FOR: ELISA ESCOBAR

Group General Manager

THRU: CAYE C. SAMSON
Property Manager
FROM: CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER

SUBJECT: Investigation Report

Re: Missing Iphone in the
possession of an employee
DATE: May 27, 2017

CC: DM, File

1. AUTHORITY:

By order of the General Manager to investigate the

said incident.

2. MATTERS TO BE INVESTIGATED:

a. Circumstances surrounding the said incident

b. Missing Iphone in the possession of Mr. Christian
Junatas.

3. GUEST PROFILE:

a. Guest Name: Darryl Avila

b. Date checked in: 24 May 2017
c. Date of check out: 26 May 2017
d. Duration of stay: 2 nights
e. Room number: 305
f. Booking: Part of Cavite Group

4. FACTS OF THE CASE:

a. At around 1900H, Ms. Darryl Avila, billeted guest

under the Provincial Government of Cavite took her
dinner at the tent area and connected her Iphone to
a nearby outlet. At around 2025H, when she left the
tent area, she forgot to take the Iphone.
b. On the other hand, on or about 2100H, Mr. Christian
Junatas while performing his tasks at the tent area,
noticed a mobile phone and a charger underneath a
round table.

c. At about 2150H, said guest went back to the tent

area to look for her Iphone 5S. He asked one of the
staff inside the tent namely Mr. George Magtulis if
he happened to see a mobile phone. Mr Magtulis asked
Arcely Sumbo and Mr. Christian Junatas, banquet
staffs, if they happened to see a mobile phone
inside the tent area. However according to the
latter, they didn’t notice any mobile phone.

d. That on or about 2210H of the aforementioned date,

SIC Venchito Ramos, upon receiving the information,
exerted effort to locate the mobile phone described
as Iphone 5s together with SG Benjie Ulpindo Sierra
4 on duty and Mr. Jerry Novelas and, but to no
avail, no Iphone 5s was found thereat. Right there
and then, the latter instructed LG Ronalyn Cadiay,
Sierra 3 guard to be vigilant in frisking and
inspecting the bags of outgoing employees.

e. That at around 0113H 26 May 2017, LG Ronalyn Cadiay

while conducting bag inspection and frisking to
outgoing employees, intercepted an Iphone 5s
wrapped in an apron in the custody of an employee
namely Mr. Christian Junatas. Thereafter, she
informed SIC Venchito Ramos and Mr. Ariel Christian
A. Santillan, Duty Manager to proceed immediately at
Sierra 3/ Time Keeping Area to identify the said
phone.

f. That after Mr. Junatas was interviewed by Mr.

Santillan, the said mobile phone was immediately
endorsed to the latter, for proper disposition.

g. That at around 0830H-0845H of 26 May 2017, the said

Iphone 5s was returned to the owner, Darryl Avila.
h. That the said incident was reported by Mr. Jerry
Novelas together with the undersigned at Baguio City
Police Office Station 3 for blotter purposes on or
about 1350H 26 May 2017. It was attended to by PO1
Amy P. Pat-og.

i. That on or about 1300H 27 May 2017, the undersigned

proceeded to Baguio City Police Office Station 3 to
file a complaint against Christian Junatas. PO3 Kat-
teg, officer on duty at that time advised the
undersigned that in behalf of the hotel or guest to
file charges as a condition precedent, an
authorization or special power of attorney must be
executed first;

j. Thereafter, at around 1330H 27 May 2017, the

undersigned proceeded to Baguio City Police Office
Highway Patrol Group to refer the vehicle of Mr.
Junatas left at basement parking 2. The officer on
duty at that time advised the undersigned that for a
vehicle to be declared as abandoned, a waiting
period of thirty days must be observed first.
Thereafter, if the waiting period already expired,
the HPG shall bring the said vehicle to the
impounding area.

k. That at about 1330H 27 May 2017, the undersigned

went back to Azalea Hotel’s premises to relay all
the advise to the property manager, Ma’am Caye
Samson.

l. That on or about 1500H also of the same date, Mr.

Leif Marlon Balabag informed the undersigned that
the former advised Mr. Christian Junatas to appear
before his supervisor and to the HR to settle the
issues thrown against him.

m. That right there and then, the undersigned

immediately informed the property manager regarding
the conversation of Mr. Junatas and Mr. Balabag.
 n. That at around 1546H, Mr. Junatas arrived at Sierra
3 and he was escorted by SG Abel Picardo to the HR
office. Questioning was made by the Executive on
Duty, Mr. Jerry Novellas to Mr. Junatas. Thereafter,
the undersigned was advised by the property manager
to immediately call the assistance of the police.

o. That at around 1646H of the aforesaid date,

personnel from BCPO Station 3 arrived. The
undersigned and the property manager referred the
incident and asked the possibility of Mr. Junatas’
detention. According to them, the evidences (Iphone
and charger) implicating Mr. Junatas has already
been turned over. Furthermore, PO3 Kat-teg adviced
the undersigned and the property manager that if we
want to file a criminal case against Mr. Junatas, we
should seek first the advice from the company’s
legal counsel. Thus the filing of complaint against
Mr. Junatas may be dismissed on the grounds of
insufficiency of evidence. Furthermore, with regards
to the vehicle of Mr. Junatas, the hotel has no
right to hold it but to wait the owner to retrieve
the said vehicle. However, hotel security may
inspect the vehicle for any hotel properties hidden
therein.

p. That Mr. Junatas was released on board his white

Toyota Corolla vehicle. At about 1705H, said PNP
personnel left Azalea premises.

