CA denies appeal of 2 men facing trafficking charges

The Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of two men charged for human trafficking after hiring six women to engage in prostitution.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, the CA found no new evidence to reverse the judgment of the trial court against Ramonito Alinsog alias RamRam, a jeepney dispatcher and Ronald Ramos alias Nitoy, a computer technician, both residents of Barangay Kamagayan.

“Based on the definition of trafficking in persons, accused-appellants clearly performed all the elements in the commission of the offense when they peddled the private complainants and offered their services to Agent Manapat in exchange for money,” the CS decision reads.

Based on the Information from the National Bureau of Investigation, “on October 22, 2007, at about 9:45 p.m., Cebu City, the said accused-appellants, conniving and confederating together and mutually helping each other, with deliberate intent to gain, did then hire six girls to engage in prostitution and sexual exploitation, by acting as their procurer.”

Two of the private-complainants testified that Alinsog and Ramos are pimps who sell girls to male customers for sexual purposes.

NBI Agent Reynaldo Villordon also testified that on the night of the entrapment operation, Alinsog and Ramos approached him, asking if he wanted girls.

When he agreed, Alinsog and Ramos walked away and picked up six girls who were requested to be brought to a hotel.

Alinsog and Ramos denied the allegations filed against them. They claimed that they didn’t know the girls and that they just wanted to earn money through a certain “Mr. Wong.”

Alinsog and Ramos asked the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s decision, citing it erred in finding them guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

The CA, however, denied the appeal of Alinsog and Ramos.

“The Regional Trial Court held that the prosecution has proven that the two accused have committed the crime of Trafficking in Persons; that the mere denials of the accused cannot overturn the credible testimonies of the two women as well as of the NBI Agents,” the CA decision reads.

Alinsog and Ramos were sentenced to 20 to 40 years of imprisonment and a fine of not less than P1 million but not more than P2 million.