pesos (P5,000.00). On the same day, Castulo gave the amount to the accused for which a receipt[18] was issued. A few days later, the accused required Castulo to pay ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) for his plane ticket. Castulo gave the money at Ilasins house which transaction was evidenced by a receipt dated September 12, 1994.[19] Castulo also paid two thousand pesos (P2,000.00) to the accused for his medical examination. The payment was receipted.[20] Castulo again gave one thousand pesos (P1,000.00) to the accused for the processing of his passport and her transportation expenses. However, the payment was not covered by a receipt. Like the other complainants, Castulo was not able to leave for Taiwan on the date promised by the accused. All the money Castulo gave to the accused came from loans. As a common witness in all of the above criminal cases, Glory Orosa, [21] wife of complainant Orosa, testified that she was at the house of Virgilio Salagubang, her brother, when the accused recruited her husband. The accused promised to her husband a job in Taiwan as a driver.She personally delivered the money demanded by the accused for her services. She paid to the accused five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) as placement fee for which a receipt was issued,[22] then nine thousand pesos (P9,000.00) for which another receipt was given.[23] In addition, she gave to the accused six thousand pesos (P6,000.00) in full payment of her husbands plane ticket which was also receipted[24] and three thousand pesos (P3,000.00) for medical fees for which no receipt was issued. According to Glory, the accused promised her husband that he could leave for Taiwan in January of 1995. When they never heard from the accused, she and the relatives of the other complainants went to the house of the accused at Binaloan, Pangasinan. From her neighbors, they discovered that the accused was already in jail for illegal recruitment. Although in jail, the accused assured Glory that her husband could still go to Taiwan in due time. The prosecution formally rested its case on November 28, 1994. The trial court ordered the defense to begin presenting its evidence on January 10, 1995. After numerous postponements,[25] the accused showed a disinclination in defending herself. Her counsel de parte withdrew alleging that she did not take any effort to confer with him.[26] A counsel de oficio was appointed to represent the accused. In the hearing of October 29, 1996, the accused simply remained on her seat and cried even after the court interpreter called her to take the witness stand.[27] On November 7, 1996, the counsel de oficio of the accused manifested that he was submitting the case for decision without any evidence for the defense due to the non-cooperation of the accused. The trial court asked the accused to comment on the manifestation of her counsel but she just remained silent.[28] Considering the manifestation of her counsel and the fact that the case had already dragged on for a long time in violation of the periods prescribed by the Supreme Court, the trial court declared the case submitted for decision.[29] After assessing the evidence of the prosecution, the trial court found the accused guilty of illegal recruitment in large scale in Criminal Case No. T-1676 and sentenced her to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00). In the criminal cases for estafa, the accused was likewise found