Appellant signed her name as Annie Saley on the receipt. Appellant informed Belino that he should wait for her telephone call regarding the schedule of his flight. He waited but when no calls came, Belino and Opdas decided to visit appellant in her house in Buyagan. Appellant asked to be given until January to deploy them in Taiwan. February 1993 came, and still there was no news from appellant. In March 1993, Belino and others, namely, Fidel Opdas, Brando Salbino, Dembert Leon and Alfredo Arcega,xviii[18] decided to file a complaint against appellant with the POEA in Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City, where their sworn statements were taken. Criminal Case No. 93-CR-1651 Peter Arcega, a 27-year-old cashier from 317 Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City, also paid the amount of P10,000.00 to appellant for a promised job overseas. A cash voucher was signed by appellant to acknowledge the payment. Peter, subsequently, also paid the amount of P15,000.00 to appellant for which the latter issued a receipt signed by Annie Saley. He was among those who signed the affidavit-complaint before the POEA. Testifying in Criminal Case No. 93-CR-1645,xix[19] as a corroborative witness, Dembert Leon, a 25-year-old unemployed from 52-F Tandang Sora Street, Baguio City, said that he, desiring to get an employment abroad, likewise went to see appellant at her residence in Buyagan. Accompanied by Fidel Opdas, Leon was told by appellant to complete the necessary papers, including his bio-data, barangay clearance, ID and NBI clearance. Leon applied to be a factory worker in Taiwan. He was assured a monthly salary of P12,000.00, but first, appellant told him, he should commit to pay a placement fee of P40,000.00 of which amount P10,000.00 had to be paid forthwith. Leon paid and a cash voucher, dated 08 September 1992, was issued by appellant. On 30 September 1992, he paid appellant another P15,000.00 for which another acknowledgment receipt was issued. The remaining P15,000.00 was agreed to be paid at the airport before his flight to Taiwan. No further word came from appellant. Finally, in December 1992, when he and the others called her up, appellant informed them to wait until January 1993. January came and still nothing happened. In March 1993, Leon and the others went to the POEA office to lodge a complaint against appellant.xx[20] Jose B. Matias, an Attorney II at the POEA Regional Station Unit in Baguio City, received a request for verification on whether or not appellant was a licensed recruiter. In response, he advised that appellant was not authorized to recruit in the City of Baguio and in the region from 1989 to the present. Atty. Matias issued a certification to that effect. -0The Case for the Defense. The defense posited the theory that appellant merely assisted the complainants in applying for overseas employment with duly accredited travel agencies for and from which she derived a commission.xxi[21] According to the 37-year-old appellant, she used to be the liaison officer of the Friendship Recruitment Agency from 1983 to 1986. In that capacity, she would submit to the POEA