FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 230342. June 23, 2021.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,vs. FELICIDAD ASUNCION y DOMINGO, MARICHU DELAS ALAS y AGONCILLO, ERLINDA/LINDA SALVADOR and JOSIE CAMPOS, accused,
FELICIDAD ASUNCION y DOMINGO and ERLINDA/LINDA SALVADOR, accused-appellants.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution datedJune 23, 2021which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 230342 (People of the Philippines,Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Felicidad Asuncion y Domingo, Marichu Delas Alas y Agoncillo, Erlinda/Linda Salvador and Josie Campos,Accused; Felicidad Asuncion y Domingo and Erlinda/Linda Salvador,Accused-Appellants). — After a review of the records, the Court resolves to DENY the appeal for lack of merit. There exists no reason for the Court to deviate from the findings of the RTC as affirmed by the CA.
We agree that the prosecution sufficiently established that accused-appellants were engaged in Illegal recruitment by a syndicate and likewise committed two (2) counts of Estafa. We also sustain the penalty imposed and payment of fine for the offense of illegal recruitment by a syndicate for being in accordance with law. However, with the enactment of RA No. 10951, there is a need to modify the penalty of imprisonment imposed to one month and one day of arresto mayor as minimum, to one year and eight months of prision correccional as maximum for each count of Estafa, as the same is more favorable to accused-appellants. 1 Likewise, a six percent (6%) legal interest per annum from finality of judgment until full payment on the damages awarded is imposed on the monetary benefits due. 2
WHEREFORE, the appeal is hereby denied. The Decision 3 dated 01 September 2016 of the CA in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 07655 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATIONS:
1. In Criminal Case No. 08-259431, accused-appellants are each sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of one month and one day of arresto mayor as minimum, to one year and eight months of prision correccional as maximum and to jointly and severally indemnify private complainant Aurelio J. Alvarez in the amount of P170,000.00 with legal interest at the rate of 6% per annum from finality of this Resolution until the said amount is fully paid; and
2. In Criminal Case No. 08-259433, accused-appellants are each sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of one month and one day of arresto mayor as minimum, to one year and eight months of prision correccional as maximum and to jointly and severally indemnify private complainant Michael T. Junio in the amount of P120,000.00 with legal interest at rate of 6% per annum from finality of this Resolution.
SO ORDERED."
By authority of the Court:
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADivision Clerk of Court
By:
MARIA TERESA B. SIBULODeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.People v. Bautista, G.R. No. 218582, 03 September 2020 [Per J. Caguioa].
2.Nacar v. Gallery Frames, 716 Phil. 267 (2013), G.R. No. 189871, 13 August 2013 [Per J. Peralta].
3.Rollo, pp. 2-38; penned by Associate Justice Celia C. Librea-Leagogo and concurred in by Associate Justices Amy C. Lazaro-Javier (now a Member of the Court) and Carmelita Salandanan Manahan of the Special Ninth Division of the Court of Appeals, Manila.