Court denies Mary Jane recruiters' plea to junk case

A Nueva Ecija court has junked the motion filed by the alleged recruiters of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug smuggling, seeking to dismiss the large-scale illegal recruitment cases lodged against them.

In a six-page order, Judge Nelson Tribiana of the Regional Trial Court Branch 37 in Baloc, Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija, denied for lack of merit the urgent motion filed by Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

"In the present case, the court finds that the information contains allegations constituting the elements of the crime charged," read the ruling. "What is important is that the accused is apprised with reasonable certainty as to the offense charges, the reason being to enable the accused to suitably prepare his defense."

Judge Tribiana declared as "without merit" Sergio and Lacanilao's claim that the court has no jurisdiction over the case because they were illegally arrested.

"Even assuming the arrest of both accused was illegal and/or the inquest proceedings conducted by him was void, such defects do not affect the jurisdiction of this court over their person since the defects only affect the regularity of the proceedings," said the court.

Tribiana assured Sergio and Lacanilao that he would not yet treat the allegations against them as proof of facts.

"The basic rule is that mere allegation is not evidence and is not equivalent to proof. The prosecution has the burden of proving the allegation. This shall be done during the trial," he said.

As a result of the denial of their motion to quash, Sergio and Lacanilao's arraignment will proceed as scheduled on July 21.

The cases against the two were filed with the Nueva Ecija court after the Department of Justice, through Assistant State Prosecutor Mark Roland Estepa, in May found probable cause to charge them for violation of Section 6 of Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.

The National Bureau of Investigation had earlier filed separate criminal complaints against Sergio, Lacanilao and a certain Ike for allegeldy tricking Veloso into bringing 2.6 kilos of heroin to Indonesia from Malaysia in 2010.

Veloso was found guilty of drug trafficking in Indonesia and sentenced to death by firing squad. Her execution was stayed at the last minute in late April so she could testify first against her alleged recruiters in the Philippines.

The Nueva Ecija cases were filed by Lorna Valino, Ana Marie Gonzales and Jenalyn Paraiso, who all claimed to have been promised by Sergio and Lacanilao with work abroad.

"The common thread of the afformentioned affidavits (of the complainants) is that respondents enticed them to work either as domestic helpers, factory workers, salesladies, househelpers and/or manicurists in Malaysia, Indonesia or Japan," read the DOJ resolution.

The DOJ prosecutor had said it was "beyond dispute" that Sergio and Lacanilao committed "large scale illegal recruitment" because of the three complaints from Valino, Gonzales, and Paraiso. —KBK, GMA News

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