Section 9Sec./Art. 9

Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9208, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"Section 10. Penalties and Sanctions. - The following penalties and sanctions are hereby established for the offenses enumerated in this Act:

x x x

(g) Any person who violates Section 9 hereof shall suffer the penalty of a fine of not less than Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00) but not more than Five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) for the first offense. In case of subsequent offense, the penalty of a fine of not less than Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00) but not more than Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) and revocation of franchise and license to operate. Without prejudice to the criminal liability of the person or persons willfully refusing to perform the responsibilities under Section 9 of this Act, juridical persons owning or managing the aforementioned enterprises shall be subsidiarily liable, and their license or permit to operate may be revoked.

Willful and intentional violations of Section 9 of this Act are subject to the penalties in paragraph (f) of this section;

(h) Any person found guilty of violating paragraphs (b), (d), and (g) of Section 8 shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of six (6) years and a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) but not more than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00): Provided, That the penalty of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall be imposed on any person who copies without court authorization, removes, deletes, expunges, incinerates, shreds or destroys the tapes, discs, and recording; and their excerpts and summaries, written notes, or memoranda made in connection with the authorized interception and recording thereof intentionally; or omits or excludes from the joint affidavit any item or portion thereof mentioned therein;

(i) The license of a recruitment or manning agency which recruited or deployed an underage migrant worker shall be automatically revoked and shall be penalized with a fine of not less than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) but not more than Three million pesos (P3,000,000.00) per recruited underage migrant worker. All fees pertinent to the processing of papers or documents in the recruitment or deployment of the underage migrant worker shall be refunded by the responsible recruitment or manning agency, without need of notice, to the underage migrant worker or to the latter's parents or guardian. The refund shall be independent of and in addition to the indemnification for the damages sustained by the underage migrant worker. The refund shall be paid within thirty (30) days from the date of the mandatory repatriation;

(j) Any person who violates Section 5(m) of this Act shall be deemed to have committed unlawful activities and penalized for money laundering as defined in Republic Act No. 9160, otherwise known as the 'Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001,' as amended;

(k) Any person who files a complaint against another for violations of this Act and such complaint has been found to be with malice and solely for the purpose of harassing, persecuting or subjecting the latter to unwarranted surveillance or wiretapping, or both, shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not more than one (1) year and a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) but not more than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00);

(l) If the offender is a corporation, partnership, association, club, establishment or any juridical person, the penalty shall be imposed upon the owner, president, partner, manager, or any responsible officer, or any two (2) or more of them, who participated in the commission of the crime or who shall have permitted or knowingly failed to prevent its commission;

(m) The registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and license to operate of the erring agency, corporation, association, religious group, tour or travel agent, club or establishment, any place of entertainment, or any of the enumerated entities under Section 9, shall be cancelled and revoked permanently. The owner, president, partner or manager thereof shall not be allowed to operate similar establishments in a different name;

(n) If the offender is a foreigner, he or she shall be immediately deported after serving his or her sentence and be barred permanently from entering the country;

(o) Any employee or official of government agencies who shall issue or approve the issuance of travel exit clearances, passports, registration certificates, counseling certificates, marriage license, and other similar documents to persons, whether juridical or natural, recruitment agencies, establishments or other individuals or groups, who fail to observe the prescribed procedures and the requirement as provided for by laws, rules and regulations, shall be held administratively liable, without prejudice to criminal liability under this Act. The concerned government officials or employees shall, upon conviction, be dismissed from the service and be barred permanently to hold public office and their retirement and other benefits shall likewise be forfeited;

(p) Public or government officials and employees who are found guilty of any violation of this Act shall be punished with dismissal or removal from office after due notice and hearing by the appropriate agency. In addition, such official or employee shall suffer perpetual absolute disqualification to hold public office and forfeiture of all retirement and other benefits; and

(q) Conviction, by final judgment of the adopter for any offense under this Act shall result in the immediate rescission of the decree of adoption."