Woman gets life for illegal recruitment

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City court has sentenced a woman to life imprisonment for large-scale illegal recruitment after collecting placement fees and other charges from four people.

In a 12-page decision released yesterday, Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Assisting Judge Genie Gapas-Agbada found the accused, Imelda Pamintuan Reluya, guilty of violating Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act of 1995.

The court ordered her to pay complainants Sally Hormachuelos, Gregorio Barbon, Jessie Lacuna and Alejandro Mansibang Antonio Jr. P35,000 each for moral and exemplary damages.

The accused was also ordered to pay Hormachuelos the amount of P71,500; Barbon with P105,000; Lacuna with P65,000, and Antonio with P65,000 – all with interest of two percent per year since 2007 – as indemnification of the fees that she collected from the complainants from August 2007 to February 2008.

The case stemmed from the complaints of the victims, who said Reluya promised them with jobs abroad despite not being licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to engage in the recruitment business.

They said Reluya identified herself as president of JCIRENE Corp., also known as JCIRENE International Manpower Agency Inc.

The complainants said they paid placement fees and other charges to Reluya. However, she failed to return the money when they discovered that her agency was not licensed by the POEA.

In her defense, Reluya said that she never transacted with the complainants as she was on leave when the transactions took place. She added that JCIRENE Corp., which is engaged in exporting garments, is not connected with the JCIRENE International Manpower Agency Inc.

She admitted, however, that the signatures on the receipts given to the complainants were that of her secretaries.

Hormachuelos said she did not file a case against the secretaries of Reluya because she directly transacted with the accused.

In the charge sheet, seven other individuals were identified as victims of Reluya. The circumstances surrounding their case, however, were not discussed in the decision issued by the court.