Two get life sentence for human trafficking

A man and a woman were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined P3 million after being found guilty for qualified trafficking in persons.

Regional Trial Court Branch 14 judge Raphael Yrastorza Sr. found Rolando Cuico and Theresa Castro guilty of violating Section 6 of the Republic Act 9208.  Castro and Cuico, who are live-in partners, were arrested during an entrapment operation in December 2004 by elements of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Castro and Cuico supplied nine prostitutes, some of them minors, to agents of the NBI-Violence Against Women and Children Division who were posing as customers in an uptown hotel.

NBI agents from Manila in coordination with operatives in the NBI Central Visayas immediately placed them under arrest after receiving the P1,500 marked money supposedly as payment for the services of the prostitutes they provided.

In the process, the NBI rescued the nine girls brought by the accused to the hotel for them to choose from.  The arrest of Castro and Cuico was a result of the request made by the International Justice Mission which first received the information about their illegal activities in barangay Kamagayan.

A surveillance operation was conducted prior to the setting up of the entrapment operation.  Upon trial, the girls pointed to both Castro and Cuico as their pimps.

They said they were ordered by the accused to falsify their birth certificates to make it appear that they are already of legal age.

In a seven-page decision promulgated yesterday, Yrastorza said that the denial of the accused cannot overcome the overwhelming evidence against them, both testimonial and documentary.

“Both accused are liable to compensate the victims who gravely suffered from their acts of trafficking them,” Yrastorza ruled.

Thus, Castro and Cuico were ordered to also pay the nine victims P100,000 each as moral and exemplary damages on top of the P3 million fine ordered by the court.

NBI regional director Medardo De Lemos said that they are happy with the results of the case.  He also said this is the first conviction of human traffickers in the region and should serve as a lesson to those engaged in this illegal activity.  — Fred P. Languido/BRP