The Court of Appeals rationalized:
"And in the case at bar, it can be said that when Garcia filled up the application forms for work
aboard and paid P2,000.00 to Boneng as partial payment or advance payment of the placement
fees required and was promised she could work in Hongkong by Boneng, the latter was actually
engaged in illegal recruitment as she had no license to recruit admittedly.
Hence, at that precise time Boneng was already committing an offense of illegal recruitment in
the presence of Garcia. Garcia could have very well arrested her on the spot but she did not as
she explained civilian agents are cautioned not to effect arrest by the CIS authorities.
And when Garcia left and went downstairs to tell her CIS team that she already gave the
P2,000.00 marked money to Boneng after posing as an applicant for work abroad and
describing Boneng as a short fat lady wearing pants and white T-shirt and forthwith Nevado and
Dulayx[10] went up to the second floor to apprehend Boneng and recover the marked money of
P2,000.00 and the documents pertaining to the recruitment activity of Boneng, then it can be
said Boneng has just committed an offense and the effects thereof are still visible in her office,
the marked money and documents of recruitment being there, when Nevado and Dulay of the
CIS, both peace officers, went up to effect her arrest.
x
x
x
The arrest therefore was legal as an exception under warrantless arrest under Section 5(b) of
Rule 113 of the Rules of Court ...
All things studiedly considered and the probative weight of the evidence on record taken into
account, the irresistible conclusion is that petitioner Bridget Boneng is guilty beyond reasonable
doubt of the crime charged.
WHEREFORE, for lack of merit, the Petition is hereby DENIED, and the Decision of the Court
of Appeals in CA G.R. CR No. 17133 AFFIRMED in toto. No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.
Romero, (Chairman), and Gonzaga-Reyes, JJ., concur.
Vitug, J., abroad on official business.
Panganiban, J., on leave.