Overseas Dreams, Local Schemes: Upholding Protection Against Large Scale Illegal Recruitment

For many Filipino families, a job abroad is the plan that pays for everything else — a house, a child's schooling, a way out of debt. That hope is exactly what illegal recruiters sell. In People of the Philippines v. Gilda Abellanosa (G.R. No. 214340, July 19, 2017), the Supreme Court affirmed a conviction for illegal recruitment in large scale, explained how the offense is proven, and corrected the way the penalty should be imposed.

The promise of work in Brunei

Between February and March 1997, several residents of Pavia, Iloilo, met a woman who introduced herself as a recruiter for jobs in Brunei. She showed them a job order and a calling card identifying her as an overseas marketing director, and claimed she knew the