High court upholds conviction for human trafficking

MANILA, Philippines—For the second time in three years, the Supreme Court demonstrated its firm stance against human trafficking in a ruling that upheld the conviction of a woman caught trafficking two victims, including a minor.

In a 21-page ruling released on Friday, the high court’s Second Division affirmed the conviction of Shirley Casio, who was caught offering the services of two women for P500 each to undercover police officers in an entrapment operation in Cebu City.

In a statement on the ruling, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen called on stakeholders to unite and “contribute to a commitment to finally stamp out slavery and human trafficking.”

He added: “We should continue to strive for the best of our world, where our choices of human intimacies are real choices, and not the last resort taken just to survive.”

The statement said it was the second time the Supreme Court “took a strong stance on the trafficking of persons” through a full-blown decision since the antitrafficking in persons law was passed in 2003.

In 2011, Associate Justice Antonio Carpio upheld the conviction of two illegal recruiters who sent four women, including a minor, to work as prostitutes in Malaysia.

The Leonen ruling, which was handed down in December, upheld the Court of Appeals’ affirmation of the Cebu Regional Trial Court’s conviction of Casio, who was charged with recruiting two females, including a 17-year-old, “for the purpose of prostitution and sexual exploitation, by acting as their procurer for different customers.”

Casio was arrested in an entrapment operation set up on the initiative of the International Justice Mission, an organization that “rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression.”Tarra Quismundo