Court convicts recruiters of Filipina in Indonesian death row

January 30, 2020

A Nueva Ecija regional trial court on Thursday found the recruiters of a Filipina in Indonesia's death row guilty of large-scale illegal recruitment and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes of Baloc, Nueva Ecija RTC Branch 88, said the prosecution was able to prove the guilt beyond reasonable doubt of Maria Cristina Sergio and her live-in-partner Julius Lacanilao, who recruited Mary Jane Veloso.

Reyes also ordered Sergio and Lacanilao to pay a fine of P2 million.

Veloso, who has been in death row in Indonesia after 2,6 kilograms of heroin was found in her possession in 2010. She claimed she was duped into carrying them in Malaysia. 

Veloso was to have been executed by a firing squad in April 2015 but Indonesian President Joko Widodo granted a reprieve to allow Philippine authorities to pursue criminal charges against her alleged illegal recruiters.

"The prosecution having sufficiently established the guilt of both accused, Maria Cristina P. Sergio and Julius Lacanilao beyond reasonable doubt, this Court finds them guilty of large scale illegal recruitment under Section 6 in relation to Section 7(a) of Republic Act No. 8042 as amended by Section 5 of Republic Act 10022,” said Reyes in her decision.

“All told, the prosecution having sufficiently mustered sufficient evidence to secure a guilty verdict, the Court is left with no other recourse save to render a judgment of conviction,” the court said.

Veloso’s lawyer, Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Lawyers said the verdict would bolster their case Veloso is a victim of illegal recruitment.

“While legally separate and distinct, this bolsters our case that Mary Jane is herself a victim. The only difference is that unlike the three other victims, she actually proceeded and left for abroad and met her misfortune,” Olalia said. DMS