VZCZCXRO2189
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #2272/01 3010818
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 280818Z OCT 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5590
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 002272 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, INL, DRL 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN EAID RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINES' FIRST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
CONVICTION OF A PUBLIC OFFICIAL 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  On September 29, a regional trial court in 
Manila convicted and sentenced two human traffickers -- 
including a police officer -- to life in prison and fined 
them two million pesos (USD 42,500) for the trafficking of 
minors in 2005.  The convicted police officer owned and 
operated a karaoke club where young women, including minors, 
worked as prostitutes.  Undercover intelligence officers of 
the Philippine National Police (PNP), acting on evidence 
provided by the U.S.-funded NGO International Justice 
Mission, raided the club on May 31, 2005, freeing 11 women, 
two of whom were minors.  Reci's TIP conviction is the first 
of a public official in the Philippines.  This conviction 
demonstrates that although the overwhelmed Philippine court 
system can take years to deliver a verdict, the system is 
still capable of dispensing justice, even in some of the most 
challenging cases.  END SUMMARY. 
 
The Background 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  A Manila regional trial court convicted police officer 
Dennis Reci and floor manager Feliciano Manansala on 
September 29, 2009, for human trafficking, sentencing them to 
life imprisonment and fining them each two million pesos (USD 
42,500).  Under the 2003 anti-TIP law, cases involving 
criminal syndicates of three or more people, three or more 
victims, minors, or an offender who is a member of the 
military or law enforcement agencies are considered 
"qualified trafficking," and carry stiffer penalties -- such 
as life imprisonment -- than ordinary trafficking.  The third 
defendant, a woman known as "Mommy Angel," escaped from the 
club as the police were arresting Reci and Manansala.  She 
has an outstanding arrest warrant against her and could be 
tried if apprehended. 
 
¶3.  The case against the defendants began in early 2005, when 
U.S.-funded NGO International Justice Mission (IJM) 
discovered that minors were working as prostitutes at the 8RC 
KTV Club in Manila, which was owned by police officer Reci. 
On May 25, 2005, IJM workers, posing as customers and wearing 
a hidden video camera, visited the club to conduct 
surveillance.  They met Manansala, who showed them to a table 
and brought them drinks.  He told them that naked girls would 
be dancing later in the evening and then showed them around 
the club, including VIP rooms where he said they could have a 
private dance show or engage in sex with the girls of their 
choice for 1,500 pesos (USD 32). Manansala also explained 
that they could pay a "bar fine" to take the girls out to a 
hotel for 5,000 pesos (USD 106).  They also met floor manager 
Mommy Angel who told them that the girls working in the club 
as guest relations officers (GRO) were actually dancers and 
available for sex.  At the request of the IJM workers, 
Manansala introduced them to Reci who said that he was the 
club's manager and that he had four underage girls working 
for him that they could take out of the club for sex.  Reci 
told the IJM workers not to worry about any legal problems 
because he was a police officer and could protect them.  He 
even offered to escort them to a hotel to ensure there would 
be no problems. 
 
The Sting 
--------- 
 
¶4.  To obtain evidence against Reci and his floor managers, 
one of the IJM workers paid Reci 1,500 pesos and took a girl 
into a VIP room to speak to her in private.  The girl said 
her name was "Ice" and told the IJM worker that she had just 
turned 16 years old.  She also said that it was very common 
for the girls to be paid for sex either in the VIP rooms or 
at a hotel.  The customers just had to speak to one of the 
floor managers to make the arrangements.  The worker went 
back to Reci and told him that he and his friends would 
return the next day and pay to take the four underage girls 
to a hotel.  Reci asked for and was given a USD 40 deposit to 
make sure the girls would be available.  After leaving the 
club, the IJM workers took their evidence to PNP's Criminal 
Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who prepared a sting 
operation to rescue the underage girls. 
 
¶5.  The initial sting attempt on May 26, 2005, failed because 
a number of the alleged minors were not available; so IJM 
delayed until a new attempt could be made on May 31.  On that 
night, four CIDG undercover agents entered the 8RC Club to 
pose as customers until the IJM workers arrived.  A CIDG 
 
MANILA 00002272  002 OF 003 
 
 
officer also gave the IJM workers 20,000 pesos in 500 peso 
notes that they had photocopied and dusted with fluorescent 
fingerprint powder beforehand.  As soon as the IJM workers 
entered the club, Reci approached them with two girls, one of 
whom he claimed was a minor, and told the IJM workers that 
they were available for sex.  Agreeing, the IJM workers 
handed the 20,000 pesos to Reci.  As soon as Reci took the 
notes and placed them in his wallet, the CIDG agents moved in 
to make the arrests.  While Reci and Manansala were being 
arrested, Mommy Angel escaped out a rear door in the 
confusion.  The CIDG agents also confiscated the club's 
business license from the cashier and took the club's 11 
female GROs back to their office for interviewing.  During 
the interviews and examinations, they determined that two of 
the 11 were minors, including the girl who called herself 
Ice.  Ice filed a statement of complaint against Reci and his 
floor managers, but the other minor declined to make a 
statement. 
 
