Suspected Human Trafficker Receives Life Imprisonment Sentence.
On January 30, 2018, the Philippine police arrested Joko P. Celis, also known as “Jaztine or Joco/Joko,” in an entrapment operation in a Quezon City bar. Celis was accused of recruiting seven young girls, aged between 14 and 17, for prostitution, with most of them being out-of-school youths. One of the recruited victims was a single mother who testified that she needed money to provide for her one-year-old child.
After a trial, the regional trial court (RTC) found Celis guilty of seven counts of qualified trafficking in persons under Republic Act No. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by RA 10364, the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012. The RTC sentenced Celis to life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million for each case. He was also ordered to pay P600,000 in damages to each victim, with P500,000 for moral damages and P100,000 for exemplary damages.
Celis appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeals (CA), which affirmed the RTC’s decision in full on February 26, 2021. However, Celis subsequently appealed his case to the Supreme Court (SC).
The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, modified the CA’s ruling. The SC upheld Celis’ guilt in five out of the seven cases, as the ages of the other two victims at the time of the crime could not be determined. Therefore, Celis was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, a fine of P1 million, and P600,000 damages for each of the two victims in those cases.
For the remaining five cases, the Supreme Court affirmed the life imprisonment and P2 million fine, along with the payment of P600,000 in damages to each victim.
In its decision, the Supreme Court noted that the law seeks to condemn the act of recruiting and exploiting individuals for sexual purposes, regardless of whether sexual intercourse or lascivious acts occurred. The court stressed that the mere transaction itself consummates the crime.
Celis’ appeal was ultimately denied by the Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction in five of the seven cases under the relevant sections of Republic Act No. 9208. Furthermore, Celis was ordered to pay the designated victims specified in the decision P500,000 in moral damages and P100,000 in exemplary damages.
All monetary awards for damages will accrue interest at a rate of six percent per annum from the date of the finality of the Supreme Court’s decision until fully paid.
