Cajatol Case

G.R. No.
259511
Nhorkayam Tumog y Cajatol v. People of the Philippines
Dimaampao, J.
Doctrine:
Section 3(j), Rule 131 of the Revised Rules of Evidence provides for the disputable presumption
that "a person found in possession of a thing taken in the doing of a recent wrongful act is the
taker and the doer of the whole act." The foregoing presumption is satisfactory if uncontradicted
by other evidence, and applies to theft, robbery, or carnapping alike.
Facts of the case:
Sometime in March 2015, Dr. Mariam Espinoza (private complainant) hired Nhorkayam Cajatol
(petitioner) as an errand boy. On May 30, 2015, Dr. Espinoza went to Manila to attend to her
daughter. She locked the door of her house when she left. Upon her return, she found the doors
of her house open, the windowpanes were removed, and the side wall of her kitchen door was
forcibly opened. She then discovered some of her items amounting to a total of Php 325,300.00
were missing. She immediately reported the incident to their barangay and filed a report at the
police station
Dr. Espinoza saw Cajatol when she arrived in her office. Cajatol appeared ill at ease and
speechless. Dr. Espinoza instructed him to do his daily routine and to return to their office.
However, he failed to return at such time. Dr. Espinoza called Cajatol's aunt and asked for his
whereabouts. She also relayed that her house had been robbed. Cajatol’s aunt and brother
found him in his rented room in a boarding house. He was in possession of Dr. Espinoza’s
items. Cajatol's aunt talked to him, and thereafter, they went to Dr. Espinoza’s office to return
some of the stolen items.
Dr. Espinoza went to the police station to coordinate the incident. Afterward, a police officer
conducted an investigation. The police officer, together with Cajatol and his aunt and brother,
proceeded to his boarding house where they found the remaining stolen items. Cajatol and his
aunt signed the inventory prepared by the police officer. Cajatol and his aunt went to the police
station to surrender. A criminal information was filed against Cajatol; he did not present any
evidence and merely submitted the case for the RTC's decision.
RTC Ruling
The trial court ruled Cajatol as guilty of the crime of robbery. The trial court rendered its decision
based on circumstantial evidence and the disputable presumption laid down in Section 3(j), Rule
131 of the Revised Rules of Evidence where "a person found in possession of a thing taken in
the doing of a recent wrongful act is the taker and the doer of the whole act." The trial court
found that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses sufficiently established all the elements
of the offense and the identity of the perpetrator. On the other hand, Cajatol neither bothered
offering an explanation as to how the stolen items came into his possession nor did he assert
that he was the actual owner thereof. Cajatol filed an appeal before the Court of Appeals.
CA Ruling
The CA rejected Cajatol’s claim that his arrest was illegal and that any evidence obtained
incidental thereto was inadmissible as fruit of the poisonous tree. The CA clarified that he was
not arrested; rather, he voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. Moreover, the exclusionary
rule could not apply in this case since the stolen items proffered as evidence were either
returned personally by petitioner or were retrieved from his possession by a police officer who
went to his boarding house upon invitation and with his consent.
The CA also found that the RTC correctly ratiocinated that all the elements to establish the
crime of robbery were proved based on the reliable testimonies of the prosecution's witnesses.
The CA emphasized that the totality of the unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence pointed to
petitioner as the perpetrator of the crime. Contrary to petitioner's assertion, the CA held that the
disputable presumption under Section 3(j), Rule 131 of the Revised Rules of Evidence applied
to the crime of robbery.
Issue
Whether or not Section 3(j), Rule 131 of the Revised Rules of Evidence applied to the crime of
robbery.
Ruling
Yes, the section applies to robbery. The Supreme Court stated that to be convicted under Article
299(a)(2) of the Revised Penal Code, it is necessary that the following elements are proved:
1. unlawful taking;
2. of personal property belonging to another;
3. with intent to gain; and
4. with force upon things, i.e., by breaking any wall, roof, or floor or breaking any door or
window to enter the building where the robbery is committed.
First. assorted personal properties were unlawfully taken. Second, these items belonged to
private complainant. Third, intent to gain is presumed from the unlawful taking by the offender of
the thing stolen. Here, the intent to gain was established by the fact that the stolen goods were
found in petitioner's house. Fourth, the robbery was effected through the breaking of the side
wall of the kitchen door and the removal of the window pane near the kitchen counter.
Moreover, the testimony of private complainant, who was subjected to grueling cross-
examination, served to prove the valuation of the stolen items totaling to P325,000.00. It was
also determined that petitioner was not armed at the time of the commission of the crime.
It bears stressing that Cajatol never denied that Dr. Espinoza was robbed, only that there was
no eyewitness testimony to pin him down as the perpetrator of the crime. He argues that the CA
erred in concluding that he was the author of the crime based solely on the fact that the stolen
items were recovered in his rented residence at that time as it did not account for the possibility
that someone else placed these items therein.
Section 3(j), Rule 131 of the Revised Rules of Evidence provides for the disputable presumption
that "a person found in possession of a thing taken in the doing of a recent wrongful act is the
taker and the doer of the whole act." The foregoing presumption is satisfactory if uncontradicted
by other evidence, and applies to theft, robbery, or carnapping alike. Indisputably, Cajatol failed
to present any reasonable explanation for the presence of the stole items found in his home.
The alternative reason which he offered that his lessor or aunt planted the said items defies
logic and common sense. Worse still, he presented no countervailing evidence during trial to
buttress his claims. On the other hand, the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses only served
to further solidify the foregoing presumption.

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