6/7/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly WFIETHER THE COURT A QUO GRAVELY ERRED IN DISREGARDING THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT'S VERSION AND INSTEAD RELYING HEAVILY ON THE PROSECUTION'S VERSION. Appellant avers that she cannot be held criminally liable for illegal recruitment because she merely assisted private complainants in processing their travel documents without any promise of employment. She asserts that the prosecution failed to establish whether she actually undertook any recruitment activity or any prohibited practice enumerated under Art. 13 (b) or Art. 34 of the Labor Code. The appeal lacks merit. The crime of illegal recruitment is defined and penalized under Sections 6 and 7 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995,[40] as follows: SEC. 6. Definition. - For purposes of this Act, illegal recruitment shall mean any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, or procuring workers and includes referring, contract services, promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit or not, when undertaken by a non-licensee or non-holder of authority contemplated under Article 13 (f) of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines: Provided, That any such non-licensee or non-holder who, in any manner, offers or promises for a fee employment abroad to two or more persons shall be deemed so engaged. It shall likewise include the following acts, x x x: xxxx Illegal recruitment is deemed committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another. It is deemed committed in large scale if committed against three (3) or more persons individually or as a group. Thus, in order to hold a person liable for illegal recruitment, the following elements must concur: (1) the offender undertakes any of the activities within the meaning of "recruitment and placement" under Article 13(b) of the Labor Code, or any of the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of the Labor Code (now Section 6 of Republic Act No. 8042) and (2) the offender has no valid license or authority required by law to enable him to lawfully engage in recruitment and placement of workers. In the case of illegal recruitment in large scale, as in this case, a third element is required: that the offender commits any of the acts of recruitment and placement against three or more persons, individually or as a group. In the instant case, appellant committed the acts enumerated in Section 6 of R.A. 8042. As testified to by Aguilar-Uy, Reformado and Lavaro, appellant gave them an impression that she is capable of sending them to South Korea as domestic helpers. The testimonial evidence presented by the prosecution clearly shows that, in elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/63140 8/18