G.R. No. 122508 June 26, 1998
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ELVIS SANCHEZ, accused-appellant.

FACTS

Accused-appellant Elvis Sanchez was charged with Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale (Criminal Case No. 12357-R) and five counts of Estafa. The informations alleged that from November 1992 to March 8, 1993, in Baguio City, Sanchez, without a license or authority from the proper government agency, represented himself as having the capacity to recruit workers for abroad and promised employment to Alice G. Kimay, Veronica Filog, Aaron John Acena, Nancy Fesset, and Jerry Akia for a fee. The estafa charges involved defrauding complainants of specific sums by falsely pretending he could secure jobs for them abroad.
During the joint trial, complainants Alice Kimay, Jerry Akia, and Aaron John Acena testified. They learned of Sanchez through a certain Estela and met him at the Leisure Lodge in Baguio City, where he assured them he could secure overseas jobs upon payment of placement fees and submission of documents. Kimay paid P16,000 in two installments for a domestic helper job in Taiwan. Akia paid P15,000 for an electrician job in Saudi Arabia. Acena paid P18,170 for a job abroad. Their departures never materialized. They later discovered from the POEA that Sanchez was not a licensed recruiter. A POEA certification confirmed he was not licensed or authorized to recruit.
Sanchez denied the charges, claiming he was not in Baguio during the relevant period as he was attending to his hospitalized mother in Manila. He presented Caroline Castillo, a hotel operations manager, who submitted the hotel registry book for Leisure Lodge to support his alibi.
The Regional Trial Court of Baguio City found Sanchez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale and three counts of Estafa (for defrauding Kimay, Akia, and Acena). He was acquitted of two estafa charges (involving Fesset and Filog) due to insufficient evidence. Sanchez appealed.

ISSUE

The main issues were whether the trial court had territorial jurisdiction over the cases and whether the prosecution proved Sanchez’s guilt for Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale and Estafa beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

The Supreme Court AFFIRMED the trial court’s decision. It held that the trial court properly acquired territorial jurisdiction as the offenses were committed in Baguio City, where the complainants were recruited and paid fees, and where the false pretenses were made. The defense of alibi was rejected for being weak and uncorroborated by clear and convincing evidence, and it could not prevail over the positive identification by the prosecution witnesses.
For Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale, all elements were present: (1) Sanchez undertook recruitment activities without the required license or authority, as certified by the POEA; (2) he committed these acts against three or more persons individually or as a group (Kimay, Akia, Acena, Fesset, and Filog); and (3) the recruitment was for overseas employment. The court emphasized that illegal recruitment is malum prohibitum, and the lack of a license is sufficient for conviction.
For Estafa under Article 315(2)(a) of the Revised Penal Code, the elements were also met: (1) Sanchez defrauded the complainants by deceit, falsely pretending he could secure them jobs abroad; and (2) the complainants suffered damage by parting with their money based on his false assurances. The amounts defrauded were within the range penalized by law.
The penalties imposed by the trial court were upheld: life imprisonment and a P100,000 fine for Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale; and for each count of Estafa, an indeterminate sentence of six months and one day of prision correccional as minimum to six years, eight months, and twenty days of prision mayor as maximum, plus payment of actual damages to the complainants.