People vs Melgar-Mercader : 118815 : August 18, 1997 : J. Bellosillo :...
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http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/1997/aug1997/118815.htm
to file a complaint at Police Station No. 8 where Adela was asked to verify with the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) the accuseds license to recruit. Upon her request,
the POEA issued a certification dated 12 April 1994 attesting to the fact that the accused was
neither licensed nor authorized by that office to recruit workers for overseas employment.[5]
POEA then advised the Domingos to have the accused arrested.
The third complainant to take the witness stand was Guy Forte. She testified that sometime
in July 1993 she was introduced to the accused who convinced her that for a fee she could work
in Taiwan. Because the accused promised her that she could leave in April, Guy gave the
accused P5,000.00 in January and another P5,000.00 the following month.[6] But by April she
still had not left because the accused alleged that she lost the passport of Guy.
Ofelia Petrache-Germono also testified. She recounted that on 14 December 1993 she met
the accused when she accompanied a friend who was also applying for a job abroad. She said
that she became the replacement for another applicant who reportedly got sick. The accused
asked her to prepare P1,000.00 for medical expenses. She even accompanied her to Dr.
Bartolomes clinic where she underwent medical examination for which she paid P900.00 for
doctor's fees. The accused then informed Ofelia that she was physically fit and her papers could
be processed for a fee of P7,000.00 of which she made an initial payment of P3,000.00. Later,
the accused borrowed P1,000.00 and told Ofelia to prepare all the money so that she could
catch up with the rest by Christmas time.
On 24 February 1994, after pawning her ring at the Capitol Pawnshop, Ofelia gave the
accused P2,000.00.[7] In other words, Ofelia gave her the total amount of P6,000.00.[8] The
accused also asked her to attend a seminar as she was leaving soon. However, she was not
able to attend. Neither was she able to go abroad. Finally she went to the JB Agency to look for
the accused who allegedly worked there, but nobody knew her there; she also went to the
residence of the accused but she did not find her there either. Later, she learned that the
accused was already detained at Police Station No. 8.
On 5 October 1994 the trial court rendered its decision x x x finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Illegal Recruitment in Large
Scale defined and penalized under Article 13 (b), 38 (b), and 39 of the Labor Code, the Court hereby
sentences her to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment, to indemnify complainant Lilia Manlolo in the
amount of P5,000.00; complainant Adela Domingo in the amount of P11,0000.00; complainant Guy Forte
in the amount of P10,000.00; and complainant Ofelia Petrache in the amount of P6,000.00, and to pay the
costs.[9]
Appellant assails the above decision and contends that the court a quo erred in finding her
guilty of Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale, when the prosecution failed to prove her guilt beyond
reasonable doubt.[10]
Appellant contends that her conviction has no sufficient legal and factual basis as she does
not even know the complaining witnesses, has not entered into any transaction with them nor
promised them job placements abroad.
Appellant's denial is devoid of merit. As against the positive testimonies of the four (4)
complaining witnesses that they were lured by appellant to part with their hard-earned money on
the promise of placement for good-paying jobs abroad, the defense of denial loses ground; it is a
self-serving negative evidence that cannot be given greater weight than the declaration of
credible witnesses.[11]
An examination of the testimonies of the four (4) complaining witnesses reveals that
appellant indeed knew all of them. It is hard to imagine how four (4) persons, not knowing one
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