GR 125441; (November, 1998) (Digest)
G.R. No. 125441 November 27, 1998
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. SPOUSES FELIPE GANADEN and MYRNA GANADEN, SPOUSES GERRY GANADEN (alias ELVIS SANCHEZ) and EMMA SANCHEZ GANADEN and POLLY GUILLERMO, accused, FELIPE GANADEN, accused-appellant.
FACTS
Accused-appellant Felipe Ganaden, along with his spouse and co-accused, operated MZ Ganaden Consultancy Services. Private complainants Maritess Umblas, Elma Jimenez, Evelyn Escaño, and Ilarde Ventula were individually promised overseas employment in Switzerland or Singapore upon payment of substantial placement fees, which they paid in varying amounts totaling over P100,000. They were subsequently brought to Singapore and Malaysia but were never provided with the promised jobs. Upon returning to the Philippines and demanding refunds, they discovered that the consultancy service and the accused were not licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to recruit workers for overseas employment.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether the conviction of Felipe Ganaden for Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale and four counts of Estafa is proper, and whether the penalties imposed by the trial court require modification.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalties for the Estafa charges. For Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale, the Court upheld the life imprisonment and P100,000 fine, as the act of recruiting four persons without the necessary license or authority constitutes economic sabotage under the law. For the Estafa convictions under Article 315(2)(a) of the Revised Penal Code, the Court corrected the application of the Indeterminate Sentence Law. The proper penalty is based on the amount defrauded. The minimum penalty should be within the range of the penalty next lower in degree (prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods), and the maximum is determined by adding one year of prision mayor for every additional P10,000 beyond the initial P22,000 threshold, but the total penalty shall not exceed twenty years. The Court recalculated each indeterminate sentence accordingly, ensuring the minimum was within the correct range of six months and one day to four years and two months, and the maximum was properly computed based on the specific amounts involved in each case.