DOJ acts on complaint against recruiters of Veloso

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has acted on the criminal complaint filed against the recruiters of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina set for execution on Tuesday in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, in a text message on Tuesday, said the case against Maria Kristina P. Sergio alias Mary Christine Gulles Pasadilla, Julius Lacanilao and a certain “Ike” for trafficking, illegal recruitment and estafa with swindling had been assigned to Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Azarcon.

Preliminary investigation, according to the secretary, is set on May 8 and 14.

Based on the complaint by the National Bureau of Investigation, Veloso had been a “victim of manipulation and deception.”

READ: DOJ files illegal recruitment, other raps vs Veloso recruiters

“Victim Mary Jane does not know that there were illegal drugs in the luggage she was carrying and that she was a victim of deception and manipulation by her illegal recruiters,” the NBI said in its referral-complaint.

“Facts surrounding the circumstances of her recruitment, transportation and stay in a foreign country also showed that she was a victim of human trafficking owing to the fact that her vulnerability (in dire need of a job in order to support her family) was exploited by her recruiters thru manipulation and deception, in order for her to unwittingly transport a contraband without her knowledge,” the bureau said.

Also, a verification made by the NBI at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) revealed that Sergio and Lacanilao had no license or authority to recruit persons for overseas employment. With Alyssa Marie Jacinto

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