G.R. No. 261882 - ARTURO REALEZA Y VALENTON, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly, was sentenced to suffer the penalty of twenty (20) years imprisonment and to pay a fine of P1,000.000.00. [18] In so ruling, the RTC found the prosecution to have sufficiently established all the elements of Trafficking in Persons when Realeza, by means of deception, hired AAA261882 without the latter's consent and offered her to another person for sexual advances or prostitution in exchange for money. The RTC also rejected Realeza's defense of denial for being unsubstantiated by clear and convincing evidence. [19] Aggrieved, Realeza appealed [20] to the CA. The CA Ruling In a Decision [21] dated November 12, 2021, the CA affirmed the RTC ruling with modification in that Realeza was further ordered to pay AAA261882 the amounts of P500,000.00 as moral damages and P100,000.00 as exemplary damages, all with legal interest of 6% per annum from finality of judgment until full payment. [22] In affirming Realeza's conviction, the CA also found all the elements of Trafficking in Persons when Realeza offered AAA261882 for prostitution to the NBI agents who acted as poseur customers. The CA likewise found Realeza's defense of denial weak and deserved no weight as opposed to the prosecution witnesses' positive declarations. [23] Realeza filed a motion for reconsideration [24] which the CA denied in a Resolution [25] dated June 28, 2022; hence, the present petition. The Issue Before the Court The issue for the Court's resolution is whether the CA correctly affirmed Realeza's conviction for the crime of Trafficking in Persons under Section 4 (a) of RA 9208, as amended by RA 10364. The Court's Ruling The petition is without merit. Section 3 (a) of RA 9208, as amended by RA 10364, defines Trafficking in Persons, as follows: Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act: (a) Trafficking in Persons refers to the recruitment, obtaining, hiring , providing , offering , transportation, transfer, maintaining, harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim's consent or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat, or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception , abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation which includes at a minimum, the exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude or the removal or sale of organs. (Emphases and underscoring supplied). Under Section 4 (a) of RA 9208, as amended by RA 10364, Trafficking in Persons includes the acts of recruiting, obtaining, hiring, providing, offering, transporting, transferring, maintaining, harboring, or receiving a person by means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, p