G.R. No. 219238 . January 31, 2018.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee vs. MOISES DEJOLDE, JR. y SALINO, Accused-Appellant.

FACTS

The accused-appellant, Moises Dejolde, Jr., was charged with Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale and two counts of Estafa. The prosecution evidence established that between January and March 2007 in Baguio City, Dejolde recruited six individuals, including Naty Loman and Jessie Doculan, promising them employment as caregivers in the United Kingdom upon payment of substantial fees. Relying on these representations, Naty paid PHP 400,000 and Jessie paid PHP 450,000. They later discovered the visas provided were fake and that Dejolde was not licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). He only made partial refunds of PHP 50,000 and PHP 10,000, respectively.
Dejolde denied the charges, claiming he was merely processing student visa applications for study abroad, not recruiting for overseas employment. He asserted the money received was for tuition and visa processing fees, which he failed to refund due to his arrest. The Regional Trial Court found him guilty on all counts, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeals with modifications to the penalties for Estafa.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether the prosecution proved the guilt of the accused-appellant for Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale and Estafa beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction with modifications. For Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale, the Court upheld the penalty of life imprisonment and a PHP 100,000 fine. The elements were conclusively established: Dejolde undertook recruitment activities by promising overseas employment to multiple persons, charged fees for this service, and did so without the required license or authority from the Department of Labor and Employment. His defense of processing student visas was rejected as it was inconsistent with the complainants’ credible and corroborated testimonies that he specifically promised employment as caregivers.
For the two counts of Estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code, the Court modified the penalties in accordance with recent jurisprudence and Republic Act No. 10951 . The Court applied the principle that when the amount defrauded exceeds PHP 40,000 but does not exceed PHP 1,200,000, the penalty should be arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period. With no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, the maximum penalty is one year and one day of prision correccional. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the minimum is within the range of arresto mayor. Thus, for each count, the indeterminate penalty was modified to two months and one day of arresto mayor, as minimum, to one year and one day of prision correccional, as maximum. The Court also imposed legal interest of 6% per annum on the actual damages from the finality of judgment until full payment.