THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 209373, July 30, 2014
JOEL YONGCO AND JULIETO LAÑOJAN, Petitioners, v. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.
G.R. NO. 209414
ANECITO TANGIAN, JR., Petitioner, v. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
VELASCO JR., J.:
That on or about April 16, 2005, in the City of Ilagan, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, being then regular and casual employees of the City government as drivers and helpers respectively, of a garbage truck with Plate No. 496, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping each other, with grave abuse of confidence reposed upon them by the city government, and with intent to gain, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously take, steal and carry away the following articles, to wit: one (1) unit transmission, boom, differential of Tamaraw and l-beam of Nissan with a total value of P40,000.00, belonging to the City government of Ilagan, represented by Atty. Rommel Abragan of the City Legal Office, Iligan City, without the consent and against the will of the said owner in the aforesaid sum of P40,000.00, Philippine Currency.2
Joel Yongco, 34, single, x x x and a casual employee, testified that, on August 9, 2004, he was issued a Job Order and detailed at the Civil Security Unit (CSU). He was assigned to guard the building installation of the CEO. On April 15, 2005, he was on duty with his companion, one Mr. Quintana. They relieved Lañojan and one Mr. Enumerables. Lañojan gave him (Yongco) four gate passes and said that the area would have to be cleared because the “Bacod” Iligan vehicle would be arriving. Yongco read the entries on one of [the] gate passes. They read: “Loaded assorted scraps with remark to be thrown at the dump site.” At the bottom of the gate pass was the “note” of Engineer Cabahug with the signatures of the guards, Lañojan and Enumerables. From 5:00 PM to 12:00 midnight on April 15, 2005, there was only one shipment of scrap iron to the dump site. The dump truck driven by Tangian entered the CEO premises at around 11:00 o’clock in the evening of the same date. Tangian went to the yard where the scrap iron were situated and asked Yongco to accompany and help him. Tangian gathered the scrap materials and the four of them (Tangian, Yongco, and the 2 helpers of Tangian) loaded the said scrap to the dump truck. At around 12:45 P.M., after loading the items, Tangian drove away without giving a gate pass to the guards on duty. Yongco did not ask Tangian for a gate pass because Yongco had one companion in the guard house to get the gate pass.
Julieto Lañojan, 48, who was working in the CSU division for 20 years and assigned to guard the CEO, testified that he was not on duty on April 15 and 16, 2005; he was on duty on April 14, 2005 at 7:00 A.M. up to April 15, 2005 of the same time. When Yongco and Quintana relieved him on April 15, 2005 at 7:00 in the morning, he gave the four gate passes which were used to ship out assorted scrap irons to them to be kept for the file. Engineer Cabahug was the one who directed the removal of the scrap iron because the area of the CEO would have to be cleared since new trucks for the government were coming. His house, which was along the national highway, was about 40-50 meters away from Delfin Junk Store. He knew Oliveros Garcia who was a kagawad of Tominobo, Iligan City. Aside from that, Garcia had filed an ejectment case against him (Lañojan), which was still pending in court.
x x x x
Anecito Tangian, Jr., 59, garbage truck driver at the City Engineer’s Office for 16 years, testified that his highest level of educational attainment was Grade I. It was his tour of duty on April 15, 2005 at 9:00 o’clock in the evening up to April 16, 2005 at 6:00 o’clock in the morning. At around 5:30 in the morning of April 15, 2005, Lañojan asked him to load scrap materials onto the garbage truck and to bring them to the Delfin Junk Store in Tominobo. He asked Lañojan if there were any problems about the loading of the said items. Lañojan answered that there were no problems about the loading of the same, that the City Garbage would have to be cleared considering that “BACOD” trucks would be arriving at that area. He followed Lañojan because the latter was the guard at the City Garage. When he arrived for duty at the City Garage at around 9:00 in the evening, Yongco asked him if Lañojan already informed him about the loading of the items. After that he checked up the garbage truck while Yongco and the two helpers were loading the items. He did not know how many items were loaded because he only helped the three of them during the loading of the differential. After loading the scrap materials, Tangian and the two helpers drove away from the City Garage. They dropped by the Cosmo Funeral Homes for more than an hour before they proceeded to Tominobo. When they reached Delfin Junk Store, Lañojan gave a thumbs-up sign to Tangian, which meant okay. He then left and started his work collecting garbage.3
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Court finds the accused Julieto Lañojan, Anecito Tangian, Jr., and Joel Yongco GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Qualified Theft defined and penalized under Article 310 in relation to Article 309 of the Revised Penal Code, and the said accused are hereby sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment of six (6) years, eight (8) months and twenty (20) days of prision correccional maximum as the minimum term, to ten (10) years and eight (8) months of prision mayor maximum, as the maximum term, of their indeterminate sentence including the accessory penalties thereof.
SO ORDERED.4
ART. 308. Who are liable for theft.—Theft is committed by any person who, with intent to gain but without violence, against, or intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take personal property of another without the latter’s consent.
