The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the life imprisonment imposed on a large-scale illegal recruiter and increased the fine to P5 million.

Affirmed were the rulings handed down by the regional trial court (RTC) and the Court of Appeals (CA) which convicted Natalie Caluducan of Cagayan province.

Both the RTC and the CA sentenced Caluducan to life imprisonment. While the RTC imposed a fine of P500,000, the CA increased it to P2 million.

The SC, in a decision written by Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, also affirmed the rulings which directed Caluducan to reimburse P171,004.97 to Janel P. Viloria; P44,161.17 to Erner G. Samortin; and P80,990 to Charles Adrian Vincent V. Salum.

In 2017, Caluducan and Tessie Tugaoen were charged before the RTC in Aparri, Cagayan with large-scale illegal recruitment.

The criminal charge stated that in 2012 Caluducan and Togaoen recruited Viloria, Samortin and Salum for overseas jobs as “worm pickers” in Canada.

Caluducan and Tugaoen demanded from their recruits the payments of placement, processing, and miscellaneous fees.

The criminal complaint stated that the payments collected were beyond the schedule of allowable fees prescribed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

Also, the complaint stated that Caluducan and Tugaoen did not have the permit or license from the DOLE and POEA to engage in recruitment and overseas job placement activities.

Caluducan faced the charge against her before the RTC. Tugaoen remained at large.

During the trial, Viloria, Samortin and Salum testified that they submitted all the requirements for the supposed Canada deployment, and paid the fees required from them.

After months of waiting, they told the court that they asked Caluducan on the status of their employment but were only told that the applications were still being processed.

They also said they went to the POEA only to find out that Caluducan and Tugaoen were not licensed or authorized to recruit workers for overseas employment.

Armed with the certificate issued by the POEA, they said they filed the charges against Caluducan and Tugaoen.

Caluducan denied the charge against her. She told the trial court that it was only Tugaoen who committed illegal recruitment since she was the one who promised Viloria and two others the overseas jobs and received the placement fees.

In November 2019 Caluducan was convicted by the trial court. Her appeal before the CA was denied by the appellate court which increased the fine to P2 million.

The CA found that the testimonies of the three witnesses and the evidence presented before the trial court “clearly establish that Caluducan dealt with Viloria et al. and gave them the impression that she is capable of sending them abroad for work.”

At the same time, the CA said “it was not required that Caluducan expressly represented herself as a licensed recruiter; it was sufficient that she gave the impression that she is capable of processing Viloria et al.' s application for work abroad, or that she had the authority to recruit workers for deployment abroad.”

Caluducan appealed the CA’s decision before the SC.

The SC said: “In the present case, both the CA and the RTC gave credence to Viloria et al.' s testimonies, finding the same to be categorical. The Court finds no sufficient reason to disturb the findings of the CA and the RTC as to the credibility of Viloria et al.' s testimonies.”

The also said in its decision:

“It must be noted that the Large-Scale Illegal Recruitment in this case was committed in the year 2012 during the effectivity of Republic Act No. 10022, which took effect on March 8, 2010, amending Republic Act No. 8042.

“Thus, the amendments under Republic Act No. 10022 shall apply in this case.

“Section 7(b) of Republic Act No. 8042, as amended by Republic Act No. 10022, provides that the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of not less than P2 million nor more than P5 million shall be imposed if illegal recruitment constitutes economic sabotage. Under Section 6(m) of Republic Act No. 8042, illegal recruitment shall be considered as an offense involving economic sabotage when committed by a syndicate or in large scale.”