6/7/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Lingon, the amount of Four Hundred Forty Thousand (P440,000.00) pesos by way of actual damages plus interest at the legal rate from the date the Information was filed until the said amount is fully paid. 3) In Criminal Case No. [27592-R], the Court finds the accused MOISES S. DEJOLDE, JR., GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime charged against him. There being no aggravating and mitigating circumstances and applying the provisions of Indeterminate Sentence Law, he is hereby sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional, as minimum, to twenty (20) years of reclusion temporal, as maximum. He is further ordered to pay unto Naty Loman y Nabehet, the amount of three hundred fifty thousand (P350,000.00) pesos by way of actual damage plus interest at the legal rate from the date the Information was filed until the said amount is fully paid. SO ORDERED.' SO ORDERED.[9] Hence, appellant filed the instant appeal. The Court required both parties to file their respective supplementary briefs; however, they opted not to file the same.[10] The Court's Ruling The appeal is bereft of merit. After a careful review of the records of this case, the Court finds that the prosecution, through its witnesses, was able to prove that appellant recruited private complainants tor employment as caregivers in the United Kingdom and that he collected money from them in the process. Appellant's defense of mere denial could not prevail over the positive testimonies of the prosecution's witnesses as the Court often views with disfavor the defense of denial, especially if it is not substantiated by any clear and convincing evidence.[11] It is an inherently weak defense as it is a self-serving negative evidence that cannot be given more evidentiary weight than the affirmative declarations of credible witnesses.[12] Moreover, it is a settled rule that factual findings of the trial courts are accorded great respect because they are in the best position to assess the credibility of the witnesses elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/63835 5/7