a property right under the due process clause. So long as professionals and other
workers meet reasonable regulatory standards no such deprivation exists.
Finally, it is a futile gesture on the part of petitioners to invoke the non-impairment
clause of the Constitution to support their argument that the government cannot enact
the assailed regulatory measures because they abridge the freedom to
contract. In Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. vs. Drilon, we held that
“[t]he non-impairment clause of the Constitution … must yield to the loftier purposes
targeted by the government.” Equally important, into every contract is read
provisions of existing law, and always, a reservation of the police power for so long as
the agreement deals with a subject impressed with the public welfare.
A last point. Petitioners suggest that the singling out of entertainers and performing
artists under the assailed department orders constitutes class legislation which violates
the equal protection clause of the Constitution. We do not agree.
The equal protection clause is directed principally against undue favor and individual
or class privilege. It is not intended to prohibit legislation which is limited to the
object to which it is directed or by the territory in which it is to operate. It does not
require absolute equality, but merely that all persons be treated alike under like
conditions both as to privileges conferred and liabilities imposed. We have held, time
and again, that the equal protection clause of the Constitution does not forbid
classification for so long as such classification is based on real and substantial
differences having a reasonable relation to the subject of the particular legislation. If
classification is germane to the purpose of the law, concerns all members of the class,
and applies equally to present and future conditions, the classification does not violate
the equal protection guarantee.
[26]
The validity of Section 6 of R.A. No. 8042 which provides that employees of
recruitment agencies may be criminally liable for illegal recruitment has been upheld
inPeople v. Chowdury:[27]
As stated in the first sentence of Section 6 of RA 8042, the persons who may be held
liable for illegal recruitment are the principals, accomplices and accessories. An
employee of a company or corporation engaged in illegal recruitment may be held
liable as principal, together with his employer, if it is shown that he actively and
consciously participated in illegal recruitment. It has been held that the existence of
the corporate entity does not shield from prosecution the corporate agent who
knowingly and intentionally causes the corporation to commit a crime. The
corporation obviously acts, and can act, only by and through its human agents, and it
is their conduct which the law must deter. The employee or agent of a corporation
engaged in unlawful business naturally aids and abets in the carrying on of such
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