2 get 75 years for duping Pinays to work in Macau

Carl Anthony Ortega and Alicia Ziganay, who held office in Escolta, Manila, were found guilty of illegal recruitment and estafa.

In a 24-page ruling, Manila-RTC Judge Felixberto Olalia slapped each of them with two counts of illegal recruitment and three counts of estafa. One count of illegal recruitment is equivalent to maximum imprisonment of 12 years. A count of estafa means up to 17 years in jail.

Mercy Manabat, Lyn Policarpio, and Gloria Bunag accused the two of committing estafa after they collected placement fee of P75, 000 each from the complainants and several others who applied as waitresses for Macau in 2002.

Policarpio testified in court that when she arrived in Macau, she found out that there was no job waiting for her in the Chinese territory. Her testimony was corroborated by Bunag, and another witness, Annalyn Balicao.

The two recruiters, who were not licensed by the Philippine government to recruit applicants for overseas work, failed to reimburse the complainants of the money they spent for job application.

Judge Olalia ordered Ortega and Ziganay to pay back each of the complainants P75,000 plus legal fees, minus the P1,500 previously returned by the recruiters.

The court, however, failed to elevate the charges from simple to large-scale illegal recruitment because "the criminal cases lack one essential element… that the accused committed the same against three or more persons individually or as a group."

Earlier media reports citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said that from January to October 2007, there were 132 establishments involved in illegal recruitment activities, which victimized 850 job applicants.

The reports said the POEA listed 316 cases of illegal recruitment in 2006, and 250 cases in 2005. - GMANews.TV

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