ANTI-FENCING LAW OF 1979 (P.D. NO. 1612): Elements and violation of

Elements –– The essential elements of the crime of fencing are as follows: (a) a crime of robbery or theft has been committed; (b) the accused, who is not a principal or an accomplice in the commission of the crime of robbery or theft, buys, receives, possesses, keeps, acquires, conceals, sells or disposes, or buys and sells, or in any manner deals in any article, item, object or anything of value, which has been derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft; (c) the accused knew or should have known that the said article, item, object or anything of value has been derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft; and (d) there is, on the part of one accused, intent to gain for oneself or for another. (Cahulogan vs. People, G.R. No. 225695, March 21, 2018)

Violation of –– Fencing is a malum prohibitum, and P.D. No. 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; and prescribes a higher penalty based on the value of the property. (Cahulogan vs. People, G.R. No. 225695, March 21, 2018)

––      Sec. 2 of P.D. No. 1612 defines Fencing as 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. (Cahulogan vs. People, G.R. No. 225695, March 21, 2018)

––      While the crime of Fencing is defined and penalized by a special penal law, the penalty provided therein is taken from the nomenclature in the Revised Penal Code (RPC); if the special penal law adopts the nomenclature of the penalties under the RPC, the ascertainment of the indeterminate sentence will be based on the rules applied for those crimes punishable under the RPC. (Cahulogan vs. People, G.R. No. 225695, March 21, 2018)