SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 255597. June 21, 2021.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LENY BRUJAS y OLAVARIO, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 21 June 2021 which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 255597 (People of the Philippines v. Leny Brujas y Olavario). — The Court NOTES: (1) the letter dated May 10, 2021 of CTSSupt. Virginia S. Mangawit, Superintendent, Correctional Institution for Women, Mandaluyong City, confirming the confinement of accused-appellant Leny Brujas y Olavario (Brujas) at the said institution; and (2) the separate manifestations (in lieu of supplemental briefs) of the Office of the Solicitor General dated May 27, 2021 and of the Public Attorney's Office dated June 2, 2021, in compliance with the Resolution dated March 15, 2021, both adopting their respective briefs filed before the Court of Appeals (CA) as supplemental briefs on the common ground that all matters pertinent to their respective cases had already been exhaustively discussed therein.
After a judicious study of the case, the Court resolves to DISMISS the appeal 1 for failure to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in affirming the conviction of accused-appellant Brujas for the crime of Qualified Trafficking in Persons, as defined and penalized under Section 4 (e) 2 in relation to Section 6 (a) 3 of Republic Act No. (RA) 9208 4 or the 'Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.'
For a successful prosecution of Trafficking in Persons, the following elements must be shown: (1) the act of 'recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim's consent or knowledge, within or across national borders'; (2) the means used which include 'threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another'; and (3) the purpose of trafficking is exploitation which includes 'exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude or the removal or sale of organs.' 5 The crime becomes qualified when any of the circumstances found under Section 6 of RA 9208 is present, e.g., when the trafficked person is a child.
In this case, the prosecution sufficiently established the foregoing elements as evinced by the following facts: (a) Brujas hired AAA 6 to work in her Kambingan Videoke Bar; (b) she offered a monthly salary to AAA in the amount of P2,500.00; and (c) she recruited her for the purpose of prostitution, as categorically and positively testified 7 to by AAA. Further, AAA's minority was adequately established by her Certificate of Live Birth showing that she was born on December 12, 1994. As such, Brujas' conviction for the crime charged must be sustained.
WHEREFORE, the Court ADOPTS the findings of fact and conclusions of law in the Decision 8 dated July 16, 2020 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 12636 and AFFIRMS said Decision finding accused-appellant Leny Brujas y Olavario GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Qualified Trafficking in Persons, as defined and penalized under Section 4 (e) in relation to Section 6 (a) of Republic Act No. 9208 or the 'Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.' Accordingly, she is sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine in the amount of P2,000,000.00. Further, she is ordered to pay AAA the amounts of P500,000.00 as moral damages and P100,000.00 as exemplary damages, all of which shall earn legal interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the date of finality of this Resolution until full payment.
SO ORDERED. (Lopez, J., J., designated additional member per Special Order No. 2822 dated April 7, 2021)."
By authority of the Court:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. See Notice of Appeal with Compliance dated September 2, 2020; CA rollo, pp. 126-128.
2. Section 4. Acts of Trafficking in Persons. — It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or juridical, to commit any of the following acts:
xxx xxx xxx
(e) To maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or pornography; x x x
3. Section 6. Qualified Trafficking in Persons. — The following are considered as qualified trafficking:
(a) When the trafficked person is a child; x x x
4. Entitled 'AN ACT TO INSTITUTE POLICIES TO ELIMINATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN, ESTABLISHING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE PROTECTION AND SUPPORT OF TRAFFICKED PERSONS, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR ITS VIOLATIONS, AND FOR OTHER,' approved on May 26, 2003.
5.People v. Hirang, 803 Phil. 277, 289 (2017), citing People v. Casio, 749 Phil. 458, 472-473 (2014).
6.The identity of the victim or any information which could establish or compromise her identity, as well as those of her immediate family or household members, shall be withheld pursuant to RA 7610, entitled 'AN ACT PROVIDING FOR STRONGER DETERRENCE AND SPECIAL PROTECTION AGAINST CHILD ABUSE, EXPLOITATION AND DISCRIMINATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES,' approved on June 17, 1992; RA 9262, entitled 'AN ACT DEFINING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN, PROVIDING FOR PROTECTIVE MEASURES FOR VICTIMS, PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFORE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES,' approved on March 8, 2004; and Section 40 of A.M. No. 04-10-11-SC, otherwise known as the 'Rule on Violence against Women and Their Children' (November 15, 2004). (See footnote 4 in People v. Cadano, Jr., 729 Phil. 576, 578[2014], citing People v. Lomaque, 710 Phil. 338, 342 [2013]. See alsoAmended Administrative Circular No. 83-2015,entitled 'PROTOCOLS ANDPROCEDURES INTHE PROMULGATION, PUBLICATION, ANDPOSTING ONTHE WEBSITES OFDECISIONS, FINAL RESOLUTIONS, AND FINAL ORDERS USING FICTITIOUSNAMES/PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES,' dated September 5, 2017.). To note, the unmodified CA Decision was not attached to the records to verify the real name of the victim.
7.Rollo, pp. 15-17.
8.Id. at 4-22. Penned by Associate Justice Ramon R. Garcia with Associate Justices Maria Elisa Sempio Diy and Carlito B. Calpatura, concurring.