5. DISCUSSION

Based on the statement submitted by Mr. George

Magtulis hereto attached as Annex A, when the guest
was looking for a certain mobile phone described as
Iphone 5s at the tent area, Mr. Magtulis who first
received the complaint, asked his staff if they
happened to notice an Iphone 5s.

However, based on the statement of Mr. Junatas,

hereto attached as Annex B, who was present at that
time, admitted that after he found the Iphone
hesitated to return the said phone to the guest
fearing that his act of returning might implicate him.

Based on the information report of LG Ronalyn

Cadiay, hereto attached as Annex C, when Mr. Junatas
was about to end his duty, he was intercepted by LG
Ronalyn Cadiay, lady guard on duty at Sierra 3. He at
first told that he owns it but he forgot to declare it
but when the lady guard asked him to show the content
of the phone, pictures of ladies appeared. This caused
the lady guard to held Mr. Junatas. She immediately
called the attention of Mr. Santillan to inform him
that she intercepted an Iphone under the possession of
Mr. Junatas.

The motive of Mr. Junatas has not been clearly

established, but it could be possible that he lost in
a bet that caused him to commit the offense.

Mr. Junatas contentions are not tenable.

Any person who is in good faith, found any

valuables, and if he has no intention to gain such,
will immediately return the item to the rightful owner
without hesitation.

In this case, Mr. Junatas obviously has the

intention to gain such Iphone 5s and it is manifested
in the following actions:

a. Hesitation to return the Iphone 5s unlawfully

acquired
b. Knowledge of the fact that the owner was
already looking for it when the said Iphone
was already in his possession and refused to
return it voluntarily.
c. Concealment of the said Iphone 5s in wrapped
apron
 d. Attempting to bring it out from Azalea
Residences premises.

Hence tantamount to theft.

Furthermore, Mr. Junatas’ acts falls under the

definition of qualified theft under Art. 310 of the
Revised Penal Code.

Under the law, any person who, with intent to

gain, unlawfully take any personal property of another
without the consent of the latter is liable for
qualified theft.

Established procedures were not also complied

hence it led to inappropriate handling of the crisis.

Lapses were also seen on the part of Mr. Ariel

Christian Santillan, Duty Manager for failure to
report and inform the incident immediately to the
police and to the managers/team leaders for proper
disposition. Based on his information report, hereto
attached as Annex D, there was no manifestation that
he called the attention of the management or his co-
duty managers during the crisis.

6. CONCLUSION

Employees must always be advised with regards to

the importance of integrity and honesty in the
performance of their job. HR Department must be always
strict in screening applicants before being deployed.
Likewise, they must conduct a thorough background
investigation on the applicant to reveal more
information. These would help weeding out undesirable
applicants from being hired

In this kind of incidents or situations, most

especially when it comes to petty crimes like theft,
it must always be reported immediately to management
for proper disposition and alert security office. If
 we are not sure of our decision it is just proper to
consult the Property Manager, duty managers and
department heads for proper course of action.

The process in the handling of this crisis should

have not stopped when the Iphone was already returned
but it should have continued until such time the
offender was properly turned over to the proper
authorities.

7. RECOMMENDATION

a. Press charges against Christian Junatas for

qualified theft.
b. Termination of Christian Junatas’ employment for
theft, dishonesty and breach of trust and
confidence.
c. Timely and proper handling and reporting of crisis
to the management, property manager, duty managers
and department heads
d. Security education to indoctrinate employees that
stiff penalties corresponds any violation of company
rules and regulations.
i. Installation of CCTV cameras at timekeeping
area to:
1. Monitor the activities of employees,
visitors and contractors.
2. To aid the investigator in any
investigation of an incident
3. To serve as a deterrence

e. Deployment of additional security personnel at

employees’ entrance and exit and at main lobby
entrance.

i. Guard to be posted at main lobby entrance shall

have the following duties, to wit:
1. To strictly implement the “No Firearms”
policy
 2. To record the plate numbers of public
conveyances conveying guests or visitors
of the hotel.
3. To inform the Chief Security
Officer/Manager on Duty in case of robbery
alarm for immediate action.
4. To report suspicious items found within
the area of responsibility
5. To assist all our clients in cases of
emergencies

ii. Additional guard to be posted at Sierra 3 shall

have the following duties, to wit:

1. To record and check all vehicles coming in

and going out of its compartments and
under the seats for any suspicious cargo
(bomb) and hotel’s properties without
documents.
2. To record all vehicles of guests and employees
going in and out of the parking area.

ROMEO A. JACABAN, JR., LL.B,CSP,CSMS

Chief Security Officer