with any licensed agency of the POEA.[35] Cristobal stated that a person should be
connected with an agency in order to recruit workers for overseas jobs because the
POEA did not grant individual licenses.[36] He further explained that all employees of a
registered agency regardless of their positions must be reported to the POEA otherwise
they could not be involved with any recruitment activities.[37] He reiterated that per POEA
records Librero was not listed as a personnel of KGW.[38]
On 29 September 1997 the trial court convicted Mina Librero as charged and
rendered judgment as follows: (a) In Crim. Case No. 97-593 she was sentenced to life
imprisonment and to pay a fine of P500,000.00 and the costs; (b) In Crim. Case No. 97594 she was sentenced to suffer imprisonment from six (6) years of prision
correccional to ten (10) years of prision mayor; to pay John William Green the sum
ofP43,000.00, and to pay the cost; (c) In Crim. Case No. 97-597 she was sentenced to
suffer imprisoment from six (6) years of prision correccional to eleven (11) years
of prision mayor, to pay Edgar Amparo P55,000.00, and to pay the cost; (d) In Crim.
Case No. 97-598 she was sentenced to suffer imprisonment from eight (8) years
of prision mayor to thirteen (13) years of reclusion temporal, to pay Arthur
OsiasP75,000.00, and to pay the costs; (e) In Crim. Case No. 97-599 she was
sentenced to suffer imprisonment from eight (8) years of prision mayorto thirteen (13)
years of reclusion temporal, to pay Allan Joseph Nones P75,000.00, and to pay the
costs; (f) In Crim. Case No. 97-600 she was sentenced to suffer imprisonment from
eight (8) years of prision mayor to thirteen (13) years of reclusion temporal, to pay
Ramonito BautistaP75,000.00, and to pay the costs; (g) In Crim. Case No. 97-601 she
was sentenced to suffer imprisonment from eight (8) years of prision mayorto thirteen
(13) years of reclusion temporal, to pay Andres Apatas P75,000.00, and to pay the
costs; (h) In Crim. Case No. 97-602 she was sentenced to suffer imprisoment from six
(6) years of prision correccional to ten (10) years of prision mayor, to pay Liza
Peclaro P50,000.00, and to pay the costs; and, (i) In Crim. Case No. 97-603 she was
sentenced to suffer imprisonment from two (2) years four (4) months and one (1) day
of prision correccional to six (6) years and one (1) day of prision mayor, to pay Elenor
Gramonte P20,000.00, and to pay the costs.
Accused-appellant Librero now assails her conviction and contends that the court a
quo erred (a) in not dismissing the Information as defective for including Ana Asuncion
Laurente as co-accused, whose name and participation have never been mentioned by
the complainants before the POEA or the DOJ; (b) in not taking into account the
apparent and obviously inconsistent statements of complainants, especially as to the
number of employees and condition of Librero's office; (c) in not finding Librero to be a
mere employee; (d) in not blaming the complainants for recklessly giving their money to
somebody without prior verification from the POEA; (e) in not finding that a person as an
individual alone could not secure a license as a recruitment agency and therefore could
not be charged with illegal recruitment without including the management of the
agency; and, (f) in not considering the receipts issued by Librero as those by a mere
employee whose amounts she turned over to co-accused Laurente who is the VicePresident of the agency.
We affirm her conviction. We reject the contention of accused-appellant Librero that
the charges in the Informations against her were defective for the sole reason that