THE National Bureau of Investigation asked the Justice Department Monday to prosecute two Filipinos and a foreigner for illegal recruitment and human trafficking, saying they duped Filipino maid Mary Jane Veloso into transporting drugs into Indonesia, where she was arrested and sentenced to death.
worker community holds a poster during a protest to support
Filipino Mary Jane Veloso, a drug convict on death row,
outside the presidential palace in Jakarta on April 27. AFP
The NBI said Veloso was a victim of illegal recruitment and human trafficking, and charged Ma. Kristina Sergio alias Mary Christine Gulles Pasadilla, her live-in partner Julius Lacanilao and a certain Africanidentified only as Ike before the Justice Department.
“Victim Mary Jane did not know that there were illegal drugs in the luggage she was carrying and that she was a victim of deception and manipulation by her illegal recruiters,” the NBI said in its complaint.
“Facts surrounding the circumstances of her recruitment, transportation and stay at a foreign country also show that she was a victim of human trafficking owing to the fact that her vulnerability
(in dire need of a job in order to support her family) was exploited by her recruiters through manipulation and deception, in order for her to unwittingly transport a contraband without her knowledge,” the NBI added.
NBI investigators said Veloso was recruited by Sergio in April 2010 supposedly to work in Malaysia after they were introduced to each other by Lacanilao, a close family friend.
However, when they went to Malaysia that same month, Veloso told she had to run an “errand” in Indonesia before she could be given the job as a domestic helper in Malaysia.
Veloso was then introduced to Ike, a Malaysian-based African who gave her an empty luggage that she was told to use for her two-day stay in Indonesia.
“She was given a plane ticket and a cell phone number to call once she was there (in Indonesia). No name of the contact person was given to her. Upon reaching Indonesia, the victim was arrested by the local police for alleged drug trafficking,” the NBI said.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration confirmed that Sergio and Lacanilao have no license or authority to recruit persons for overseas employment, making them liable for illegal recruitment.
The bureau also filed charges of estafa against Sergio and Lacanilao because they collected P7,000 and properties, including a tricycle and a cell phone, from Veloso for her supposed placement fees.
The NBI based its findings on the affidavits of Veloso and several witnesses and a report from Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she has referred the NBI complaint to the National Prosecution Service for preliminary investigation.
De Lima also said she is considering the possibility of issuing an immigration lookout bulletin order against the two suspects from Nueva Ecija.