Woman faces illegal recruitment, estafa charges

CEBU, Philippines - A woman accused of large scale illegal recruitment was indicted by the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

 Bebie Jean Deniega Shivano, resident of Sitio Kalumbuyan, Buhisan, Cebu City, will face trial in court for violation of Section 6 of Republic Act 8042. Prosecutor Jill Ann Paculba-Gealon recommended no bail for Shivano’s temporary liberty.

 “Perusal of the record disclosed the existence of probable cause to charge respondent,” the resolution read.

Aside from illegal recruitment the accused was also charged with four counts of estafa. The prosecutor’s office recommended P40,000 bail for each count.

The case stemmed from the complaints filed by Juvy Ngojo-Luceno, Edwin Vino, Jerryboy Bahaw-Petchan, and Mario Tigoy Aljas before the National Bureau of Investigation-7.

NBI-7 Director Ricardo Diaz said the accused violated Section 6 (a) of Republic Act 8042 otherwise known as The Migrant Workers Act in relation to Section 23 of Rule V of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code when she failed to deploy complainants abroad as factory workers in Japan.

 Shivano promised to deploy Luceno, Vino, Petchan, and Aljas abroad in exchange for money. But despite receiving the amount she demanded, Shivano failed to fulfill her promise.

Luceno said she paid P25,000 to the accused; Vino and Petchan each gave P35,000 to Shivano while Aljas paid P26,640.

Diaz said they found out with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration that the accused was not authorized to recruit workers abroad.

The NBI conducted an entrapment operation on September 21, 2015 resulting in the arrest of the accused.

Diaz said the complainants asked for the reimbursement of their payment but the accused failed to return the money.  (FREEMAN)