Presidential Decree No.

1612 Anti-Fencing Law 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." Sec. 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. Sec. 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.

Sec. 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 7. Repealing Clause. - All laws or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Sec. 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.

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Anti-fencing laws are designed to punish the people who sell stolen goods.
Avoid Buying Stolen Items

Why? You might not know that buying stolen goods or items is a violation of Anti-Fencing Law in the Philippines. If you are a foreigner living here in the Philippines, you should be aware of that. Even if you do not know that the item you bought is stolen or from an unknown thief, you are still punishable under this law. The sanctions?... you might be imprisoned for years and penalized for a big amount of money depending on the value of item. Usual victims are those who are engage in buy and sell in business.
Philippine Anti-Fencing Law Case Study

I want to share this with you, my personal experience. This experience taught me a lesson very well on this anti-fencing law. I was one of the victim of buying stolen item. I don't know the person (or the seller of the item). I'm just familiar with his face. He lives in our neighborhood. One day, he approached me to buy his "item x". (I don't want to mention the item for my privacy). He talked to me very well and convinced me to buy his "item x". Well, I was very impressed and very interested with the "item x". He told me that he owned "item x" and it was a gift from his mother abroad. Too good to be true. After a little chitchat, I bought the "item-x". After few days, a group of people came into my house and someone knocked at my door very aggressively that disturbed me so much. When I opened the door, I saw the person (seller of the "item x") and a group of people below the stairs outside my house. Angry voices slammed in my ears. I was a little nervous and curious. I

asked myself "why do they talked to me like this?"... after few interrogations, I knew now that the "item-x" I bought was a stolen item. The value of the "item x" costs more than 10,000 pesos. The real owner asked me to returned the "item x", if not, they will be forced to file a case against me even though I don't know that the "item x" I bought was a stolen one. I asked them a favor to give me 1 day to return the item. I was now very nervous on how to get the "item x". I already sold out the "item x" to a certain foreigner few days ago, since I'm engaged in buy and sell business. Do you know what I did?
Ways or Steps I Did on How I Get Out of Trouble Against this Anti-Fencing Law thing

"How I defend myself" 1. I called my father through phone. Father is the first thing that came into my mind. Mind you, you will do the same like I did. Parents are GREAT ADVISERS. They are full of experiences. My father told me to return the "item-x". My father told me about this "AntiFencing Law" thing. His best advice is to return "item x" 2. Second, I search the net about "Anti-Fencing Law". I read the PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1612 - ANTIFENCING LAW OF 1979 (for more info regarding this law try to visit this:

http://www.chanrobles.com/presidentialdecrees/presidentialdecreeno1612.html) After reading

some useful articles from the net regarding Anti-Fencing Law cases, I'm thinking that I could be able to defend myself in the court by telling them that I was unaware or I don't know that it was a stolen item. As what the Anti-Fencing Law suggest that, "Fencing is applied to the person buying the stolen item with the knowledge that the item is stolen and with an intent to gain". After this amateur conclusion in my mind, I was still curious and wanted to know more: "Could I defend myself in the court and get out of trouble by just merely saying, I'm not aware or I don't know that the "item x" was stolen?... I did more research in the net and found out that there was an Anti-Fencing Law Case in the Philippines that punished and penalized the person who bought the stolen item even though he was not aware or did not know that it was stolen. So, my conclusion turned around: I will still be convicted and penalized under the Anti-Fencing Law even though I don't know that item was stolen. 3. Third step, I've taken was... I called my uncle through phone. My uncle is a Police Technical Inspector. He specializes on Crime Investigations. I talked to him about what happened and regarding the anti-fencing law. Do you know what is his advice? The same as my father: "Return the stolen item". The reason? - to minimize expenses. More money will be spent if the item is not returned. Expenses for the attorney, proceedings, paperworks, and lots of time to be spent. Here are some very helpful techniques my uncle shared to me. He said, "Try to negotiate the owner of the stolen item. If you cannot return the item because it was already sold out to somebody who don't want to return the item, ask the real owner of the stolen item to pay for the present value of the item. Since it was already secondhand, pay it as a secondhand. Talk to them sincerely and be humble as much as possible. Abandon your pride. And be sure to bring at least 2 witnesses (people whom you and the real owner of the item know), a pen and a paper for an AGREEMENT to be signed that you already successfully returned the item to the real owner. You can pay lesser if you negotiate properly.

After all of these given steps, I made up my mind to do their advices and I have now more ideas about Anti Fencing law. Within that days before I successfully returned the stolen item to the real owner, I suffered a lot of discomfort and fever. This is my experience I can't forget. It taught me a lesson very well regarding this anti-fencing law. I hope you'll also learned from this.
Lessons to Be Learned (Anti Fencing Law lessons)

1. Don't buy anything from a suspicious person especially if he or she is selling something to you in a dark place. 2. You should know the seller of the item very well. Write his/her name, address, contact numbers, personal references and other personal details.

3. Require a receipt of the item if possible. If you have the same experience with me, share it to me or what can you say about my steps I did? You can add some lessons here that you want to share. This is to educate people regarding AntiFencing Law in the Philippines. Don't be a victim! If you want to copy this article please don't forget also to copy the url or the link address of this article.