(Disclaimer: This is only an explanation of what the possible consequences are of not returning a lost item which is not yours. My explanation does not apply 100% to all cases because circumstances differ from one another. If you find any misinterpretation and/or misapplication in my post, please feel free to correct me in the comments section)
Imagine yourself having a nice vacation in a resort where there’s a pool. While strolling along the poolside, you notice a pair of Havaianas slippers lying around. Seeing no one around, you presume that this might be left behind by someone who’s in a hurry to get out of the pool area. Thinking that the owner had probably abandoned the slippers, you pick it up and begin to wear it casually as if it were your own. Suddenly, a person comes up to you and says, “Those are my slippers. Give it back, please”. Would you surrender the slippers or would you rather not?
Let us discuss the legal implications of the said incident.
Finders keepers, according to Meriam-Webster, is “used especially in children's speech to say that a person can keep what he or she has found and does not need to give it back to the person who has lost it”.
However, under our Criminal Laws here in the Philippines, one who does not return a lost item to the owner may be held liable for theft.
Article 308. Who are liable for theft. - Theft is committed by any person who, with intent to gain but without violence against or intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take personal property of another without the latter's consent.
Theft is likewise committed by:
Any person who, having found lost property, shall fail to deliver the same to the local authorities or to its owner;
Any person who, after having maliciously damaged the property of another, shall remove or make use of the fruits or object of the damage caused by him; and
Any person who shall enter an enclosed estate or a field where trespass is forbidden or which belongs to another and without the consent of its owner, shall hunt or fish upon the same or shall gather cereals, or other forest or farm products.
Applying the abovesaid provision to the previously stated facts, the owner may file a case for theft against you if you would rather not return the slippers.
The same goes for having found a wallet left in a public transportation vehicle, the failure to return it to the owner also constitutes theft.
“This distinction between lost and mislaid properly supplies an additional consideration in support of the conclusion that misappropriation by the finder of a purse inadvertently left by a passenger in a street vehicle constitutes theft on general principles of jurisprudence.”
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS vs. CLEMENTE AVILA
G.R. No. L-19786 March 31, 1923
“The word "lost" is generic in nature, and embraces loss by stealing or by any act of a person other than the owner, as well as by the act of the owner himself or through some casual occurrence. If anything, the finder who fails deliberately to return the thing lost may be considered more blameworthy if the loss was by stealing than through some other means.”
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. ROMUALDO RODRIGO
G.R. No. L-18507 March 31, 1966
Never take what isn’t yours. Play fair, be honest, and always observe honesty and good faith in everything you do.
Thank you for reading!
Every person who through an act of performance by another, or any other means, acquires or comes into possession of something at the expense of the latter without just or legal ground, shall return the same to him.
Art. 22 of the New Civil Code