Five ‘traffickers’ convicted, ordered to pay hefty fines

CEBU, Philippines - After two years and seven months, a Lapu-Lapu City court convicted on Monday five persons after they pleaded guilty to human trafficking charges.

Judge Anna Marie Militante of RTC Branch 53 convicted Ronaldo Panuncio and Reynaldo Sampan for simple trafficking after they were identified as "principals" who recruited the girl victim in the guise of letting her work as a househelp.

The suspects were convicted for violating Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, specifically Section 4A.

Both were sentenced to 20 years behind bars and ordered to pay a fine of P1 million.

Their accomplices, Carmelita Gonida, Mamelyn Bisoles and Mirasol Aquino, were sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of P500,000.

The court ruled they violated the provision of the law that prohibits introducing "any person or Filipina woman" to foreign national in exchange for money or matched a woman by any amount through engaging in forced prostitution and sexual abuse.

Lawyer Jesse Rudy, national director of the International Justice Mission, said the conviction sends a "strong message" to people engaged in the trafficking of children in the Philippines.

"We strongly believe that ending impunity through consistent, high-quality law enforcement is central to protecting the poor from violence, and these convictions are a great example of how law enforcement in the Philippines is making a difference," Rudy said in a statement.

Recruitment

According to the victim's accounts, on August 4, 2012, neighbors Bisoles and Aquino "recruited" her to work in a bar in Manila and to secretly deny her minority and to declare that she was of legal age.

Panuncio and Sampan explained that they would work as dancers in a certain bar and wear "sexy attire" for foreign customers who would eventually take them out to a hotel.

Panuncio reportedly promised to the minor that she can continue her studies in Manila while Gonida housed them before going to the pier to board the ship.

The recruiters allegedly briefed the victims to tell anyone who might ask that they were heading to Manila to work as "maids."

On August 6 that year, the father of a 16-year-old minor went to the Women's and Children's Protection Desk of Gun-ob Police Station saying that his daughter was taken by "recruiter" to Manila.

Police Officer 1 Michelle Pajantoy of the said station, assisted by the IJM, found out that two victims boarded a 2Go vessel MV Saint Gregory going to Manila.

They immediately coordinated with the PNP-NCR Regional Maritime Unit and Manila Harbor Task Force Against Trafficking.

The Manila police authorities intercepted Panuncio and Sampan, together with the 16-year-old and another adult victim.

The following day, August 7, Manila police personnel took custody to the victims who were sent to the Visayan Forum's Bahay Silungan for temporary shelter.

The victims, together with the recruiters, were separately sent back to Lapu-Lapu City on August 8.

Further investigation led to the arrest of Gonida, Bisoles and Aquino.

The father of the minor filed a complaint against the five recruiters before the court on August 9. — Christell Fatima M. Tudtud (FREEMAN)