The Pasay City regional trial court (RTC) has denied the plea of two persons who were arrested on charges of syndicated illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

Denied by the trial court was the plea to post bail filed by accused Jagmohan Singh Tamber and Jayson Panginen Andasan in the syndicated illegal recruitment case.

Tamber was identified as a director of BLS Philippines Visa Applications Centers (PVAC), a private firm that acts as outsourcing partner handling the administrative and non-judgmental tasks of processing visa applications for citizens and residents in the Philippines.

Tamber, Andasan, and four other persons have been charged criminally before the RTC by two Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) May Joy Lozada and Cristine Ocampo.

Also charged were Marie Antonette Lumanlan Ng, John Paull Aguilar Sia, Ma. Teresa Clavaton and Shagopta Bashir Punzalan.

In a four-page resolution, Pasay City RTC Branch 112 Judge Geoffrey H. Llarena denied the motion of Tamber and Andasan to post bail in the syndicated illegal recruitment case.

“At this juncture, and without prejudging the merits of the case, the evidence presented thus far supports a strong inference of guilt in Criminal Case No. R-PSY-25-01254-CR (Syndicated Illegal Recruitment) but not in Criminal Case No. R-PSY-25-01253-CR (Qualified Trafficking in Persons),” the resolution stated.

With the ruling, the trial court directed Tamber and Andasan to post bail in the amount of P250,000 for the human trafficking case.

In the syndicated illegal recruitment case, the complainants Lozada and Ocampo alleged that the accused offered them employment as domestic helpers in Hong Kong through fraud “for the purpose of subjecting them to prostitution and sexual exploitation.”

In the qualified trafficking in persons case, the complainants alleged that the accused recruited them to work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong by claiming that they have the authority to deploy Filipinos workers abroad under the Tamber International Placement Agency.

However, the complainants said they discovered that Tamber International failed to secure the required license to recruit workers for overseas employment from the Department of Migrant Workers.

In their separate motions to post bail, both Tamber and Andasan argued that the evidence of guilt against them is not strong, which warrants their temporary liberty.

During the summary hearing on the accused motion to post bail, the prosecution presented Lozada and a representative of the DMW as witnesses.

The RTC said that from the testimonies of witnesses, it is convinced “that the prosecution has clearly and sufficiently established strong evidence of guilt against both accused in the syndicated illegal recruitment case.”

It gave weight to the certification issued by the DMW stating that Tamber International Placement Agency and the accused individuals are not licensed to recruit workers for overseas employment.

However, the RTC said that the evidence presented in the qualified trafficking in persons case “failed to convincingly establish the actual participation of Tamber and Andasan.”