MANILA – Two people who booked Mary Jane Veloso a job in Indonesia, where she is on death row on drug charges, were found guilty of large-scale illegal recruitment involving three other Filipina victims on Thursday.
A court in Nueva Ecija sentenced Veloso’s neighbors, Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, to life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million in the case filed by Lorna Valino, Ana Marie Gonzales and Jenalyn Paraiso.
Veloso is not a complainant in the case. However, Manila raised the charges against Sergio and Lacanilao when it asked Jakarta to stay her execution in 2015.
The prosecution “sufficiently established the guilt of both accused…beyond reasonable doubt,” the court decision read.
Veloso earlier claimed the two offered her a job as a domestic helper in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, however, Veloso said was told the job was no longer available and was sent to Indonesia instead, where she was arrested at Yogyakarta airport for allegedly carrying 2.5 kilograms of heroin inside her luggage provided by Sergio.
Indonesia sentenced Veloso to death in Oct. 2010 over drug trafficking charges. She was scheduled to be executed in 2015 but was spared from capital punishment after the Philippine government said her testimony would be vital in human trafficking charges against her recruiters.
Aside from illegal recruitment and human trafficking complaints, Sergio and Lacanilao also face charges for estafa.
Securing a human trafficking conviction in a Philippine court could help Veloso escape death row, lawyer Edre Olalia, president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, earlier said. (ABS-CBN News)
