2 get life terms for trafficking

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

TWO women were sentenced to life in prison yesterday for trafficking eight people, mostly minors, to work as “entertainers” in a bar in Cebu City in 2008.

Judge Ester Veloso also fined Jillian Moring Ferrer and Dhayme Jamuad P2 million each after they were found guilty of violating Republic Act 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.

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“On the basis of the allegations of the prosecution witnesses, which the court found to be straightforward, candid and consistent, as against the mere denials of the accused, the court finds the accused guilty of the offense charged,” Veloso, presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court branch 6, ruled.

The two convicts insisted the victims were the ones who went with them to work in Cebu for higher pay.

Authorities arrested Jamuad, alias Nikki or Nikki Muring Ferrer, and Ferrer, alias Candy, for ferrying eight people, mostly minors aged 14 to 17, to Cebu City on Nov. 12, 2008.

Leaving for Cebu

A 17-year-old girl said she met Jamuad and Ferrer in a bar in Cagayan de Oro in November 2008.

She worked as a dancer in the bar when her uncle, who also worked as a waiter there, told her that Jamuad and Ferrer were leaving for Cebu.

The victim admitted she asked the two if she could go with them since she heard that bars in Cebu offer “bigger” salary.

On Nov. 12, 2008, the accused bought tickets and boarded a ship bound for Cebu. When they arrived, a man approached them and asked for their age.

Later, a police car arrived and brought them to the police station. The man, who earlier asked for their age, turned out to be a policeman.

The rest of the recruits whotestified shared similar stories.

Ferrer, in her testimony, admitted she worked in a bar in Cagayan de Oro as a dancer.

But she insisted she never asked the victims to go with them to work in Cebu City.

Voluntary

Ferrer said the victims voluntarily went with them to “earn more.” She said she was disappointed with the allegations against them because they, too, were “victims.”

Jamuad also denied the allegations. Like Ferrer, Jamuad said she did not recruit the victims but went with them to work in Cebu for higher pay. She insisted that she is also a victim of human trafficking.

Jamuad said she used the aliases Nikki or Nikki Muring Ferrer to show to authorities that they are sisters. But the two convicts are not related.

In her ruling, Judge Veloso pointed out that even if the victims gave their consent to go with the convicts, this does not absolve the criminal liability of the accused, based on the definition of the crime.

“Trafficking is deemed qualified considering that the trafficked persons were children and was committed against at least three persons,” said Veloso.