The four defendants denied their involvement in the incident and declaired themselves not guilty.

The defense presented a witness, R.B., who was a construction worker that was in the compound while the police search took place. He declared that he went to the store near Gate 3 to buy cigarretes when a policeman held him and brought him inside the compound and made him sign the Certification of Good Conduct on Search. He saw girls being ordered by the policemen to come out from the rooms. He only signed the Certification because he was told they would let him go afterwards. R.B. denied knowing any of the defendants and being present when the search was made. He also stated that he never saw girls coming in and out of Gate 3, neither did he notice taxicabs or other vehicles entering or leaving from there.

Valentin Martin denied having offered girls to the two police decoys in the evening of 25th November 2010. Moreover he denied the accusation that he recruited, mantained or hired girls for prostitution and pornography. The defendant testified that he was at his store at Banilad, Cebu City when two persons came in and ordered 7,500.000 PHP worth of San Miguel beer for the following day. According to the defendant´s testimony, on the following day the two men came again and were given the beer and gave the money to M.D., who later handed it to him. Right after the payment was made, they where arrested by these two police decoys. He wasn´t told the reason for the arrest, nor did he ask about it. The defendant claimed that he was in the compound Gate 3 when the police searched the place, but he didn´t know a certain R.B., nor authorized him to act as his representative to sign the Certification of Good Conduct of Search.

Valentino C. Martin, L.S.V., S.S.V. and M.D. were charged with violation of Section 4 (3) RA 9208, that is, unlawfully mantaining or hiring a person to engage in prostitution or pornography. The Prosecution proved this through several witnesses, all of them members of the Police Department, Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force 7, DSWD or other Intelligence agencies. In this case, the testimony of the two police decoys was key, together with the secret camera which recorded the raid and reinforced the testimony of the decoys. The camera showed defendant M.D. receiving the money from one of the police decoys and handing it to Valentino Martin. After the payment was made, M.D. said “let the girls out”. In adittion, