SC downgrades penalties in 16-year-old theft case

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MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has settled a simple theft case that languished in the courts’ dockets for about 16 years because of faulty charges that resulted in harsh prison sentences.

In a 12-page decision on G.R. No. 238383 made public on Wednesday, the high court’s Second Division affirmed convictions meted out by a Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Court of Appeals but modified the sentences and penalties imposed because of erroneous arguments.

At the heart of the case was the affirmed simple theft of service charges that were collected from customers but not distributed among employees of a Shakey’s pizza parlor in Angono, Rizal, in 2009.

Shakey’s managers Janice Teologo, Jennifer delos Santos, Diony Mesina, and Jedalyn Mira, were fired for not distributing the collected service charges to the outlet’s staff.

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The staff members, including Ingimar Buenaventura and Mark Christopher Quetua, submitted handwritten reports saying they were made to sign the payrolls even if they did not receive their shares.

In the end, prosecutors proved the simple theft charges against the four store managers, but two of them—Mesina and Mira—did not attend the hearings.

Owner joins suit

Moreover, the establishment’s owner, Big G Philfoods & Entertainment, also joined the suit, claiming the four managers abused their trust and confidence.

In 2014, the RTC found for the complainants and Big G and sentenced the accused to a jail term ranging from seven years to 10 years. They were also ordered to pay Big G the sum of P9,920.

While it was alleged in the information that the service charges that were stolen from five employees amounted to a total of P21,943.71, the RTC noted that only two of them, Quetua and Buenaventura, testified and proved that they did not receive their shares.

Teologo and Delos Santos appealed the decision. The Court of Appeals, however, affirmed the RTC decision in 2019, but adjusted the imprisonment penalty to six years minimum up to 12 years maximum.

The case was brought to the Supreme Court, which, in a decision released on Wednesday, affirmed the conviction of Teologo and Delos Santos for simple theft. But it found flaws in the lower court’s finding of abuse of trust and confidence.

In the decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho, the high court ruled that the element of abuse of confidence under Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code to qualify the crime of theft was not present in the case.

It noted that while the petitioners, as managerial employees, held positions that required the trust and confidence of their employer, the crime was committed not against Big G but against employees Quetua and Buenaventura.

“To be sure, the relationship between managerial and rank-and-file employees does not involve nor require the element of trust and confidence. On this score, the qualifying element of abuse of confidence cannot be appreciated in this case. Absent this qualifying element, petitioners must only be convicted of theft in its simple form,” the high court said.

It thus reduced the penalties for the two managers to six months in prison and ordered them to pay the employees the withheld service charges, or P9,569.76 plus interest. —with a report from Jane Bautista