Court sends recruitment agency owner to jail for illegal recruitment

A Regional Trial Court in Legazpi City ordered the owner of a recruitment
agency jailed for illegal recruitment when she failed to return the money paid by
an applicant for supposed jobs in the United States of America (USA) and Canada.
In a Joint Decision dated May 22, 2014, Judge Elmer M. Lanuzo Regional Trial
Court Branch 6 of Legazpi City found Lucille Manrique David, the owner of Jasia
International Manpower Services, guilty of illegal recruitment for violation of
Section 6 (m) of Republic Act No. 8042 and imposed a penalty of Indeterminate
Imprisonment of 6 years and 1 day to 8 years and 1 day, and a fine of Php 200,000.
“Failure to reimburse expenses incurred by the worker in connection with his
documentation and processing for purposes of deployment, in cases where the
deployment does not actually take place without the worker's fault” is considered
an act of illegal recruitment as defined by RA 8042 or the Migrant Workers and
Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.
Michelle Daep de Naag y Monreal, the private complainant in the case, alleged
that in September 2008, JASIA International Manpower Services owned by
Lucille Manrique David enlisted her to work as a housekeeper in the USA.
Monreal alleged that after submitting the required documents and payment of
placement and processing fees amounting to Php84,500.00, she found out from the
US Embassy in Manila that the work visa for the position was no longer available
for the Philippines.
The complainant testified that as substitute, David offered her employment in
Canada.

The Canada job, however, did not happen. The POEA suspended the license of
JASIA on May 5, 2009 because of the numerous complaints of recruitment
violations filed against the agency. The POEA subsequently cancelled its license
to recruit on November 19, 2010.
Monreal testified that she started asking for refund of her expenses from JASIA the
time she heard of the suspension of the license of the agency.
Judge Lanuzo ruled that the suspension of the license was the principal reason why
the accused-Lucille Manrique David was not able to deploy the private
complainant to either Canada or the USA.
“It is therefore clear that the non-deployment of the private complainant for work
abroad was not through her fault but through the fault of the accused-Lucille
Manrique David, who by violating various provisions of the Implementing Rules
and Regulation on recruitment and other circulars had caused her license to be
suspended by the POEA,” the judge wrote in his decision.
Aside from conviction of illegal recruitment, Judge Lanuzo also found the accused
guilty of estafa and was sentenced Indeterminate Imprisonment of four years to
twelve years.
The Court also ordered David to pay the complainant the amount of
Php104,500.00 as indemnification for consequential damages.