6/7/2020
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x x x [T]he prosecution endeavored to prove that on the 3rd week of July
2000, DELIA met with MARVIN, ROLLY, REYNALDO, JR. and Joseph Cabael
[JOSEPH] and introduced herself as a recruiter of workers for deployment to
Israel as apple pickers. She told them that she needed their birth certificates
and P500.00 for authentication, P1,500.00 for their medical examination and
P6,500.00 to cover their processing fee and passports including the amount
necessary to open a bank account for them. On the 2nd week of the
following month, private complainants again met with DELIA and each of
them handed her the amount of P6,500.00 in Alcala, Pangasinan. Because of
their trust on and assurances of DELIA, they parted with their money
without asking for receipts. According to them, DELIA promised that they
would be able to leave for Israel sometime in the 3rd week of September
2000 but none of them was able to leave as promised. On February 2001,
private complainants together with JOSEPH, SONNY, Betty Cabael and Susan
Cabael went to DELIA's house to demand the return of their money and
papers but she asked for time to withdraw the amount and retrieve the
papers from their office. When DELIA defaulted again on her promise, they
returned to her house but DELIA told them that the Philippine Overseas
Employment Agency (POEA) will sue them if they insist on backing-out.
Thus, they agreed among themselves to seek assistance from and file a
complaint with the National Bureau of Investigation [NBI] of Dagupan.
On further questioning, JOEL recalled that DELIA was introduced to him and
to MARVIN, REYNALDO, JR., ROLLY, JOSEPH and ROGER by a certain SONNY
BRILLO [SONNY]. He claimed that he signed a contract for a monthly salary
of P35,000.00 upon his deployment to Java, Israel. However, he was not
furnished a copy of this contract. MARVIN, on the other hand, maintained
that he had spoken with DELIA numerous times before he parted with his
P6,500.00 upon the supposition that the same will be used for the
procurement of his passport and payment of other processing fees.
According to him, he gave a total of P7,000.00 to DELIA since he gave an
additional P500.00 in the house of Susan Cabael Meanwhile, ROLLY testified
on cross-examination that it was SONNY who introduced him to DELIA when
the latter went to their barangay in Bautista, Pangasinan to convince people
to work abroad. When questioned by the trial judge, he asserted that aside
from the P6,500.00, he gave DELIA an additional P500.00 for
"authentication purposes" while at SONNY's bakery. Lastly, REYNALDO, JR.
maintained during his cross-examination that he gave the money to DELIA
and not to SONNY. On further questioning, the witness averred that "Pastor
Sonny" and DELIA were then at the canteen of JOEL and that when he and
his companions went there, they learned that DELIA and "Pastor Sonny"
were recruiting workers for jobs abroad.
To prove DELIA's lack of authority to recruit workers for employment
abroad, Remedios Mercado, Labor Employment Officer III of the Department
of Labor and Employment [DOLE] of Dagupan City District, testified that
DELIA had no certificate or license to recruit nor was she issued any special
recruitment authority by the POEA.
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/63739
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