"x x x.
The essential elements of illegal recruitment committed in large scale are: (1) that the accused engaged in acts of recruitment and placement of workers as defined under Article 13(b) of the Labor Code, or in any prohibited activities under Article 34 of the same Code; (2) that the accused had not complied with the guidelines issued by the Secretary of Labor and Employment with respect to the requirement to secure a license or authority to recruit and deploy workers; and (3) that the accused committed the unlawful acts against 3 or more persons. In simplest terms, illegal recruitment is committed by persons who, without authority from the government, give the impression that they have the power to send workers abroad for employment purposes. In Our view, despite Inovero’s protestations that she did not commit illegal recruitment, the following circumstances contrarily convince Us that she was into illegal recruitment.
First, private complainants Baful and Brizuela commonly testified that Inovero was the one who conducted orientations/briefings on them; informed them, among others, on how much their salary would be as caregivers in Japan; and what to wear when they finally will be deployed. Second, when Diala introduced her (Inovero) to private complainant Amoyo as one of the owners of HARVEL, Inovero did not bother to correct said representation. Inovero’s silence is clearly an implied acquiescence to said representation.
Third, Inovero, while conducting orientation on private complainant Brizuela, represented herself as the one expediting the release of applicants’ working visa for Japan.
Fourth, in a Certification issued and attested to by POEA’s Versoza – Inovero had no license nor authority to recruit for overseas employment.
Based on the foregoing, there is therefore no doubt that the RTC correctly found that Inovero committed illegal recruitment in large scale by giving private complainants the impression that she can send them abroad for employment purposes, despite the fact that she had no license or authority to do so.12
x x x."
