QuestionsQuestions (MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR BJMP-LSO-)
Fencing is the act, with intent to gain, of buying, receiving, possessing, keeping, acquiring, concealing, selling or disposing of, or dealing in any article or anything of value which the accused knows or should have known to have been derived from the proceeds of robbery or theft.
Any person, firm, association, corporation, partnership, or other organization who commits the act of fencing, i.e., any covered entity whose members/officers participate in the fencing acts.
The penalties are graduated according to the value of the property involved (from no-fence-equivalent minimum up to reclusion temporal max periods for higher values). The value thresholds determine the imposable penalty.
The penalty of prision mayor.
Reclusion temporal in its maximum period is imposed, adding one year for each additional 10,000 pesos beyond 22,000 pesos; however, the total penalty cannot exceed twenty years.
Prision correctional in its medium and maximum periods.
Prision correctional in its minimum and medium periods.
Mere possession of any goods/article/object/thing of value that has been the subject of robbery or thievery is prima facie evidence of fencing.
If the fence is a partnership, firm, corporation, or association, the president, manager, or any officer who knows or should have known the commission of the offense is liable.
To regulate/track stores or entities dealing in goods obtained from unlicensed dealers/suppliers by requiring a clearance/permit before selling such items to the public—so that unlicensed or potentially stolen goods are deterred and controlled.
Before offering for sale to the public any used secondhand article obtained from an unlicensed dealer/supplier, regardless of whether the articles were actually used.
Upon conviction, the offender is punished as a fence.
If the present possessor cannot present a receipt/equivalent document evidencing lawful acquisition, or if the receipt/document is fake, falsified, or irregularly obtained, the item is presumed acquired from an unlicensed dealer/supplier.
The Station Commander requires an initial affidavit within 30 days from notice, then subsequent affidavits once every 15 days within 5 days after each covered period. The affidavits must include a daily inventory with names/addresses of sources, a list of articles to be sold with where/date of sale, and where the articles are kept.
The station commander, upon approval and at the expense of the applicant, causes publication of a notice in a newspaper for two successive days enumerating the articles and sources, or posts daily notices for one week in places without newspapers; if no claim is made within 15 days, the clearance/permit is issued.
The station commander holds the article in restraint as evidence in an appropriate case; it must be kept and disposed of as circumstances permit, and the Commission on Audit must be advised/ notified, with proper compliance under existing laws.
Within seventy-two (72) hours from receipt of the application, either issuing the clearance/permit or denying it in writing with brief reasons.
The store owner/ responsible officer must allow the station commander or representative to conduct visitations only during office/business hours, with written authority from the INP Superintendent in the district, solely to determine whether articles are kept in possession contrary to Section 6 and the rules.
Station commanders must maintain files of issued clearances/permits and submit monthly reports (applications processed, issued, denied with reasons, follow-up actions, and inventories). District superintendents consolidate quarterly reports, and directors submit semi-annual consolidated reports to the Director-General, each with inventories of articles acquired from unlicensed dealers/suppliers proposed for sale.