Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30) — Two job recruiters who sent Mary Jane Veloso to Indonesia were found guilty of large-scale illegal recruitment in a case involving three other Filipina victims.
Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo also lauded the development, but said the decision won’t likely have a bearing on Veloso’s complaint.
“There is no connection. She’s being charged with the crime there (Indonesia)— nothing to do with the conviction of traffickers here,” Panelo said in a media briefing.
The complaint — filed by Lorna Valino, Ana Marie Gonzales, and Jenalyn Paraiso — is separate from the one filed by Veloso, who is on death row in Indonesia over drug charges. Veloso’s case remains pending before the Nueva Ecija court.
In a decision dated January 14 and released Thursday, the court said Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao presented “weak defenses” for the case— and were thus sentenced to life imprisonment for the illegal recruitment charges.
“The Court has oft pronounced that both denial and alibi are inherently weak defenses which cannot prevail over the positive and credible testimony of the prosecution witness that the accused committed the crime,” the ruling penned by Presiding Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes read.
The two were also ordered to pay a fine of ₱2 million.
Veloso was arrested at the Yogyakarta airport in 2010 when authorities found 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.
She was given a reprieve from execution by firing squad in 2015, following an appeal from the previous administration. Veloso had said she was only a victim of drug trafficking.
The Supreme Court previously allowed the detained OFW to testify against her recruiters.
READ: Mary Jane Veloso: Job search ends in death row
The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) meanwhile welcomed the verdict, saying the decision may have an impact on Veloso’s case herself.
“Even if their case is distinct from Mary Jane’s, we believe that Sergio and Lacanilao’s conviction stands as a testament to Mary Jane’s story— that she was not a drug courier but an unwitting victim of the same illegal recruiters,” NUPL said in a statement.
CNN Philippines Correspondent Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
Sergio and Lacanilao are sentenced to life imprisonment — and are ordered to pay ₱2 million | @anjocalimario pic.twitter.com/pVGT7OPUi8
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) January 30, 2020
