4/9/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly proved as conclusively as the offense itself. The failure of the prosecution to discharge this burden concerning the estafa allegedly committed against Ursulum warrants the acquittal of appellant on the said charge. Now on the matter of the appropriate penalty. Under Section 6, R.A. No. 8042, illegal recruitment when committed in large scale shall be considered as an offense involving economic sabotage. Accordingly, it shall be punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of not less than P500,000 nor more than P1,000,000. The law provides further that the maximum penalty shall be imposed if illegal recruitment is committed by a non-licensee or non-holder of authority. In the case at bar, the trial court imposed upon appellant Chua the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P500,000. However, considering that appellant is a nonlicensee or non-holder of authority, we deem it proper to impose upon her the maximum penalty of life imprisonment and fine of P1,000,000. Meanwhile, the penalty for estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code is prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its minimum period, if the amount of the fraud is over P12,000 but does not exceed P22,000. If the amount exceeds P22,000, the penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period, adding one year for each additional P10,000. But, the total penalty imposed shall not exceed 20 years. The range of penalty provided for in Article 315 is composed of only two periods. Thus, to get the maximum period of the indeterminate sentence, the total number of years included in the two periods should be divided into three equal periods of time, forming one period for each of the three portions. The maximum, medium and minimum periods of the prescribed penalty are therefore: Minimum period - 4 years, 2 months and 1 day to 5 years, 5 months and 10 days Medium period - 5 years, 5 months and 11 days to 6 years, 8 months and 20 days Maximum period - 6 years, 8 months and 21 days to 8 years.[33] In this case, the amount by which appellant defrauded private complainants Aglanao, Danan and Tajadao is P80,000, which exceeds P22,000. Hence, the penalty should be imposed in the maximum period of 6 years, 8 months and 21 days to 8 years. Since the total amount of fraud in this case exceeds the threshold amount of P22,000 by P58,000, an additional penalty of five years imprisonment should be imposed. Thus, the maximum period of appellant’s indeterminate sentence should be 13 years of reclusion temporal. The minimum period of the indeterminate sentence, on the other hand, should be within the range of penalty next lower to that prescribed by Article 315, paragraph 2(a) of the Revised Penal Code for the crime committed. The penalty next lower to prision elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/55182 10/14