Trafficking charges against woman, daughter

CHARGES of qualified trafficking were filed in court against a 41-year-old Tagalog mother and her 22-year-old daughter who transported 11 girls and a woman from Getafe town, Bohol, to Cebu City port.

No bail was recommended for the two women. The special law prohibits the identification of both the accused and the victims in the media.

Assistant City Prosecutor Rodulf Joseph Val Carillo found probable cause to indict the two women based on the statements of witnesses.

In their affidavits, the victims said they were hired by the two women to work in Internet cafes in Pampanga province.

They were told that their work would involve stripping in front of web cameras.

Three mothers and a grandmother of the victims executed an affidavit saying the recruitment of the girls had their consent.

They said they wanted the two women to help the minors find a job in Manila. The prosecutor, however, gave weight to the testimonies of the victims.

Last Aug. 5, a guard at the Cebu City port tipped off the maritime police about the presence of two Tagalog-speaking women who arrived by ferry from Bohol province.

The two women were escorting 15 mostly adolescent girls. The girls, whose ages ranged from 13 to 21, were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Of the 15 victims, 11 were minors.

The arrested mother and daughter said they were residents of barangay Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora, Quezon City. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol