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P21,000.00, in favor of the accused, to the damage and prejudice of the said
NANCY OIDI in the aforementioned amount of TWENTY ONE THOUSAND
PESOS (P21,000.00), Philippine Currency.
CONTRARY TO LAW."[4]
Of the three accused, only Nellie Cabais and Harm Yong Ho were arrested. Accused
Anita Forneas remained at large.
At the arraignment on January 31, 1995, Nellie Cabais pleaded not guilty to the
charges against her.[5]
On May 10, 1996, the City Jail Warden of Cabanatuan City transferred accused Harm
Yong Ho to Muntinlupa National Penitentiary to serve a life sentence meted out by the
Regional Trial Court, Manila, Branch 34, in Criminal Case No. 95-145278 for illegal
recruitment in large scale.[6]
Thus, trial in the instant cases proceeded only for accused Nellie Cabais.
The facts are as follows:
Sometime in February 1994, complainant Joan Merante, 37 years old, met accused
Nellie Cabais in Maharlika, Baguio City. Accused Cabais informed her that she was
connected with Red Sea Employment Agency (RSEA), a Manila-based agency which was
licensed to recruit overseas contract workers.[7]
Also, sometime in April 1994, accused Cabais met complainant Nancy Oidi, 27 years
old, in a restaurant. She told her that she was a legal recruiter working with a licensed
recruitment agency based in Manila.[8]
Meanwhile, Florentino Balanon, Jr., 18 years old, heard from his mother that accused
Nellie Cabais was a recruiter. Sometime in 1994, he went to Maharlika Building in
Baguio City to see accused Nellie Cabais in connection with his intention to apply for
work as a factory worker.[9] She told him to submit his application because there was
available work in South Korea.
Imelda Mortera, 30 years old, knew accused Cabais because the latter was a cousin of
Imelda's husband. Accused Cabais came to Mortera's canteen at Easter School and
showed her papers for job opportunities in South Korea. She believed accused Cabais.
[10]
Thus, accused Cabais talked to complainants several times during the period of
February 1994 up to May 1994, persuading them to be contract workers in South
Korea. In subsequent meetings, accused Cabais introduced accused Anita Forneas as
her boss and the owner of RSEA. Accused Cabais and Forneas tried to convince them to
submit their applications so that RSEA could process them. Later on, accused Cabais
introduced to them a certain Korean named Harm Yo Hong. Harm Yo Hong managed to
persuade the complainants to apply as contract workers in South Korea.
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