"On March 16, 1992, appellant she signed a promissory note (Exh. B-Reynaldo Jugo, Folder of Exhibits) which reads: `Promise to pay Rosita Jugo the amount of P93,000.00 as payment for money received by me for having failed to [send] them abroad;' else, the NBI would publish the incident in the newspaper and report the same in the television (pp. 22-23, tsn., Feb. 8, 1994). "After the filing the cases in court, Reynaldo Jugo executed an affidavit of desistance (Exh. 1, p. 77, Rec.) stating that he filed the illegal recruitment case against appellant was really due to misunderstanding with a request the case be dismissed."v[5] The RTC, Hon. William Bayhon presiding, convicted the accused on all counts. The respective dispositive portions of its decision on the three jointly tried cases read: "WHEREFORE, the Court finds the accused Lourdes Bautista de Guiang guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Violation of Art. 38 (a), Presidential Decree No. 1412, amending certain provisions of Book L, Pres. Decree No. 442, otherwise known as the New Labor Code of the Philippines in relation to Art. 13 (b) and (c) of said code as further amended by Pres. Decree Nos. 1693, 1920 and 2018 and is sentenced to suffer the maximum penalty of Life Imprisonment and pay a fine of P100,000.00 as provided for by law with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency with respect to the fine but in no case shall it exceed 1/3 of the principal penalty. "Likewise the Court finds accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Estafa in the other two cases. "In Criminal Case No. 92-104616 for Estafa involving P20,500.00, she is sentenced to suffer an imprisonment of One (1) year, Eight (8) Months and Twenty-One (21) Day[s] of Prision Correccional as the minimum to Five (5) Years, Five (5) Months and Eleven (11) days as maximum of Prision Correccional in its maximum period and to pay Reynaldo Jugo the sum of P20,500.00. "In Criminal Case No. 92-104615 for Estafa in the amount of P70,000.00, she is sentenced to suffer imprisonment of Four (4) years and Two (2) Months of Prision Correccional as the minimum to Six (6) years, Eight (8) Months and Twenty-One (21) days of prision correccional as the maximum plus One (1) year imprisonment for every P10,000.00 in excess of P22,000.00 and to indemnify the offended party Jose Jugo the sum of P70,000.00 "SO ORDERED."vi[6] In her appeal to this Court, accused-appellant Lourdes Bautista de Guiang faults the trial court for having relied heavily on the testimony of prosecution witnesses, complainants Reynaldo Jugo, Jose Jugo and Rosita Jugo, anchoring her argument on, firstly, the supposed nefarious motives of the complainants and, secondly, on the affidavit of desistance executed by Reynaldo Jugo attributing the complaint against appellant merely to a "misunderstanding."