Illegal recruitment requires "recruitment activities," "lack of license or authority"

To prove illegal recruitment, only two elements need be shown, viz., (1) the person charged with the crime must have undertaken recruitment activities (or any of the activities enumerated in Article 34 of the Labor Code, as amended); and (2) the said person does not have a license or authority to do so. It is not required that it be shown that such person wrongfully represented himself as a licensed recruiter. A license is a document issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) authorizing a person or entity to operate a private employment agency, while an authority is a document issued by the DOLE authorizing a person or association to engage in recruitment and placement activities as a private recruitment agency. [G.R. No. 120389. November 21, 1996]