LABOR OF LOVE

PEOPLE vs. ROSARIO OCHOA G.R. No. 173792 FACTS: August 31, 2011

Illegal Recruitment

Rosario Ochoa was charged with illegal recruitment in large scale in an Information and three counts of estafa committed separately upon three private complainants Robert Gubat, Cesar Aquino, and Junior Agustin in three other Informations According to the complainants, they were recruited by Ochoa from January to !arch "##$ for various %obs in either &aiwan or 'audi Arabia In a (O)A certification, it was indicated that Ochoa, in her personal capacity, is neither licensed nor authori*ed by the (O)A to recruit wor+ers for overseas employment Ochoa stated under oath that she was employed by A,I- International 'ervices and Consultant .A,I-/ as recruiter 'he admitted recruiting private complainants and receiving from them amounts as placement and medical fees 'he claimed that though she remitted private complainant0s money to the manager of A,I- but A,I- failed to issue receipts because the payments were not made in full ISSUES: " 2 HEL : " 3)' It is well4settled that to prove illegal recruitment, it must be shown that appellant gave complainants the distinct impression that she had the power or ability to send complainants abroad for wor+ such that the latter were convinced to part with their money in order to be employed All eight private complainants consistently declared that Ochoa offered and promised them employment overseas Ochoa required private complainants to submit their bio4data, birth certificates, and passports, which private complainants did &hey also gave various amounts to Ochoa as payment for placement and medical fees 5espite their compliance, they were not able to leave for wor+ abroad &hey pleaded to Ochoa to return their hard4earned money, but Ochoa failed to do so )ven if we disregard the (O)A certification, for regardless of whether or not Ochoa was a licensee or holder of authority, she could still have committed illegal recruitment 'ection 6 of RA 7O $892 clearly provides that any person, whether a non4licensee, non4holder, licensee or holder of authority may be held liable for illegal recruitment for acts enumerated in paragraphs .a/ to .m/ including :;f<ailure to reimburse e=penses incurred by a wor+er in connection with his documentation and processing for purposes of deployment, in cases where the deployment does not actually ta+e place without the wor+er0s fault > 2 3)' &he very same evidence proving Ochoa0s criminal liability for illegal recruitment also established her criminal liability for estafa It is settled that a person may be charged and convicted separately of illegal recruitment under RA 7o $892, in relation to the -abor Code, and estafa under Article ?"@ paragraph 2.a/ of the Revised (enal Code Is Ochoa guilty of illegal recruitment in large scale1 Is Ochoa guilty of estafa1

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LABOR OF LOVE

Illegal Recruitment

PEOPLE vs. HA !A !AR"A LALLI, ET. AL. G.R. 19#$19 FACTS: -olita (lando, private plaintiff, was offered a %ob in !alaysia as a restaurant entertainer by Ronnie Aringoy Ae told her all she needed was a passport and that she will be paid @88 !alaysian ringgits which is equivalent to (B, 888 After -olita borrowed her sister0s .!arife/ passport as she did not have one, Ronnie referred her to Aad%a Jarma -alli who substituted !arife0s picture with that of -olita0s picture and gave her instructions for their departure to !alaysia along with other women After arriving in !alaysia, Aad%a Jarma -alli and 7elson Relampagos bought -olita and the other women to a hotel where they were introduced to a certain :Coss> &hey were then brought to a restaurant near the hotel where they found out that the place was a prostitution den -olita and her companions told Aad%a Jarma -alli that they do not li+e to wor+ as prostitutes when another person called :boss> arrived &hey were then brought to (ipen Club where they were told that they owe the club 2,888 ringgits each as payment for the amount given by the club to Aad%a Jarma -alli and Relampagos &hey will pay for the said amount by entertaining customers -olita was forced to wor+ as an entertainer where a customer used her every night )ventually, -olita was able to contact her sister, Janet, whose husband helped her get out of the club -olita returned to the (hilippines and filed a complaint about her ordeal in !alaysia In her O%to&'( 12, 2011

counter4affidavit, Aad%a Jarma -alli admitted that she met -olita but the meeting was only coincidental on board the vessel en route to !alaysia and denied having recruited -olita for employment abroad Ronnie Aringoy affirmed that he personally +nows -olita and that he lent her (", 888 in order for her to wor+ in !alaysia as a guest relation officer .GRO/ Ronnie also +nows a certain Aad%a Jarma -alli who frequents !alaysia 7ora Adling, tic+eting cler+ of the Aleson 'hipping -ines, owner of the vessel to !alaysia, testified that Aad%a Jarma Alli bought passenger tic+ets for her travel, not only for herself but also for other women passengers &he trial court found the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of &raffic+ing in (ersons under 'ections ? .a/ and "8 .c/ in relation to 'ections 9 .a/ and 6 .c/ of RA #28$ and for the crime of Illegal Recruitment under 'ections 6 and B .b/ of RA $892 &he trial court found that the accused, without a (O)A license, conspired in recruiting -olita and traffic+ing her as a prostitute, resulting in crimes committed by a syndicate &he CA affirmed in toto the R&C 5ecision ISSUE: 5id the CA commit a reversible error in affirming the R&C 5ecision1

HEL : 7O &he Court noted that it is clear that a person or entity engaged in recruitment and placement activities without the requisite authority from the 5O-), whether for profit or not, is engaged in illegal

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LABOR OF LOVE

Illegal Recruitment

recruitment as defined under 'ec 6 of RA $892 &he commission of illegal recruitment by three or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another is deemed committed by a syndicate and constitutes economic sabotage &he Court, in (eople v Gallo, enumerated the elements of syndicated illegal recruitmentD "/ the offender underta+es either any activity within the meaning of :recruitment and placement> defined under Art "? .b/, or any of the prohibited practices enumerated under Art ?9 of the -abor Code, 2/ he has no valid license or authority required by law to enable one to lawfully engage in recruitment and placement of wor+ers, and ?/ the illegal recruitment is committed by a group of three .?/ or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another Given the broad definition of recruitment and placement, even the mere act of referring someone for placement abroad can be considered recruitment 'uch act of referral, in connivance with someone without the requisite authority or (O)A license, constitutes illegal recruitment In it simplest terms, illegal recruitment is committed by persons who, without authority from the government, give the impression that they have the power to send wor+ers abroad for employment purposes In this case, -olita would not have been able to go to !alaysia if not for the concerted efforts of Aringoy, -alli and Relampagos &he 'C affirms the 5ecision of the CA with modifications on the penalty and award of damages

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