People vs Melgar-Mercader : 118815 : August 18, 1997 : J. Bellosillo :...
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http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/1997/aug1997/118815.htm
FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 118815. August 18, 1997]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ANITA MELGARMERCADER Y TONGCO, accused-appellant.
DECISION
BELLOSILLO, J.:
This is an appeal from the decision of the RTC - Br. 219, Quezon City, in Crim. Case No.
94-56815, convicting accused-appellant Anita Melgar-Mercader y Tongco of Illegal Recruitment
in Large Scale under pertinent provisions of the Labor Code, and sentencing her to life
imprisonment.[1]
The Information charged that between January 1993 to April 1994 the accused Anita
Melgar-Mercader y Tongco, for a fee but without any authority of law, feloniously recruited and
promised employment and/or job placement abroad to (a) Florida Mendoza-Rampas, (b) Lilia
Manlolo-Macaraeg, (c) Samuel Domingo, (d) Fernando Alijano, (e) Ferdinand Alijano, (f) Alfredo
Dapitan, (g) Guy Forte, and (h) Ofelia Petrache-Germono without first obtaining the required
license and/or authority from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Of the eight (8) complaining witnesses, three (3) testified for the prosecution, namely, Lilia
Manlolo, Adela Domingo, Guy Forte and Ofelia Petrache-Hermono. Adela Domingo, wife of
complaining witness Samuel Domingo, also testified.
Lilia Manlolo narrated that when she heard that the accused was sending people abroad for
employment, she and her husband went to the house of the accused in the first week of January
1994 in Escopa, Quezon City. When they met appellant assured them that she could send them
for employment abroad. In fact, she said that she was not like other recruiters who were merely
victimizing prospective applicants.
The accused informed Lilia that the processing of the papers for employment in Malaysia
would take some 3 to 4 weeks only and that the placement fee was P20,000.00 which was
equivalent to her salary for one (1) month. Lilia said that she was willing to give an initial amount
of P5,000.00. Then accused asked her to have a medical checkup, which she did on 11 January
1994 at Dr. Bartolomes clinic which yielded a favorable result.[2] On 18 January 1994, Lilia
handed the accused another P5,000.00 at her house as evidenced by a receipt.[3] Together with
the amount Lilia also gave her passport, NBI clearance and medical certificate to the accused
who told her to just wait for a telegram. But no telegram came and, despite repeated follow-ups
with the accused, Lilia was never able to leave for abroad.
Adela Domingo, wife of Samuel Domingo, also took the witness stand. She said that the
accused was a neighbor who went to their house and informed her and her husband that she
(the accused) had a visa ready for Samuel should Adela allow him to leave for abroad. Although
skeptical at first, Adela became convinced when accused gave the name of another neighbor as
one of those she had deployed earlier. Adela then gave the accused P9,000.00, although the
latter was asking for P14,000.00, and 3-1/2 sacks of rice worth P2,000.00 or a total payment of
P11,000.00, for which the accused gave her a receipt.[4] But Samuel Domingo was never able to
leave and the accused after March 1994 could no longer be found. This prompted the Domingos
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