Commander of the Integrated National Police within the
territorial limits of the town or city district where the store, establishment
or entity dealing in the buying and selling of used secondhand articles is
located.
II. Duty to Procure Clearance or Permit
1. No person shall sell or offer to sell to
the public any used secondhand article as defined herein without first securing
a clearance or permit for the purpose from the proper Station Commander of the
Integrated National Police.
2. If the person seeking the clearance or
permit is a partnership, firm, corporation, or association or group of
individuals, the clearance or permit shall be obtained by or in the name of the
president, manager or other responsible officer-in-charge thereof.
3. If a store, firm, corporation, partnership,
association or other establishment or entity has a branch or subsidiary and the
used secondhand article is acquired by such branch or subsidiary for sale to
the public, the said branch or subsidiary shall secure the required clearance
or permit.
4. Any goods, article, item, or object or
anything of value acquired from any source for which no receipt or equivalent
document evidencing the legality of its acquisition could be presented by the
present possessor or holder thereof, or the covering receipt, or equivalent
document, of which is fake, falsified or irregularly obtained, shall be
presumed as having been acquired from an unlicensed dealer or supplier and the
possessor or holder thereof must secure the required clearance or permit before
the same can be sold or offered for sale to the public.
III. Procedure for Procurement of Clearances
or Permits
1. The Station Commanders concerned shall
require the owner of a store or the president, manager or responsible
officer-in-charge of a firm, establishment or other entity located within their
respective jurisdictions and in possession of or having in stock used
secondhand articles as defined herein, to submit an initial affidavit within
thirty (30) days from receipt of notice for the purpose thereof and subsequent
affidavits once every fifteen (15) days within five (5) days after the period
covered, which shall contain:
(a) A complete inventory of such articles
acquired daily from whatever source and the names and addresses of the persons
from whom such articles were acquired.
(b) A full list of articles to be sold or
offered for sale as well as the place where the date when the sale or offer for
sale shall commence.
(c) The place where the articles are presently
deposited or kept in stock.
The Station Commander may, at his discretion
when the circumstances of each case warrant, require that the affidavit
submitted be accompanied by other documents showing proof of legitimacy of the
acquisition of the articles.
2. A party required to
secure a clearance or permit under these rules and regulations shall
file an application therefor with the Station Commander concerned. The
application shall state:
(a) The name, address and other pertinent
circumstances of the persons, in case of an individual or, in the case of a
firm, corporation, association, partnership or other entity, the name, address
and other pertinent circumstances of the president, manager or
officer-in-charge.
(b) The article to be sold or offered for sale
to the public and the name and address of the unlicensed dealer or supplier
from whom such article was acquired.
In support of the application, there shall be
attached to it the corresponding receipt or other equivalent document to show
proof of the legitimacy of acquisition of the article.
3. The Station Commander shall examine the
documents attached to the application and may require the presentation of other
additional documents, if necessary, to show satisfactory proof of the
legitimacy of acquisition of the article, subject to the following conditions:
(a) If the legitimacy of acquisition of any
article from an unlicensed source cannot be satisfactorily established by the
documents presented, the Station Commander shall, upon approval of the INP
Superintendent in the district and at the expense of the party seeking the clearance/permit,
cause the publication of a notice in a newspaper of general circulation for two
(2) successive days enumerating therein the articles acquired from an
unlicensed dealer or supplier, the names and addresses of the persons from whom
they were acquired and shall state that such articles are to be sold or offered
for sale to the public at the address of the store, establishment or other
entity seeking the clearance/permit. In places where no newspapers are in
general circulation, the party seeking the clearance or permit shall, instead,
post a notice daily for one week on the bulletin board of the municipal
building of the town where the store, firm, establishment or entity concerned
is located or, in the case of an individual, where the articles in his
possession are to be sold or offered for sale.
(b) If after 15 days, upon expiration of the
period of publication or of the notice referred to in the preceding paragraph,
no claim is made with respect to any of the articles enumerated in the notice,
the Station Commander shall issue the clearance or permit sought.
(c) If, before expiration of the same period
for publication of the notice or its posting, it shall appear that any of the
articles in question is stolen property, the Station Commander shall hold the
article in restraint as evidence in any appropriate case to be filed. Articles
held in restraint shall be kept and disposed of as the circumstances of each
case permit, taking into account all considerations of right and justice in the
case. In any case where any article is held in restraint, it shall be the duty
of the Station Commander concerned to advise/notify the Commission on Audit of
the case and comply with such procedure as may be proper under applicable
existing laws, rules and regulations.
