When recalled to the witness stand by the prosecution as a witness for
Margarita Nadal, complainant in Criminal Cases Nos. 91-94194 and 9194198, Napoleon Ramos declared that Nadal was his neighbor in
Urdaneta, Pangasinan; that on January 9, 1991, he was with Nadal when
she applied with the accused a the latter's house in Urdaneta, Pampanga,
for employment abroad; that he was present when Nadal handed to the
accused the sum of P5,000.00 in Sampaloc, Manila, and he saw the
accused prepare a receipt therefor that was signed by Micua, Exhibit "J;"
that he was also present when Nadal gave an additional sum of
P10,000.00 to the accused at her residence on Estrada Street, Urdaneta,
Pangasinan, for which a receipt was issued by the accused, Exhibit "J-3
that Nadal had gave (sic) to him other receipts of payments she had made
to the accused on January 21 and 22, 1991 in the respective sums of
P5,000 and P10,000.00, Exhibits "J-1" and "J-2," but he was not present
when these two payments were made, and that Nadal was unable to
testify, because she is now abroad.
The prosecution next presented Cristina Nava, complainant in Criminal
Cases Nos. 91-94193 and 91-94198, who testified that sometime in 1991,
the accused went to her (Navas) house in San Nicholas, Villasis,
Pangasinan, and offered to recruit her for overseas employment in
Hongkong. Nava told the accused that she would consult her husband
about the matter. A few weeks later, the accused again visited Nava and
she (accused) succeeded in convincing the reluctant Nava to accept the
offer. The accused told Nava that her placement fee would be P40,000.00
of which P30,000.00 was to be paid in advance and the balance of
P10,000.00 would be deducted from her salary. On different occasions,
Nava delivered to the accused various amounts totalling P30,000.00 as
placement fee, Exhibit "G," "G-1," and "G-2." The accused assured Nava
that she would leave for and work in Hongkong within two months, but the
promised employment turned out to be a dud. Despite repeated demands
from Nava, the accused has failed and refused to return the latters money.
x x x.7[7]
Testifying in her own defense, accused-appellant denied the charges of engaging in
recruitment activities and of receiving money from complainants. She described herself
as a public school teacher living in Pangasinan with her four children and unemployed
husband. Like the other complainants, she claimed she was a victim of Julie Micua. She
first met Micua on December 17, 1990, at the house of Lina Salcedo in Sampaloc,
Manila. Micua was introduced to her as a recruiter of overseas workers. Interested, she
applied for a job abroad. Micua informed her that she would be a factory worker and
showed her a contract. Accused-appellant was required to submit her medical certificate
7[7]
Records, Criminal Case Nos. 91-94192-97, pp. 188-190.