CA denies petition of trafficking suspects

CEBU, Philippines - Citing that the dismissal of a motion for demurer to evidence is not appealable, the appellate court denied the petition for certiorari filed by suspects in a human trafficking case filed in 2008 after a raid of a bar.

Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando said that although the rule may grant exceptions such as when an order is patently erroneous or issued with grave abuse of discretion, he found no mistake in the order of the trial court that would warrant the reversal of the ruling.

“We are not convinced that the respondent trial court’s denial of petitioners’ demurer to evidence is erroneous or tainted with grave abuse of discretion. I must be noted that the resolution of a demurer to evidence is left to the exercise of sound judicial discretion,” the decision reads.

The suspects filed the petition after acting Judge Gilbert Moises of Regional Trial Court Branch 53 of Lapu-Lapu City denied their motion for reconsideration seeking the reversal of the motion for demurer to evidence.

The petitioners said the decision was issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

However, Hernando ruled that the court has jurisdiction over the case after the petitioners waived their right to contest the jurisdiction by entering their pleas during the arraignment of the case.

Case Background

Sometime in May 2008, some parents said their daughters were recruited by unknown persons in Davao City and were transported to Lapu-Lapu City. The parents said their daughters were forced to work at a music bar located at Basak, Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu together with other girls from Davao, as “prostitutes.”

The parents said they learned of their daughters’ situation after one of the victims escaped and reported the incident to them. The parents then reported the matter to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

On June 3, 2008, the NBI, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the International Justice Mission (IJM) conducted an entrapment operation that led to the arrest of the managers of the bar and rescue of about 37 adults and four minors.

During the arraignment of the human trafficking case, the petitioners pleaded not guilty.   After the prosecution rested their case, petitioners then filed a motion for demurer to evidence questioning the legality of arrest. However, the court denied the motion.

They appealed the decision before the appellate court by filing a petition for certiorari. In its comment, the IJM and the Solicitor General averred that the petition for certiorari was not the proper remedy.

In his 11-page decision, Hernando said “any objection, defect or irregularity attending an arrest or its consequences should be made before an entry of plea in the arraignment; otherwise, the objection would be deemed waived. Hence, any irregularity attendant to their arrest, if, any was cured when they voluntarily submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of the trial court,” the decision reads. —JPM (FREEMAN)