THE Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and life sentence imposed on two individuals who trafficked minors for sex.
The SC also ordered Rizalina Janario Gumba, alias “Mommy Riza,” and Gloria Bueno Rellama, alias “Mommy Glo,” to pay a fine each of P2 million, with an interest of six percent per annum until fully paid.
The 22-page decision promulgated last June 26 upheld the June 28, 2021 decision of the Court of Appeals convicting Gumba and Rellama of qualified human trafficking under Section 4 (a) in relation to Section 6 (a) of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 as amended by RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
Records of the case showed Gumba and Rellama, working as floor managers of a bar in Cavite, hired the victims identified in court records as AAA and BBB, both 15 years old, and PPP and GGG, both aged 18, and other young girls in their early 20s.
After receiving a tip that the bar was engaged in prostitution, police undercover agents went into the bar posing as customers on Oct. 10, 2014.
Gumba and Rellama told the undercover agents that they could have sexual intercourse with the girls in the bar’s VIP room for P1,500 per girl.
Police conducted an entrapment and rescue operation on Oct. 22, 2014 that led to the apprehension and filing of charges against Gumba and Rellama.
After being found guilty by the regional trial court and sentenced to life imprisonment, the two appealed to the CA. But the appellate court sustained their conviction, forcing them to appeal to the High Court.
But the SC held that their commission of qualified human trafficking, specifically the trafficking of children for the purpose of prostitution, as defined under Section 4(a), in relation to 6(a), of RA 9208, as amended, was established by the prosecution.
The SC said Gumba and Rellama offered AAA and BBB to customers not merely for entertainment but also for sexual intercourse, adding it was proven they took advantage of AAA and BBB’s vulnerability as minors.
The SC said AAA and BBB confirmed during the trial that Gumba and Rellama offered them to customers in exchange for money.
The SC dismissed the accused-appellant’s argument that the crime of qualified trafficking in persons was not consummated since none of the rescued girls were engaging in sexual intercourse at the time of the arrest.
“In Ferrer, the Court categorically stated that what is essential in RA 9208 is that a person is recruited and transported for the purpose of prostitution precisely because the law was passed to curtail human trafficking,” the SC stressed.
Concurring with the decision were Associate Justices Amy Lazaro-Javier, Jhosep Lopez, Mario Lopez, and Antonio Kho Jr.
