In criminal cases of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, the crime “is considered consummated even if no sexual intercourse takes place,” the Supreme Court (SC) said.
“It is not so much the offer of a woman or child; it is the act of obtaining, using or receiving, with or without consent, a fellow human being for sexual exploitation,” the SC pointed out.
Thus, “merely engaging in the transaction consummates the crime,” it stressed in a decision written by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro Javier.
The SC said that under Section 6(a) of Republic Act No. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, the crime is deemed qualified when the victim is a child who is below 18 years of age.
It added that even if the victim is over 18 years old, the crime is still qualified “if he or she is unable to fully take care of or protect himself or herself from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition.”
Under RA 9208, life imprisonment (20 to 40 years) and a fine of not less than P2 million can be imposed on the guilty person on top of exemplary and moral damages.
With its decision, the SC denied the appeal of Nell Jackel P. Tuazon who was convicted in 2019 by the regional trial court (RTC) of violation of Section 11 of RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364, the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
Section 11 of RA 9208 penalizes a person “who buys or engages the services of trafficked person for prostitution.”
In 2016, Tuazon was charged with engaging the services of 16-year-old girl (her name was redacted in the SC decision) for prostitution through a peddler in consideration of P4,500.
After the party which the girl attended, she was contacted by a person she met during a volleyball game. The person told her that they would meet other friends from the volleyball league.
They went to a hotel with the person who contacted her and two other persons. However, the girl was surprised that no other friends were in the hotel and they checked in with only Tuazon and her two other companions in the room. The two other companions left the room.
Frightened, she went to the bathroom. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Tuazon naked and he started caressing her. He then sexually abused her.
When a hotel employee came to the room, she took it as an opportunity to hide in the bathroom where she texted a friend for help.
When she went out of the bathroom, Tuazon started caressing her and molesting her anew.
The hotel manager knocked at the door. The manager told her to get out as policemen were in the hotel looking for her. She went out and was comforted by her friend whom she sought help and other policemen.
When Tuazon came out of the room, she pointed to him as the person who assaulted and sexually molested her. Tuazon was arrested and a criminal case was filed against him.
The RTC sentenced Tuazon to prison term ranging from six to 10 years with a fine of P50,000.
In 2021, the CA affirmed with modification the RTC’s ruling. The appellate court increased Tuazon’s prison term ranging from 17 years minimum to 40 years maximum.
The CA ruled that the prosecution established all the elements of trafficking in persons in the criminal case filed against Tuazon.
It also ruled that the girl’s detailed and forthright testimony before the trial court established that Tuazon “used her to satisfy his lust through a sex peddler.”
“Regardless of whether it was Mamu (the girl’s friend) who invited the her (the girl) to Tuazon’s car, the fact remained that Tuazon received the girl whom he eventually exploited…,” the appellate court said.
Tuazon challenged the CA’s ruling and pleaded the SC to acquit him.
In denying Tuazon’s appeal, the SC ruled that he “is guilty of qualified human trafficking.” The girl’s birth certificate showed that she was only 16 years old when she was victimized.
The SC also said: “Tuazon’s claim that he never forced the girl to travel with him and go to the hotel, even if true, does not negate his culpability since the crime may be committed ‘with or without the victim’s consent to being exploited’ because in the case of adults, consent has been negated through the use of improper means and, in the case of children, their vulnerable position makes it impossible for them to provide consent in the first place, as in this case.
“The failure of the prosecution to present a crew from the hotel and the girl’s two other companions, was not indispensable in the prosecution of the case.
“People vs Ramirez (a previously decided case) explained that in the prosecution of trafficking in persons, corroborating testimonies of the arresting officer and the minor victim suffice to convict.
“Accordingly, the Appeal is denied. The Decision dated Nov. 22, 2021 and Resolution dated Nov. 22, 2022 of the Court of Appeals in CA GR CR No. 44345 are affirmed with modifications.
“Accused-appellant Nell Jackel Tuazon y Panlaqui is guilty of qualified human trafficking under Section 6(a) of Republic Act No. 9208, as amended by Republic Act No. 10364. He is sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of P2,000.000.
“He is further ordered to pay the girl P500,000 as moral damages and P100,000 as exemplary damages. These amounts shall earn six percent interest per annum from the finality of this decision until fully paid. So ordered.”