5/28/2020
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this enticement, the victims parted with their money in varying amounts as placement
fees to appellant. Consequently, the victims suffered damages as the promised
employment abroad never materialized and the money they parted were never
recovered.[26]
Now on the appropriate penalties.
As the crime was committed in large scale, it is an offense involving economic sabotage
and is punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of not less than P500,000.00 nor
more than P1,000,000.00. The CA thus aptly imposed the penalty of life imprisonment
and a fine of P500,000.00.
The prescribed penalty
correccional maximum to
P12,000.00 but does not
penalty shall be imposed
for estafa under Article 315[27] of the RPC, is prision
prision mayor minimum, if the amount of the fraud is over
exceed P22,000.00. If the amount exceeds P22,000.00, the
in its maximum period, adding one year for each additional
P10,000.00, provided that the total penalty shall not exceed 20 years.[28]
In this case, the amounts defrauded are the following:
Case Number
Person Defrauded
Amount Defrauded
Criminal Case No. MC05- Ruzzel Crisostomo
9048
P83,500.00
Criminal Case No. MC05- Renante B. Quirao, P49,500.00
9049
Jr.
Criminal Case No. MC05- Rosalyn
9050
Fernandez
Criminal Case No. MC05- Lester C. Duyao
9051
Criminal Case No. MC05- Reinaluz
9052
Guzman
A. P64,000.00
P57,500.00
De P83,500.00
As the amounts defrauded exceeded P22,000.00, the penalty shall be imposed in its
maximum period which is 6 years, 8 months and 21 days to 8 years.
Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the minimum term shall be within the range
of the penalty next lower to that prescribed by the RPC, or anywhere within prision
correccional in its minimum and medium periods or 6 months and 1 day to 4 years and
2 months. Clearly, the modification made by the CA on the RTC computation of the
minimum term is improper. The minimum term imposed which is 6 years, 8 months
and 21 days of prision mayor is way above the range of the penalty next lower to that
prescribed by the RPC. Although the minimum term imposed by the RTC which is 4
years is within the range, we further modify the same and make it 4 years and 2
months in all the cases.
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