The Trial 
--------- 
 
¶6.  At the trial, the prosecution sought to prove that Reci 
and his floor managers, Manansala and Mommy Angel, hired 
GROs, including minors, to work as prostitutes.  The defense 
attorney tried to establish that neither the IJM workers nor 
the CIDG officers actually witnessed any of the girls either 
dancing naked or engaging in prostitution.  The defense also 
pointed out that one minor refused to file a statement and 
that Ice had retracted her original statement of complaint. 
He argued that the case should be dismissed because the only 
remaining complainants, CIDG and IJM, had no direct knowledge 
of prostitution at 8RC KTV Club. 
 
¶7.  To the dismay of the prosecution, CIDG, and IJM, Ice 
succumbed to threats from Reci and testified in court that 
she was "confused and carried away with the events" at the 
time of the raid.  Having had time to think about it, she 
filed an affidavit on December 25, 2005, withdrawing her 
complaint against the accused.  She said that she made her 
original statement because she was inebriated, tired, and 
wanted to go home.  She stated that she lied to Reci about 
her age when she applied for the GRO job at 8RC Club, and 
denied that she had ever been forced to have sex with 
customers.  She said that she and the other GROs were free to 
come and go from the club as they pleased and concluded by 
saying that she did not know the motive of IJM and the police 
(CIDG) in filing a complaint against the accused. 
 
¶8.  Reci claimed that his parents owned the 8RC Club, his 
mother operated it, and he only helped out occasionally when 
he was off-duty.  The prosecution countered with the business 
license they confiscated from the cashier, showing that Reci 
was the registered owner of 8RC Club.  They also presented a 
certification from the city treasurer's office that proved 
Reci paid the business permit fee and taxes for the club. 
Reci denied knowing Ice was underage when his floor manager 
hired her and said he had taken Ice's word that she was 19 
years old when she applied for the job.  He admitted 
receiving 20,000 pesos from the IJM worker but maintained 
that it was merely a reservation fee for an exclusive show to 
take place a the club the following night.  Reci said he did 
not know what kind of show would take place because that was 
the floor manager's responsibility, but he was adamant that 
there were no pornographic shows or acts of prostitution 
taking place at the club because, as a police officer, he 
knew "that would be against the law." 
 
¶9.  Manansala testified that he, Ice, and another woman 
applied for jobs at 8RC Club at the same time, and that he 
did not traffic anybody.  He said he was hired by Mommy Angel 
as an errand boy at the club and just followed whatever 
instructions she gave him.  He maintained that he earned only 
100 pesos (USD 2.50) a night for doing errands.  He claimed 
to have no knowledge of what went on in the VIP rooms or of 
customers taking out the GROs for sex.  Manansala also 
claimed there was no dancing at the club. 
 
The Verdict 
----------- 
 
¶10.  After a careful, year-long perusal of the evidence, the 
judge found Reci and Manansala guilty beyond a reasonable 
doubt of qualified trafficking and sentenced each of them to 
 
MANILA 00002272  003 OF 003 
 
 
life in prison and a fine of two million pesos (USD 42,500). 
The judge noted that Ice's recantation of her initial 
complaint "does not necessarily cancel an earlier declaration 
and is subject to the test of credibility based on the 
relevant circumstances."  Regarding the defendants' denials 
of their involvement in trafficking and prostitution, the 
judge ruled that "denials unsubstantiated by clear and 
convincing evidence are negative and self-serving, which 
merit no weight in law and cannot be given greater 
evidentiary value over the testimony of credible witnesses." 
Because floor manager Mommy Angel is still at large, the 
judge issued a warrant of arrest against her. 
 
¶11.  As is often the case in trials involving public 
officials in the Philippines, the judge had to consider 
allegations of witness tampering and its possible effect on 
the evidence.  Police officer Reci allegedly used the power 
of his position to extract a written retraction from Ice, and 
-- according to IJM -- he tried repeatedly to intimidate the 
IJM workers into dropping their accusations against him.  The 
judge placed more credence on the force of Ice's original 
statement than on the legalities of her later retraction that 
may have been made under duress, and the NGO workers refused 
to be intimidated. 
 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
¶12.  This conviction is an encouraging victory for local 
civil society groups and dedicated prosecutors in their 
long-running efforts to combat trafficking in persons in the 
Philippines.  It sends a clear message to other 
office-holders that their positions do not guarantee 
immunity, and that they may be held accountable and 
prosecuted for trafficking in persons.  In a recent meeting, 
officials from the Philippines Department of Justice (DOJ) 
told Poloffs that they realize more needs to be done, and 
they are focused on catching and prosecuting the "big fish" 
who are involved in human trafficking.  They pointed to the 
arrest last June of an immigration official at the Clark 
Special Economic Zone on human trafficking charges as 
evidence of this renewed focus.  DOJ also highlighted to 
Poloffs that two other human trafficking trials have 
concluded and are awaiting the judges' decisions.  Post will 
continue to monitor the progress of these cases.  As shown by 
the successful, three-year case against Reci and Manansala 
the court system may move slowly, but the system is capable 
of providing justice. 
KENNEY