BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
THEY ARE now convicted human traffickers and child abusers, the two sisters Gabriela Adilyn and Roxanne Martirez from Subic, Zambales. They will serve three life sentences each in prison, deprived of family, home, children, comfort and a productive life.
They are intelligent people. They knew right from wrong but they chose to do evil, to seduce and groom and train five young teenage girls and 14 young girls over 18 to be sex workers. They made them believe that by selling themselves to sex tourists, they would have an exciting well paid life.
In a 37-page decision, Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court found the two sisters guilty of the crime of qualified trafficking and child sexual abuse. The good judge said in her decision that the accused “maliciously took advantage of their minority, innocence and vulnerability by injecting into their young minds the desire for material luxurious things in exchange for their dignity, not only as a woman but as a human being.”
The minors must get due justice, she said, and they did. After being rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and recovering for several months in the Preda Foundation home for trafficked and abused children, they were empowered and realized they had been exploited and cheated. They decided to testify against the traffickers. They explained what happened, clearly and truthfully, and convinced the judge. The minors are now reintegrated to their supportive families and studying with help of the aftercare program of the Preda Foundation.
The Martirez sisters trafficked and abused the minors and others for the money believing that selling young people for sex, as millions do, is just okay because it is common practice in the Philippines and elsewhere, although illegal. Only child rights defenders and protectors protest and campaign against it.
This is a nation of strict laws against child abuse and trafficking with flexible interpretation by the populace and weak or sometimes no implementation by the authorities. Some local governments issue licenses and permits to operators of sex bars, resorts and hotels for lucrative private payments of fees and perhaps a share in the profits. Police and officials frequent these places and indulge in sex activity. It is just business to them.
The victims of trafficking were rescued by the Manila-based Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Division (AVAWCD) of the NBI and social workers in cooperation with the Preda Foundation homes for trafficked and abused children. The Martirez sisters were arrested and jailed and now convicted. The youth victims suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.
Much of the modern world has lost its respect for human rights and the rights of the child in recent years. One in every three or four children have experienced sexual abuse, many suffer trauma. These victims of trafficking and sex abuse are the children of neglect, boys and girls as young as 12, the throwaway children of broken homes. Abused and raped at home, they run away to the streets. They have no trust in the government, no assistance other than being jailed in the Bahay Pag-asa. They are quickly recruited by the human traffickers and pimps. They are the abused, abandoned children of society. (To be continued)/PN
