DOJ urged to dismiss raps against Veloso’s recruiters

Kristina Sergio (journal.com.ph)

MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday ended the hearing in the case filed by Mary Jane Veloso against her alleged recruiters, namely Maria Christina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

This after the camp of Sergio and Lacanilao submitted the so called ”rejoinder-affidavit” to Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Azarcon, who handles the complaint.

In their rejoinder-affidavit, Sergio and Lacanilao said that the DOJ should dismiss the complaint for human trafficking, illegal recruitment and estafa filed against them because the affidavit of Mary Jane was not subscribed in front of Azarcon.

They claimed that if the DOJ would give weight to the affidavit of Veloso, it would be a violation of their rights under Article 3, Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution which is to confront the witnesses.

They added that the Velosos were not able to explain in their joint counter-affidavit on how Mary Jane could be considered as a victim of human trafficking.

Sergio and Lacanilao also maintained that they did not promise a job for Mary Jane to other country and it was also not true that they received the amount of Php 6,000 from the Velosos and instead, they were the ones who gave Mary Jane a “pocket money” for her travel to Malaysia.

Despite the accusations against them, the two respondents stressed that they were still ready to cooperate with the government to save Mary Jane from death penalty.

Veloso was supposed to be executed for drug trafficking in Indonesia on April 29, 2015, but was given a temporary reprieve following the surrender and subsequent arrest of Sergio and Lacanilao.