VZCZCXRO8777
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #6039/01 3630940
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290940Z DEC 05
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8352
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2395
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 006039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, G/TIP, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP 
DEPT ALSO FOR EAP/PD, INL, DRL/IL, DRL/CRA 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS USAID FOR ANE/TS - L. SAULS 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KWMN ELAB KCRM RP
SUBJECT:  TIP:  TWO MORE TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO LIFE 
IMPRISONMENT UNDER ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING LAW 
 
REF: A. MANILA 5781 
     ¶B. MANILA 5710 
     ¶C. MANILA 5633 
     ¶D. MANILA 5373 
     ¶E. MANILA 5326 
     ¶F. MANILA 4984 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  On December 27, a court in Metro Manila 
sentenced a husband and wife to life imprisonment for 
peddling victims -- including some minors -- into sexual 
servitude.   A top GRP prosecutor (and former IVP grantee) 
spearheaded the government's legal team that netted the 
convictions.  The latest convictions -- the third and 
fourth under the GRP's anti-trafficking law -- are a 
welcome development, but more progress is needed on the 
prosecutorial front.  End Summary. 
 
============================== 
TIP Convictions in Quezon City 
============================== 
 
¶2.  (U) On December 27, the 86th Regional Trial Court in 
Quezon City, Metro Manila, sentenced a husband and wife to 
four terms of life imprisonment and fined them 8 million 
pesos (roughly USD 150,000) for violating the Philippines' 
2003 anti-trafficking law (Republic Act 9208).  The trial 
judge signed the decision on December 8, but it was only 
officially promulgated on December 27 (it is not clear why 
the official notification of the decision was delayed). 
The court also ordered the accused to pay 50,000 pesos 
(about USD 940) for "moral and exemplary damages plus court 
costs" to each of the four complainants in the case.  The 
judge found the couple guilty on four counts of "qualified" 
trafficking under R.A. 9208, each of which carries a 
sentence of life imprisonment.  (Note:  Under R.A. 9208, 
cases involving criminal syndicates or the trafficking of 
minors are categorized as "qualified trafficking," which 
carries a stiffer penalty.  End Note.)  The two convicted 
traffickers are planning to appeal. 
 
¶3.  (U) According to the court's December 8 ruling, the 
husband and wife team (both Filipino nationals) recruited 
25 women -- including at least three minors -- in Cebu in 
the Visayan region of the central Philippines with promises 
of acting jobs in Manila.  Once the victims were in the 
custody of the accused, they were repeatedly peddled to 
high-paying customers for sexual services between November 
2002 and January 2004.  On January 8, 2004, agents of the 
GRP's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Violence 
Against Women and Children Division arrested the couple in 
a sting operation at a Quezon City hotel where the 
traffickers delivered several girls to agents posing as 
"johns."  The NBI treated the adult prostitutes picked up 
in the operation as victims and did not charge them with 
any crimes.  Officials also turned the minors involved over 
to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and 
Development for rehabilitation and counseling. 
 
====================== 
A Committed Prosecutor 
====================== 
 
¶4.  (U) Senior State Prosecutor Lilian Alejo flagged this 
case (then in the immediate pre-verdict stage) as a 
promising example of the progress the GRP was making in 
going after traffickers during a December 6 meeting with 
G/TIP Director Ambassador John R. Miller in Manila.  Alejo, 
who filed the case in January 2004 (the first prosecution 
brought under R.A. 9208), has been a leader within the 
Philippine government in implementing the anti-trafficking 
law.  She was an International Visitor Program (IVP) 
grantee in 2005 under the program, "Combating International 
Crime Through Global Cooperation."  Alejo has also trained 
other prosecutors and police in how to pursue TIP cases as 
part of a USG-funded project (ref F). 
 
=============================== 
Comment:  A Welcome Development 
=============================== 
 
¶5.  (U) The Quezon City convictions are a welcome 
 
MANILA 00006039  002 OF 002 
 
 
development, but more progress is needed on the 
prosecutorial front.  These latest convictions come less 
than a month after the first major convictions under the 
2003 anti-trafficking law (ref b).  Chief State Prosecutor 
Severino Gana told poloff on December 27 that he believes 
the increased resources the GRP has newly devoted to 
prosecuting TIP cases are starting to pay off.  Gana and 
other officials predict that additional convictions will 
take place in the first quarter of 2006. 
 
JONES