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683 Phil. 369
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 193667, February 29, 2012 ]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, APPELLEE, VS. MARIAVIC
ESPENILLA Y MERCADO, APPELLANT.
RESOLUTION
BRION, J.:
We resolve the appeal, filed by accused Mariavic Espenilla y Mercado (appellant), from
the April 20, 2010 decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR.-H.C. No. 03692.
[1]
The RTC Ruling
In its July 22, 2008 decision,[2] the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Parañaque City,
Branch 274, convicted the appellant of large scale illegal recruitment[3] and two (2)
counts of estafa.[4] The trial court believed the testimonies of complainants Loreto
Cueto y Perez, Mariel Alviar y Nerpio and Mario Pagcaliwagan, pointing to the appellant
as the person who recruited them and promised them employment in Ireland, in
exchange for sums of money. The court also rejected the subsequent recantations of
Alviar and Pagcaliwagan. It found that the appellant was not licensed to recruit workers
for overseas employment, per the May 23, 2006 Certification of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration.[5] It noted that the appellant defrauded Cueto and Alviar
in the amounts of P20,000.00 and P15,000.00, respectively, thereby disregarding the
appellant’s uncorroborated denial. It acquitted the appellant of the crime of estafa
committed against Pagcaliwagan since the latter admitted that he recovered his money
from the appellant.
For the crime of illegal recruitment, the RTC sentenced the appellant to suffer the
penalty of life imprisonment and ordered her to pay a P500,000.00 fine, with the
accessory penalties of civil interdiction and perpetual absolute disqualification from the
right of suffrage. For the two (2) counts of estafa, it sentenced the appellant to suffer
an indeterminate penalty of two (2) years, four (4) months and one (1) day of prision
correccional, as minimum, to four (4) years, two (2) months and one (1) day of prision
correccional, as maximum, for each count, and to indemnify Cueto and Alviar the
amounts of P20,000.00 and P15,000.00, respectively.
The CA Ruling
On intermediate appellate review, the CA affirmed the RTC's decision, giving full
respect to the RTC's calibration of the testimonies of the witnesses, but deleted the
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