People vs. Molina, et. al. (2018)

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. DELIA C. MOLINA ET. AL

G.R. No. 229712, February 28, 2018

PERALTA, J.:

Facts: Appellant was charged for the crime of Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale under Section[s] 6 and 7 of Republic Act No. 8042 in an Information which alleges that the accused, mutually helping and aiding one another, feloniously recruit for a fee, promise employment/job placement abroad to five (5) persons, hence, committed in large scale, and received payments from complainants in connection with the documentation and processing of their papers for purposes of their deployment, but said accused failed or refused to deploy herein complainants abroad without the fault of the latter and to reimburse the amounts to said complainants, to the damage and prejudice of the latter.

Appellant claimed that she has not met personally all the private complainants in this case. On cross-examination, accused Molina admitted that there were about 100 cases of illegal recruitment filed against her in different courts and that she was convicted of illegal recruitment in the RTC of Makati City, Branch 148 and Branch 150.

Issue: Whether or not appellant is guilty of the crime of illegal recruitment in large scale.

Ruling: Yes, the appellant is guilty as charged.

Illegal recruitment when committed by a syndicate or in large scale shall be considered an offense involving economic sabotage. 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.

In this case, appellant cannot escape from liability for large scale illegal recruitment as the recruitment was made in the recruitment agency of which accused-appellant is the President. Moreover, private complainants testified that they saw accused-appellant at the agency and she was introduced to them by Pacon as the owner of the agency, and she even assured them that they would be deployed for employment soon. Appellant, as President of the recruitment agency, is therefore liable for failure to reimburse the expenses incurred by private complainants in connection with their documentation and processing for purposes of deployment to South Korea, which did not actually take place without their fault.

Ratio Decidendi: In case of juridical persons, the officers having control, management or direction of their business shall be liable.

Gist: This is an appeal from the Decision, affirming the Decision of the RTC, finding accused-appellant Delia C. Molina guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of illegal recruitment in large scale.