4. The Station Commander concerned shall,
within seventy-two (72) hours from receipt of the application, act thereon by
either issuing the clearance/permit requested or denying the same. Denial of an
application shall be in writing and shall state in brief the reason/s therefor.
5. The application, clearance/permit or the
denial thereof, including such other documents as may be pertinent in the
implementation of Section 6 of P.D. No. 1612 shall be in the forms prescribed
in Annexes "A", "B", "C", "D", and
"E" hereof, which are made integral parts of these rules and
regulations.
6. For the issuance of clearances/permit
required under Section 6 of P.D. No. 1612, no fee shall be charged.
IV. Appeals
Any party aggrieved by the action taken by the
Station Commander may elevate the decision taken in the case to the proper INP
District Superintendent and, if he is still dissatisfied therewith may take the
same on appeal to the INP Director. The decision of the INP Director may also
be appealed to the INP Director-General whose decision may likewise be appealed
to the Minister of National Defense. The decision of the Minister of National
Defense on the case shall be final. The appeal against the decision taken by a
Commander lower than the INP Director-General should be filed to the next higher
Commander within ten (10) days from receipt of notice of the decision. The
decision of the INP Director-General should be appealed within fifteen (15)
days from receipt of notice of the decision.
V. Penalties
1. Any person who fails to secure the clearance
or permit required by Section 6 of P.D. 1612 or who violates any of the
provisions of these rules and regulations shall upon conviction be punished as
a fence.
2. The INP Director-General shall recommend to
the proper authority the cancellation of the business license of the erring
individual, store, establishment or the entity concerned.
3. Articles obtained from unlicensed sources
for sale or offered for sale without prior compliance with the provisions of
Section 6 of P.D. No. 1612 and with these rules and regulations shall be held
in restraint until satisfactory evidence or legitimacy of acquisition has been
established.
4. Articles for which no satisfactory evidence
of legitimacy of acquisition is established and which are found to be stolen
property shall likewise be held under restraint and shall, furthermore, be
subject to confiscation as evidence in the appropriate case to be filed. If,
upon termination of the case, the same is not claimed by their legitimate
owners, the article/s shall be forfeited in favor of the government and made
subject to disposition as the circumstances warrant in accordance with
applicable existing laws, rules and regulations. The Commission on Audit shall,
in all cases, be notified.
5. Any personnel of the Integrated National
Police found violating the provisions of Section 6 of P.D. No. 1612 or any of
its implementing rules and regulations or who, in any manner whatsoever,
connives with or through his negligence or inaction makes possible the
commission of such violations by any party required to comply with the law and
its implementing rules and regulations, shall be prosecuted criminally without
prejudice to the imposition of administrative penalties.
VI. Visitorial Power
It shall be the duty of the owner of the store
or of the president, manager or responsible officer-in-charge of any firm,
establishment or other entity or of an individual having in his premises
articles to be sold or offered for sale to the public to allow the Station
Commander or his authorized representative to exercise visitorial
powers. For this purpose, however, the power to conduct visitations shall be
exercise only during office or business hours and upon authority in writing
from and by the INP Superintendent in the district and for the sole purpose of
determining whether articles are kept in possession or stock contrary to the
intents of Section 6 of P.D. No. 1612 and of these rules and regulations.
VII. Other Duties Imposed Upon Station
Commanders and INP District Superintendent and Directors Following Action on
Applications for Clearances or Permits
1. At the end of each month, it shall be the
duty of the Station Commander concerned to:
(a) Make and maintain a file in his office of
all clearances/permit issued by him.
(b) Submit a full report to the INP District
Superintendent on the number of applications for clearances or permits
processed by his office, indicating therein the number of clearances/permits
issued and the number of applications denied. The report shall state the
reasons for denial of an application and the corresponding follow-up actions
taken and shall be accompanied by an inventory of the articles to be sold or
offered for sale in his jurisdiction.
2. The INP District Superintendent shall, on
the basis of the reports submitted by the Station Commander, in turn submit
quarterly reports to the appropriate INP Director containing a consolidation of
the information stated in the reports of Station Commanders in his
jurisdiction.
3. Reports from INP District Superintendent
shall serve as basis for a consolidated report to be submitted semi-annually by
INP Directors to the Director-General, Integrated National Police.
4. In all cases, reports emanating from the
different levels of the Integrated National Police shall be accompanied with
full and accurate inventories of the articles acquired from unlicensed dealers
or suppliers and proposed to be sold or offered for sale in the jurisdictions
covered by the report.
These implementing rules and regulations,
having been published in a newspaper of national circulation, shall take effect
on June 15, 1979.
FOR THE CHIEF OF CONSTABULARY
DIRECTOR-GENERAL, INP: