Dear PAO,

Last night, I found a mobile phone in the cab I rode home from work. I figured that it was left behind by the passenger before me, so I decided to keep it temporarily and wait for the owner to contact me through it. When I did not get any calls from the owner, I eventually decided to keep the phone for myself.

Two days after, I was surprised to learn that the owner had managed to track the phone to my location and sought the assistance of the barangay in retrieving it. The owner also warned me that he would file a criminal complaint for theft against me for allegedly failing to return the phone. I explained that I couldn’t return it because I did not know who the owner was, but he remained intent on filing a case. Can I actually be charged with theft over something I did not purposely take but merely found?

Filio

Dear Filio,

Theft has been generally defined as the act of unlawfully taking the personal property of another without his or her consent, with intent to gain but without violence against or intimidation of persons nor force upon things. (Article 308, Revised Penal Code of the Philippines)

In our jurisdiction, the crime of theft may be committed in any number of ways. For one, a person “who, having found lost property, shall fail to deliver the same to the local authorities or to its owner” is guilty of theft. (Article 308, paragraph 2 [1], Revised Penal Code)

In Fernando Pante y Rangasa vs. People of the Philippines, (G.R. No. 218969, January 18, 2021), the Honorable Supreme Court, speaking through Honorable Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, explained at length that in the immediately foregoing type of theft, intent to gain can be inferred from the finder’s deliberate failure to deliver the property found to the proper person, all the while knowing that the same does not belong to him:

“As such, if a finder of lost thing of unknown owner turns it over to other local authorities or to any individual with the instruction or intention of returning it to the owner or to the proper authority, he could not be held guilty of the crime of theft. Such action negates the intent not to return the thing to the proper persons, much less an intent to gain or to appropriate the lost property. On the other hand, if the finder uses or appropriates the thing found or keeps the same for an unreasonable period of time, he is certainly guilty of theft. Such action constitutes a deliberate failure to deliver the lost property to the proper persons which is punished under Article 308 paragraph 2 (1).”

Our laws also recognize the fact that the finder of a thing lost may not always know the owner thereof. The high court explained that this is precisely the reason why the subject penal provision gives the finder the option to return the property found to the local authorities. (Ibid.)

Here, aside from your own admission that you decided to keep the phone for yourself, your intent to gain can be inferred from your deliberate failure to immediately deliver the phone you found to its owner, or if unknown as you claimed, to the local authorities. Thus, you may be held liable for theft.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.