4/10/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly According to accused-appellant, she and BBB were friends and neighbors in Talon-talon, Zamboanga City. Sometime in April 2003, when asked by BBB why accused-appellant returned to the Philippines from Malaysia, the latter said that she had been made a prostituted woman in Malaysia. Accused-appellant denied having offered BBB a job in Malaysia, a denial corroborated by Majujie Jailya Misuari. Accused-appellant also denied knowing AAA and Franz. She claimed that she only met AAA when the latter, together with BBB, visited her in jail and offered to withdraw the case if accused-appellant would give them money. Co-accused Franz merely denied knowing AAA, BBB or accused-appellant. On 27 June 2008, after trial on the merits, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Zamboanga City rendered a Decision,[5] the dispositive portion of which states:[6] WHEREFORE, the Court finds both accused NURFRASIR HASHIM y SARABAN a.k.a “FRANZ/FRAS” and BERNADETTE PANSACALA a.k.a “NENENG AWID” GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT of the crime of ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT defined under Section 6 and penalized under Section 7(b) of Republic Act No. 8042 otherwise known as the “Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995”, as principals by direct participation, committed by a syndicate, against BBB and AAA, and SENTENCES each of said accused to suffer the penalty of LIFE IMPRISONMENT and to pay a fine of P1,000,000.00 each;[7] to pay each of the above victims P50,000.00 as moral damages; P300,000.00 as exemplary damages, and to pay the costs. SO ORDERED. The trial court considered that, in the course of the trial, the prosecution and the defense had entered into a stipulation that neither accused-appellant Bernadette nor Franz had a license or an authority to recruit or deploy workers for overseas employment. Moreover, the trial court found that the crime was committed in conspiracy by the accused and other persons. It painstakingly enumerated the overt acts of the accusedappellant showing her direct participation in the commission of the crime. These acts included inducing AAA and BBB to work in Malaysia; introducing Macky, Jun and Franz to the victims; and escorting them to the wharf, where the victims boarded the vessel that took them away from their families and their country and brought them to Malaysia, where – heretofore unbeknownst to them – they were made to work as prostituted women. It further held that the credible and positive testimonies of the witnesses for the prosecution prevailed over those of the defense of mere denial, absent any showing that the witnesses for the prosecution had any ill motive to falsely testify and implicate the accused in the commission of the crime charged. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/54824 4/10