People vs Benemerito : 120389 : November 21, 1996 : J Davide Jr : Th... 7 of 10 http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/1996/nov1996/120389.htm We now turn to the criminal liability of the accused-appellant. Illegal recruitment is defined in Article 38 of the Labor Code, as amended, as follows: ART. 38. Illegal Recruitment. -- (a) Any recruitment activities including the prohibited activities including the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of this Code, to be undertaken by non-licensees or non-holders of authority shall be deemed illegal and punishable under Article 39 of this Code. The Ministry of Labor and Employment or any law enforcement officer may initiate complaints under this Article. (b) Illegal recruitment when committed by a syndicate or in large scale shall be considered an offense involving economic sabotage and shall be penalized in accordance with Article 39 hereof. Illegal recruitment is deemed committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring and/or confederating with one another in carrying out any unlawful or illegal transaction, enterprise or scheme defined under the first paragraph hereof. Illegal recruitment is deemed committed in large scale if committed against three (3) or more persons individually or as a group. Article 13(b) of the same Code defines recruitment and placement as: any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers, and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad, whether for profit or not: Provided, that any person or entity which, in any manner, offers or promises for a fee employment to two or more persons shall be deemed engaged in recruitment and placement. To prove illegal recruitment, only two elements need be shown, viz., (1) the person charged with the crime must have undertaken recruitment activities (or any of the activities enumerated in Article 34 of the Labor Code, as amended); and (2) the said person does not have a license or authority to do so. It is not required that it be shown that such person wrongfully represented [32] himself as licensed recruiter. A license is a document issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) authorizing a person or entity to operate a private employment agency, while an authority is a document issued by the DOLE authorizing a person or association to [33] engage in recruitment and placement activities as a private recruitment agency. There is large scale illegal recruitment if it is committed against three (3) or more persons individually or as a group; its elements, therefore, are the two above mentioned plus the fact that [34] it is committed against three or more persons. [35] Large scale illegal recruitment involves economic sabotage, and is penalized by Article 39(a) of the Labor Code, as amended, with life imprisonment and a fine of P100,000.00. The accused-appellant having recruited at least three persons, giving them the impression of his ability to send workers abroad, assuring them of their employment in Japan, and collecting various amounts for alleged processing and placement fees, without license nor authority to so recruit or offer job placements abroad, thus committed large scale illegal recruitment. It is settled in our jurisdiction that a person who commits illegal recruitment may be charged and convicted separately of illegal recruitment and estafa under paragraph 2(a), Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code, as the former is malum prohibitum where the criminal intent of the accused is not necessary for conviction, while estafa is malum in se where the criminal intent of [36] In short, a conviction for offenses under the Labor the accused is necessary for conviction. 1/20/2016 4:10 PM