A.
High school.
FISCAL EVANGELIO:
Please read the content of this receipt for the record.
WITNESS:
'Received the amount of P4,000.00 from Ma. Da[h]lia Acol, for partial payment for
the processing for her paper. Rhodeline Castillon. Recruiter.'xii[12] (Emphasis supplied.)
The above-quoted testimonies unequivocally prove that appellant promised to the three
complainants jobs in Malaysia, provided they would each pay P4,000 initially and, upon
confirmation of their flight, an additional P4,000. The fact that each of them paid the
initial amount of P4,000 is evidenced by the receipts issued and signed by the
appellant. Although the latter questioned the genuineness of the said documents, she
admitted during the trial that she received the amount.xiii[13]
In her defense, appellant avers that she was merely helping the complainants find jobs
abroad for humanitarian reasons. Because she had been abroad before, she was
allegedly begged by the complainants to help them find overseas employment.
Furthermore, she could not have been a recruiter, because she herself was an applicant
for an overseas job, for which she had been recruited by an agency in Manila.
Appellants arguments are not convincing. First, recruitment includes any act of
canvassing, x x x contracting, x x x promising or advertising for employment abroad, for
profit or not. Second, it is clear that she demanded money from persons seeking
employment abroad. In committing the challenged acts, she was working not with a
recruitment agency, but with her aunt Maricor Acosta. This is clearly proven by a letter,
signed by the latter, informing the complainants that their papers were indeed being
processed. Contradicting appellants claim that her acts were motivated by humanitarian
reasons, the handwritten letter reads:xiv[14]
December 31, 1994
Dear Inday,
Happy New Year! Im sure that youre very eager to come here and go abroad already.
Supposedly, I understand you and your plan in life but kung pwede ang schedule mo ay
sa March or April na. Please lang day, understand us naman ikaw lang and inaasahan
namin diyan sa Mindanao at dagdagan mo pa and mga applicants mo.
Regarding your applicants, their schedule are as follows and they must know this so
that hindi sila mag-alanganin sa atin. 1) Clemencia Bula-ag is on February 18 tentative
pa iyan ill just send telegram para hindi na siya mag-stay ng matagal, she must arrive
here on before her flight to Singapore. 2) Dahlia Acol is same as Bula-ag 3) Emily