Case Digest: PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. MELISSA CHUA

G.R. No. 184058

Ponente: Carpio Morales, J.

DOCTRINE: An employee, even a temporary one, may be held liable for illegal recruitment as principal by direct participation, together with the employer.

FACTS:

Melissa Chua and one Josie Campos were charged with Large Scale Illegal Recruitment and Estafa for allegedly recruiting Erik Tan, Marilyn Macaranas, Napoleon Yu, Harry King and Roberto Angeles as factory workers in Taiwan. Chua, claimed to be merely working as a temporary cashier for Golden Gate, Inc., were paid by the private complainants placement fees in exchange for their promised employments abroad. Said placement fees ranged from Php25,000.00 to Php80,000.00 for which she issued receipts thereto.  After the failure to deploy the complainants and refund their placement fees, they found out that Golden Gate Inc.’s license had already expired.

Chua claims that she did not receive any money for she turned over the placement fees she received to the documentation officer, one Arlene Vega, and was ultimately remitted to Marilyn Calueng.

ISSUE: Whether or not Melissa Chua is guilty of illegal recruitment in a large scale despite being merely a temporary employee of Golden Gate, Inc.

RULING:

Yes. Article 38(a) of the Labor Code, as amended, under which Chua was charged defines illegal recruitment as “any recruitment activities, including the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of this Code, to be undertaken by non-licensees or non-holders of authority shall be deemed illegal and punishable under Article 39 of this Code. x x x Illegal recruitment is deemed committed in large scale if committed against three (3) or more persons individually or as a group.” Any recruitment activities to be undertaken by a non-licensee, or in this case, an agency with an expired license, shall be deemed illegal and punishable under Article 39 of the Labor Code. 

Chua was positively identified as one of the persons who enticed the complainants to part with their money upon the fraudulent representation that they would be able to secure from them employment abroad. Even if Chua was a mere temporary cashier of Golden Gate, that did not make her any less liable for illegal recruitment as principal by direct participation, together with her employer, as it is shown that she actively and consciously participated in the recruitment process.