That in or about the months of May, June, August and December, 1998, or sometime prior and subsequent thereto, in the City of Pasay, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring, confederating and mutually helping each other, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously contract, enlist and promise employment to the following Aires V. Pascual, Elma J. Hernandez, Gemma Noche dela Cruz and Elizabeth de Villad (sic), as domestic helpers in Italy, without first securing the required licensed (sic) or authority from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.2
WHEREFORE, accused ANITA "KENNETH" TRINIDAD, also known as ANITA TRINIDAD MORAUDA, is hereby found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of LARGE SCALE ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT as defined under Section 6 of R.A. No. 8042, and penalized under Article 39(a) of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
Accordingly, said accused is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of LIFE IMPRISONMENT, and to pay a fine of P100,000.00.
Further, she is ordered to pay the sum of P270,000.00 to Elizabeth de Villa; P270,000.00 plus the peso equivalent of US$500 to Elma Hernandez, and P159,387.30 plus the peso equivalent of US$2,900 to Gemma dela Cruz.32
I
THE TRIAL COURT GRAVELY ERRED IN FINDING THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT OF THE CRIME CHARGED DESPITE THE PATENT WEAKNESS OF THE PROSECUTION'S EVIDENCE.II
THE TRIAL COURT GRAVELY ERRED IN NOT CONSIDERING THE DEFENSE INTERPOSED BY THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT.37
1. Elizabeth de Villa:
x x x x How [will] you be able to work in Italy by the mere fact that you were introduced to the accused? A: She convinced us that she could send us to Italy to work. Fiscal Kuong to the witness: Q: Whom you are referring to that convinced you that you will be sent to Italy? A: Kenneth, ma'am. Q: Can you give the full name of Kenneth Trinidad? A: Anita Kenneth Trinidad. Q:Ms. Witness, what happened after you and your aunt Patricia went to the house of Kenneth Trinidad? A: We have an agreement that we will give her the amount of P240,000. x x x x A: We do not give the whole amount of P240,000 but partially I gave the amount of P100,000 on the month of May I cannot recall the exact date. x x x x Q: Do you recall where it was that you gave her P100,000 in May of 1998? A: In her house located in Lucban St., Pasay City. x x x x Q: And also for what is the payment given to Anita Kenneth Trinidad? x x x x A: In payment for our ticket and also for processing of the requirements. Court to the witness: Q: Who will process the requirement? A: Kenneth Trinidad. Q: And what are these requirements for? A: For us to go to Italy. x x x x Q: And upon giving her P100,000 did she issue to you any receipt? A: Yes sir, the one I handed to you earlier. x x x x Q: x x x. Now, you said the accused wrote this writings in a piece of paper in your residence in Pasay City, did she leave you for a while in order to make this writing in the piece of paper? A: No sir, she wrote that in front of me and I saw it. x x x x Q: And after writing the same the accused signed her signature Kenneth Trinidad? A: Yes sir. Q: Are you sure this is her signature? A: Yes sir. x x x x Q: Was this writing continuous from beginning to end? A: No sir, she wrote the word commission P30,000, the amount of P570,000 and deposit 100,000. When she wrote commission of P30,000 it means that, because we were 3 she gave the discount of P30,000, sir. x x x x Q: Now, who accompanied you to the airport? A: Anita Kenneth Trinidad. x x x x Q: Who was your companion aside from the accused? A: We were conveyed by Anita Kenneth Trinidad because we were at her residence, Kenneth Trinidad accompanied me to the airport. x x x x Q: Ms. Witness, you stated accused Kenneth Trinidad, told you that she will get employment for you in Italy. What exactly, Ms. Witness, she told you? A: She assured us she will help us to secure employment because she has a lot of relatives in Italy.39 (Emphases supplied) 2. Elma Hernandez: x x x x Q: And what did you do after you went to her house at Lucban? A: I asked her if she could really sent (sic) [me] to Italy and she replied positively, ma'am. COURT: To sent you to Italy as what? WITNESS: To work there as a domestic helper, your Honor. Q: In what arrangements did you make with her regarding the payment of your visa? A: She asked me to give her P100,000.00 in order for her to process my documents in going to Italy, ma'am. Q: So, the P100,000.00 is only for the processing of your documents, was there any other fees that the accused Kenneth Trinidad asked from you? A: Yes, ma'am. Q: And how much more, Miss witness? A: All in all P240,000.00, ma'am. x x x x Q: After you gave the payment to the accused Kenneth Trinidad, what arrangement did you and the accused make regarding your flight to Italy? A: She told me that she could