By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the life imprisonment sentence imposed on a Bukidnon man for trafficking three minors to work as domestic helpers in distant towns without pay 11 years ago.
In a news release on Thursday, the SC said its 2nd Division affirmed the conviction of Joemarie Ubanon for qualified human trafficking under Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Court records showed that on April 14, 2014, Ubanon approached two 14-year-olds and one 15-year-old in Bukidnon, offering them work as onion peelers with a promised monthly wage of PHP2,500.
The minors said they needed to ask their parents first but Ubanon insisted that the employer was already waiting and told them to board a bus.
When the minors tried to get off the bus, they were stopped by the daughter of Amirah Macadatar, who was the employer of Ubanon’s wife.
After reaching Iligan City, they took a van to Marawi City, where the minors were sent to different homes in Lanao del Sur and Iligan City to work as domestic helpers.
They were not paid for their labor.
One of the employers later contacted Macadatar, who eventually turned over the minors to the police station.
The Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals found Ubanon and Macadatar guilty of qualified trafficking and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Ubanon appealed to the SC, claiming that there was no proof he recruited or transported the minors for forced labor.
The SC denied his appeal, emphasizing that even just recruiting and transporting minors is enough to prove trafficking.
“Trafficking happens when individuals are recruited or transported – whether or not they give consent – through deception, coercion, or abuse of power for exploitative purposes like prostitution or forced labor,” the high court stated.
“In this case, Ubanon took advantage of the minors’ age and need for money, convinced them to accept the job, and personally brought them to the terminal and to their final destination, where they were exploited and unpaid.”
Apart from life imprisonment, Ubanon was also fined PHP2 million and ordered to pay each minor victim PHP600,000 in damages. (PNA)
