G.R. No.

121777 January 24, 2001

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,

vs.
CAROL M. DELA PIEDRA, accused-appellant.

Facts:
Dela Piedra was charged with illegal recruitment on a large scale. In an
information filed against her, without any POEA license, she allegedly offered and
promised for fee employment in Singapore to Modesto, Amanita, and Timbol, such that
Modesto had already advanced the amount of Php2,000.00. Dela Piedra was arrested
in her home after an investigation was made by Atty. Erlina Ramos, a lawyer of the
POEA, pretended to be an applicant, which led to an entrapment operation of the PNP-
CIS for Region IX.

Issues:
Whether or not Article 13(b) of the Labor Code defines recruitment and
placement void for vagueness.

Whether herein appellant committed the crime of large-scale illegal recruitment.

Ruling:
NO. Section 13(b) is not overbroad. It encompasses what the appellant
apparently considers as customary and harmless acts such as labor or employment
referral.

NO. A conviction for large-scale illegal recruitment must be based on a finding in

each case of illegal recruitment of three or more persons whether individually or as a
group. In this case, only two persons, Amanita and Modesto, were proven to have been
recruited by the appellant.

Principles:
As a rule, a statute or act may be said to be vague when it lacks comprehensible
standards that men "of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and
differ as to its application." It is repugnant to the Constitution in two respects: (1) it
violates due process for failure to accord persons, especially the parties targeted by it,
fair notice of the conduct to avoid; and (2) it leaves law enforcers unbridled discretion in
carrying out its provisions and become an arbitrary flexing of the Government muscle.