Theft is likewise committed by:
1. Any person who, having found lost property, shall fail to deliver the same to the local authorities or to its owner;
2. Any person who, after having maliciously damaged the property of another, shall remove or make use of the fruits or objects of the damage caused by him; and
3. Any person who shall enter an enclosed estate or a field where trespass is forbidden or which belongs to another and without the consent of its owner, shall hunt or fish upon the same or shall gather fruits, cereals, or other forest or farm products.
x x x x
ART. 310. Qualified Theft.—The crime of theft shall be punished by the penalties next higher by two degrees than those respectively specified in the next preceding article, if committed by a domestic servant, or with grave abuse of confidence, or if the property stolen is motor vehicle, mail matter or large cattle or consists of coconuts taken from the premises of a plantation, fish taken from a fishpond or fishery or if property is taken on the occasion of fire, earthquake, typhoon, volcanic eruption, or any other calamity, vehicular accident or civil disturbance. (emphasis added)
- Taking of personal property;
- That the said property belongs to another;
- That the said taking be done with intent to gain;
- That it be done without the owner’s consent;
- That it be accomplished without the use of violence or intimidation against persons, nor of force upon things; and
- That it be done with grave abuse of confidence.5
There is no dispute that the items (transmission, boom arm, differential assembly, and I-beam) which are the subject matter of this case belong to the CEO of Iligan City. There is no dispute that these items, although considered “heap of scrap,” have not yet been declared unserviceable or waste by the proper authority or office. Nor have they been marked for proper disposal. Unless properly disposed in accordance with Section 379 of the Local Government Code, these items are still government properties or owned by the City of Iligan.
There is also no dispute that these items were taken away from the CEO and were already under complete and effective control of the persons taking the same. This is because these items were loaded onto the garbage truck driven by Tangian and brought to Tominobo at the Delfin Junk Store.
Apparently, the taking of these items was without the consent of the CEO of Iligan City because there was no gate pass issued to that effect. Evidence shows that when the garbage truck left the premises of the CEO, no gate pass was surrendered by Tangian. Yongco did not bother to ask for a gate pass on the pretext that there was another guard on duty at the gate.
Intent to gain or animus lucrandi is an internal act that is presumed from the unlawful taking by the offender of the thing subject to asportation. Actual gain is irrelevant as the important consideration is the intent to gain. Since these items were brought to the junk store, intent to gain becomes obvious. The presumption of animus lucrandi has not been overturned.
It is equally patent that the taking of these items was done with grave abuse of confidence. The accused in this case, it bears stressing, were guards and drivers with access to the entrance and exit of the CEO premises. In other words, they enjoyed the trust and confidence reposed on them by their employer (the City of Iligan) to have access throughout the CEO premises on account of their respective duties. More so since the primary function of the CSU is to guard the properties, including the said items, of the CEO. It was this trust and confidence that was gravely abused by them that makes the theft qualified.6
x x x As shown above, it appears that Lañojan broached the idea to Yongco that the items subject of this case will be withdrawn under the pretext of clearing the CEO scrap yard of unserviceable waste materials. Then Lañojan gave Yongco 4 gate passes apparently to be used to cover-up or camouflage the actual withdrawal later that evening. Then Lañojan told Tangian to load the items under the same ploy of clearing the scrap yard of unserviceable waste materials and that they will not encounter any problem. Finally, Lañojan was seen by Brgy. Kag. Oliveros Garcia at 1:30 o’clock in the morning of April 16, 2005 receiving the items as they were dumped near the Delfin Junk Store, Tominobo, Iligan City. After the items were dumped, Lañojan then gave Tangian the “thumbs-up” sign, meaning everything is okay – clear proof of meeting of minds between Tangian and Lañojan, and their collusion to steal the items under the pretext of disposing unserviceable waste materials. This non-verbal “thumbs-up” sign was also seen by the truck helper Salosod.12 x x x
Endnotes:
* Acting member per Special Order No. 1691 dated May 22, 2014.
1 Penned by Associate Justice Romulo V. Borja and concurred in by Associate Justices Ma. Luisa C. Quijano-Padilla and Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob.
2Rollo (G.R. No. 209373), p. 12.
3 Id. at 15-17.
4 Id. at 108-109.
5People v. Mirto, G.R. No. 193497, October 19, 2011, 659 SCRA 796, 807.
6Rollo (G.R. No. 209373), pp. 19-20.
7 RPC, Art. 8(2).
8Aquino v. Paiste, G.R. No. 147782, June 25, 2008, 555 SCRA 255, 271-272.
9 People v. Anticamara, G.R. No. 178771, June 8, 2011, 651 SCRA 489, 506.
10 Rollo (G.R. No. 209373), p. 104.
11 Id. at 26.
12 Id. at 107.
13Aquino v. Paiste, supra note 8, at 272.
14Preferred Home Specialties, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 163593, December 16, 2005, 478 SCRA 387, 415.