Even without the use of threats, force, or coercion, the Supreme Court (SC) said on Thursday recruiting children for sexual exploitation is trafficking.
In a Decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC Second Division clarified that recruiting a child for sexual exploitation is enough to establish trafficking.
Trafficking occurs when individuals are recruited, transported, or transferred for exploitative purposes, the Court said.
It includes prostitution, forced labor, slavery, or the removal or sale of organs through threats or use of force, coercion, deception, abuse of power, or by offering money.
In the case of People vs. Villaria and Maghirang, the accused recruited minors and offered them for sexual activities in exchange for money.
They took advantage of the victims’ youth and financial struggles to gain their consent.
For the crime of qualified trafficking, the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, fined P16 million, and ordered to pay each of the victims P600,000 in damages.