CASE DIGEST
People v. Begino y
Rogero
G.R. No. 251150, [March 16, 2022]
THIRD, LOPEZ, M.V
large-scale Illegal
recruitment; Estafa
For an offense to be considered large
scale illegal recruitment, the prosecution must establish that: (1) The
offender has no valid license or authority required by law to lawfully engage
in recruitment and placement of workers; (2)The offender undertakes recruitment
activities or practices prohibited by law; (3) The offender commits acts of
recruitment and placement against three or more persons, individually or as a
group.
In September 2011, Milagros Osila received a phone call about job opportunities in Canada from Regina Begino and Darwin Arevalo. Milagros traveled to Tabaco City, where she met Regina and Darwin, who were allegedly conducting interviews for jobs abroad. Regina and Darwin claimed to be looking for apple-pickers to be deployed in Canada. Milagros, along with her nieces Maelene Canaveral and Geraldine Ojano, and her friend Gloria Mape, attended interviews and paid various fees for the supposed job placements. Regina received payments for processing fees, terminal fee, additional processing fee, and surety bond, all recorded on index cards. However, none of them were able to leave for Canada, and they did not get their money back.
The Regional Trial Court (RTC)
convicted Regina Begino of large scale illegal recruitment and three counts of
estafa. The court found that Regina represented having the authority to send
the complainants abroad, and her promises never materialized. The recovered
index cards with payment notes established that Regina received various fees
from the complainants, causing them damage. Regina's assurances induced the
victims to part with their money. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed Regina's
guilt for large scale illegal recruitment.
Whether or not Regina Begino is guilty
of large scale illegal recruitment and Estafa.
YES.
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, emphasizing that all elements of large
scale illegal recruitment were present, as Regina engaged in recruitment
activities without the required license or authority. Regina's active role in
the recruitment process, her receipt of payments, and her lack of authority all
contributed to her liability. The prosecution established that Regina engaged
in recruitment activities and gave complainants the distinct impression that
she had the power or ability to send them abroad for work. Regina directly
transacted with the complainants regarding the job prospect in Canada and
personally assisted them in completing the requirements for deployment. Regina
received money from the complainants as placement fees and gave assurances that
they will earn high compensation for their purported jobs abroad. Furthermore, Regina had no authority to
engage in recruitment activities. Finally, there are four (4) complainants who
testified against Regina which qualified the offense to economic sabotage. Thus,
Regina was properly sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of P5,000,000.00
for large scale illegal recruitment.
However, the Court cited errors in the computation
of penalties. Nonetheless,
the penalties in the three (3) counts of estafa can no longer be corrected,
even if erroneous, because the judgment of conviction has become final and
executory after Regina chose not to appeal these cases. An erroneous judgment,
as thus understood, is a valid judgment. Whatever mistake the trial court
committed in the computation of penalties was merely an error of judgment and
not of jurisdiction. The mistake did not affect the intrinsic validity of the
decision and can no longer be rectified on appeal no matter how obvious the
error may be.
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