have secured a visa for me in going to Italy. x x x x COURT: So, what was the undertaking of accused Anita Trinidad aside from sending you to Italy? WITNESS: She told me that she has a lot of relatives there and she promised an employment to me, your Honor. COURT: If the undertaking of the accused was only to send you to Italy or secure a visa for you for Italy, would you have given her the amount of P240,000.00? WITNESS: No, your honor. x x x x Q: And you would agree with me that you were able to meet the accused Kenneth Trinidad through the intercession of your Tita Patricia, am I correct? A: Yes, sir. Q: And likewise your Tita Patricia informed you that she knows this Kenneth Trinidad and she told you that Kenneth Trinidad can help you in going to Italy am I correct? A: It was Tita Patricia who introduced Kenneth Trinidad to me but if Kenneth Trinidad would not promised (sic) that employment I would not agree to pay that amount to her. x x x x Q: May I clarify, if your Tita Patricia [was] not involved in this case, you would not met (sic) Kenneth Trinidad? A: Yes, sir, if not because of Tita Patricia I would not know this Kenneth Trinidad but if not for the promised (sic) of Kenneth Trinidad that she could secure employment for us, I will not apply. x x x x Q: So when you arrived at the house of the accused in Lucban Street, Pasay City, your Tita Patricia was the one holding that money? A: Yes, sir. Q: And when you arrived there your Tita Patricia brought out the money and she started counting the same, is that correct? A: Yes, sir. Q: After counting the money she handed it over to Kenneth Trinidad, the accused? A: After counting that money the money was not yet handed to Anita Kenneth Trinidad because I'm still clearing if she really could secure employment for me in Italy, sir. Q: And after having cleared the fact that she could secure employment for you, your Tita Patricia already gave the amount of P100,000.00 to the accused, correct? A: Not yet, sir, my Tita Patricia still asked for my decision if I am decided to give that amount to Kenneth Trinidad. Q: After you have decided to give that amount, your Tita Patricia gave the amount to the accused? A: Yes sir. x x x x Q: Now, this piece of paper which is the receipt, this was according to you prepared by Kenneth Trinidad, the accused in this case? A: Yes, sir. Q: And did she execute this receipt in front of you? A: Yes, sir. Q: Were you able to see her actually writing the notations here in this piece of paper? A: Yes, sir. Q: Whose signature is this, Miss witness? A: That is the signature of Anita Kenneth Trinidad, sir.40 (Emphases supplied). 3. Gemma dela Cruz: Q: Can you tell us what transpire[d] during the meeting with accused Taciana "Tess" Aquino and Anita "Kenneth" Trinidad? A: When I went to the house of Pisyang Agno located at Blumentritt, I met Trinidad and Aquino who convinced me that they could send me to Italy as long as I can produce the amount of P250,000.00. COURT: Who told you that they can send you abroad if you will give the amount of P250,000.00? WITNESS: Kenneth Trinidad and Taciana Aquino, your Honor. x x x x Q: And Madam Witness, what was the terms of your agreement with the two accused as regards this payment of P250,000.00? A: The agreement with them was that, initially, I will give the amount of P150,000.00, if I'm already in Italy that's the time I give the remaining P100,000.00. Q: What happened after the meeting on August 25, 1998? A: I gave her P150,000.00, in fact I have two witnesses, Geraldine Noce (sic) and Taraya (sic). And I also have receipt with me to prove that she received the amount of P150,000.00. x x x x Q: To whom did you hand the amount of P150,000.00? A: To Neopito Laraya, I first handed the P150,000.00 to Neopito Laraya and Neopito Laraya in turn handed the P150,000.00 to Anita "Kenneth" Trinidad. In that P150,000.00, I borrowed the P50,000.00 from my sister's boyfriend and the P100,000.00 I borrowed it from a Lending Company. Q: Miss Witness, do you have any documents to show that accused Anita "Kenneth" Trinidad, received the amount of P150,000.00? A: Yes, Ma'am. Q: Showing to you this document entitled "CONTRACT OF SERVICE", is this the document you are referring to? A: Yes, Ma'am. x x x x Q: Miss Witness, showing to you this signature above the handwritten word Anita Trinidad, do you know whose signature is this? A: Yes, Ma'am, that is the signature of Anita "Kenneth" Trinidad. Q: How do you know that this is the signature of Anita "Kenneth" Trinidad? A: Because she affixed her signature in front of me.41
(b) The penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) nor more than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be imposed if illegal recruitment constitutes economic sabotage as defined therein.49
Endnotes:
* Designated as Working Chairperson in lieu of Associate Justice Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr. per Special Order No. 878 dated 2 August 2010.
