Lina N. Ganot, Angelyn N. Magpayo, Nenita A. Andasan, Rebecca P. De Leon,
Annie M. Nuque and Edgardo L. Salvador met Dominga Fortuna y Corrales in a
seminar on Tupperware products being then promoted for sale in Cabanatuan
City. Fortuna took the occasion to converse with private complainants, along with some
of the attendees, offering job placements in Taiwan. Convinced that Fortuna could
actually provide them with jobs abroad, private complainants, on 06 July 1998, each
gave her the amount of P5,400.00 to take care of the processing fee for medical
examination and other expenses for securing their respective passports. On 13 July
1998, private complainants took the medical examination in Manila. Weeks went by but
the promised departure had not materialized. Suspecting that something was not right,
they finally demanded that Fortuna return their money. Fortuna, in the meanwhile, went
into hiding. After having later learned that Fortuna had neither a license nor an authority
to undertake recruiting activities, Angelyn Magpayo filed a complaint which, in due time,
ultimately resulted in the indictment of Fortuna for illegal recruitment. During the
preliminary investigation, as well as later at the trial, Fortuna gave assurance to have
the money she had received from private complainants returned to them but, except for
the amount of P1,250.00 paid to Angelyn Magpayo, Fortuna was unable to make good
her promise.
Dominga Fortuna, in her testimony, admitted having attended the seminar on June
1998 where she then met Annie Nuque, Rebecca De Leon, Nenita Andasan, Edgardo
Salvador, Angelyn Magpayo and Lina Ganot. During the seminar, she purchased
Tupperware products from private complainants after she was convinced to be their
sub-agent. Initially, she was able to remit payments to private complainants on her sales
but, when she failed to make subsequent remittances, she was threatened with criminal
prosecution. In order to settle the matter, she executed separate promissory
notes. When she again failed to pay, private complainants filed the case for illegal
recruitment against her. Originally, there were six private complainants but eventually
only three of them pursued the case because the others were finally able to leave for
abroad.
In its decision, dated 02 January 2001, the Regional Trial Court, Branch 27,
Cabanatuan City, held Dominga Corrales Fortuna guilty of Illegal Recruitment in Large
Scale. The trial court held:
WHEREFORE, the Court finds the accused Dominga Fortuna GUILTY beyond
reasonable doubt of Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale and hereby imposes upon her
the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of Five Hundred Thousand (P500,000.00)
pesos, as the same involves economic sabotage.
She is likewise ordered to reimburse five thousand four hundred (P5,400.00) each to
Lina Ganot, Nenita Andasan representing the amount they gave to the accused as
processing fee and the amount of four thousand one hundred fifty (P4,150.00) pesos
in favor of Angelyn Magpayo, as there was a partial restitution during the trial of the
original five thousand four hundred (P5,400.00) pesos she delivered to the accused.
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