The Supreme Court (SC) has turned down an appeal filed by a Binangonan, Rizal mechanic who has been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison for running off with and selling a car he was supposed to just repair.
In a resolution uploaded online on March 23, the SC upheld the Court of Appeals’ 2020 decision which affirmed the Binangonan Regional Trial Court Branch 67’s conviction of Hubert Salvadora of carnapping.
The SC said Salvadora’s defense that he was verbally authorized to sell the vehicle was unsubstantiated, adding that “denial is a negative defense that is self-serving and underserving of weight in law absent clear and convincing proof”.
In January 2015, Salvadora was hired by the owner, Mariden Ringor, to repair the car in her house in Angono, Rizal.
Ringor then left for work and her son was left to look after the repair.
Sometime in the afternoon, the son went inside to watch television. When he went out again, the car was gone but assumed the mechanic just took it for a test drive.
Ringor later learned that her car was already up for sale at a buy and sell website.
Source: Philippines News Agency