** Designated as Additional Member in lieu of Associate Justice Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr. per Special Order No. 876 dated 2 August 2010.
1 The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.
2 Records, p. 1.
3Id. at 50.
4 TSN, 1 February 2002, p. 3.
5 Id. at 18.
6Id. at 4 & 7.
7 Id. at 4-5.
8 Exhibit "B," Records, p. 632.
9 TSN, 1 February 2002, pp. 25-26 and 29-30.
10 Id. at 16, 27 and 30.
11 Id. at 10.
12 Id. at 9-10.
13 TSN, 1 March 2002, pp. 4-5.
14 Id. at 37.
15 Id. at 6 and 9.
16 Id. at 38-40.
17 Id. at 8-10 and 13.
18 TSN, 21 June 2002, pp. 3-5.
19 Id. at 5.
20 Exhibit "D", Records, p. 634.
21 TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 20 and TSN, 27 June 2002, pp. 4 and 13-14.
22 TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 8.
23 TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 9, TSN, 1 February 2002, p. 18 and TSN, 1 March 2002, p. 21.
24 TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 8, TSN, 1 February 2002, p. 11 and TSN, 1 March 2002, p. 14.
25 TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 9-11 and TSN, 1 March 2002, pp. 14-15.
26 TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 10.
27 Id. at 13-14 and Exhibits "E," 'F," "G," "H," and "I," Records, pp. 635-644.
28 TSN, 1 March 2002, p. 14.
29 TSN, 1 March 2002, p. 17, TSN, 1 February 2002, p. 12 and TSN, 21 June 2002, pp. 8-9 and 11.
30 TSN, 1 March 2002, p. 17, TSN, 1 February 2002, p. 13 and TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 11.
31 TSN, 1 February 2002, pp. 13-14 and TSN, 21 June 2002, p. 15.
32 Records, pp. 857-873.
33 TSN, 29 August 2002, pp. 8-9.
34 Exhibit "C," Records, p. 633.
35 TSN, 5 April 2002, pp. 3-5.
36 Penned by Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe with Justices Portia Aliño-Hormachuelos and Lucas
P. Bersamin (now member of this Court), concurring. Rollo, pp. 2-10.
37 CA rollo, p. 50.
38 Id at 62-62A.
39 TSN, 1 February 2002, pp. 4-5, 7, 22-24, 34-35 and 43.
40 TSN, 1 March 2002, pp. 5-8, 11-12, 27-28 and 34-36.
41 TSN, 21 June 2002, pp. 3-6.
42 People vs. Villas, G.R. No. 112180, 15 August 1997, 277 SCRA 391, 404 citing People vs. Comia,
1 September 1994, 236 SCRA 185, 194-195 and People vs. Naparan, 30 August 1993, 225 SCRA
714, 721, 722.
43 Id., citing People vs. Goce, 317 Phil. 897, 910-911 (1995) and People vs. Comia, id.
44 People vs. Navarra, 404 Phil. 693, 701 (2001) citing People vs. Agustin 317 Phil. 897 (1995); People vs. Hernandez, G.R. No. 108027, 4 March 1999, 304 SCRA 186; People vs. Mercado, G.R. No. 108440-02, 11 March 1999, 304 SCRA 504; People vs. Apongan, 337 Phil. 393 (1997); and People vs. Henson, 337 Phil. 318 (1997).
45 People vs. Dionisio, 425 Phil. 651, 664 (2002).
46 People vs. Baytic, 446 Phil. 23, 30 (2003), citing People vs. Librero, G.R. No. 132311, 28 September 2000, 341 SCRA 229.
47 People vs. Gamboa, 395 Phil. 675, 682, 683 (2000), citing Jorge R. Coquia, Annotation on Illegal Recruitment of Overseas Filipino Workers as Economic Sabotage, 279 SCRA 199, 16 September 1997.
48 People vs. Ang, G.R. No. 181245, 6 August 2008, 561 SCRA 370, 378.
49 Id.