People vs Villas : 112180 : August 15, 1997 : J. Panganiban : Third Div... 2 of 10 http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/1997/aug1997/112180.htm (qualified) of four (4) persons, namely: Alfonsa Acierda Morotos [sic], Teresita Caballero Villegas, Nenita Balisalisa and Ligaya Rentura punishable under Article 39 (a) of the Labor Code as amended, she is hereby sentence[d] to a penalty of LIFE IMPRISONMENT and a fine of P100,000.00 and to pay the cost; to indemnify Alfonsa Acierda Mortos the amount of P11,300.00, Teresita Caballero Villegas, the amount of P11,800.00, Nenita Balisalisa the amount of P6,200.00 and Ligaya Rentura the amount of P2,000.00.[6] Appellant, although granted bail during the trial, was subsequently committed to the Correctional Institution for Women on March 4, 1994[7] pending resolution of her appeal. The Facts Version of the Prosecution The prosecution presented eight (8) witnesses among whom were the four complainants: Alfonsa Acierda Mortos, Ligaya Clara Rentura, Teresita Caballero Villegas and Nenita Balisalisa. The other four were: Teresita Quitoriano, a nurse through whom the illegal scheme of the appellant was discovered; Gaudencio dela Pea of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office in Davao City who issued a certification that appellant had no authority or license to recruit; Isabelo B. Cerna, Jr., Senior Agent of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Davao City who took part in the entrapment operation against the appellant; and Ofelio Mortos, husband of Complainant Alfonsa Acierda. The following may be gleaned from the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. Alfonsa Acierda Mortos[8] and Teresita Caballero Villegas,[9] both nurses at the Davao Medical Center, met the accused-appellant sometime in November 1990 through Vilma Luyahan,[10] a distant relative of Alfonsa. During their meeting, accused-appellant informed them that she was recruiting workers for employment as nanny-housekeepers in Canada and that she was also authorized to recruit nurses for the Canadian Immigration Assistance Service (CIAS).[11] In response to the nurses interest in applying, the accused required them to submit to her application letters, photocopies of their respective birth certificates, 2x2 pictures and a processing fee of $400 each -- $200 of which was to be paid initially, with the balance to be paid upon receipt of ones case number[12] from the CIAS. Appellant Villas also claimed that she had a friend in the CIAS who would facilitate the processing of the applicants papers. The following day, Acierda made the initial payment of $200 and submitted the other requirements to Villas. After receiving her case number in January of 1991, she paid the additional amount of P6,000.00, the approximate equivalent of $200.00. Villegas also gave the accused-appellant the $200 down payment upon submission of her application papers and another P5,800.00 upon her receipt of her case number. Nenita Balisalisa,[13] also a nurse, testified that she came to know the accused in the last week of January 1991 through Complainant Acierda. Given the same information by the accused regarding employment in Canada, Balisalisa paid her the initial P5,800.00. However, she failed to pay the balance even after receipt of her case number from the CIAS. In January 1991, Ligaya Rentura[14] also learned from her co-workers --Acierda, Villegas and Balisalisa -- that accused-appellant was recruiting nurses for Canada. Likewise, she submitted the requirements and paid the appellant P2,000.00 as down payment. All in all, Acierda paid Villas a total amount of P11,300.00, including the money used during the entrapment of the latter; Villegas, a total of P11,800.00; Balisalisa, a total of P6,200 including the sum of P400 used during the entrapment; and Rentura, P2,000.00. 1/24/2016 11:04 PM