Rule 120

G.R. No. 173473, December 17, 2008People of the Philippines

vs.
Beth Temporada
Facts:
Beth Temporada is an accused for the crime of Large Scale Illegal Recruitment in
whichthe prosecution alleged that the accused recruited and promised overseas
employment, for a fee, to complainants Rogelio Legaspi, Jr. as technician in
Singapore, and Soledad Atle,Luz Minkay, Evelyn Estacio and Dennis Dimaano as
factory workers in Hongkong.After collecting the alleged placement fees amounting
to P282,160, it was also noted thatsuch placement fees are in excess of or greater
than that specified in the scheduled of allowable fees prescribed of the POEA and
without reasons and without fault of the saidcomplainants, failed to actually deploy
them and failed to reimburse them the expensesthey incurred in connection with
the documentation and processing of their papers for
purposes of their
deployment. The accused-apellant now contends that the prosecutionfailed to
establish all the elements of the offense that were charged to them.
Issue:
What constitutes the crime of Illegal Recruitment?
Held
Article 13(b) of the Labor Code defines recruitment and placement thusly:ART. 13.
Definitions. x x x(b) "Recruitment and placement" refers to any act of canvassing,
enlisting, contracting,transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers, and
includes referrals, contractservices, promising or advertising for employment,
locally or abroad, whether for profitor not: Provided, That any person or entity
which, in any manner, offers or promises for afee, employment to two or more
persons shall be deemed engaged in recruitment and placement.It was held that to
constitute illegal recruitment in large scale, three (3) elements mustconcur: (a) the
offender has no valid license or authority required by law to enable him tolawfully
engage in recruitment and placement of workers; (b) the offender undertakes anyof
the activities within the meaning of "recruitment and placement" under Article 13(b)
of the Labor Code, or any of the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of
thesaid Code (now Section 6 of R.A. No. 8042); and, (c) the offender committed the
sameagainst three (3) or more persons, individually or as a group.In the case at bar,
all the elements were present thus the SC convicted the accused for thecrime of
Large Scale Illegal Recruitment