People of the Philippines v. Nancy Lasaca Ramirez a.k.a. Zoy or Soy, G.R. No. 217978 (2019)
Ramirez was accused of offering the sexual services of four women (including two minors), to an undercover police officer. The minor victims both testified that Ramirez had offered their sexual services to others on several occasions and that Ramirez would take a commission from any payment they received. The Regional Trial Court of Lapu-Lapu City convicted Ramirez of trafficking in persons, which the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court dismissed Ramirez’s subsequent appeal, emphasizing that in trafficking cases that involve minors, the victims’ consent cannot serve as a valid defense. Likewise, the fact that one of the minors received payment on behalf of Ramirez was not a viable defense. Thus, based on the testimony provided by the trafficking victims and the undercover police officers, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Regional Court, which sentenced Ramirez to life imprisonment and ordered her to pay a fine of PHP 2,000,000.00. The Supreme Court further ordered Ramirez to pay PHP 600,000.00 to each of the minor victims.
Topics
Geographical location
Keywords
Year
- 2019
External URL
Court
Type
Jurisdiction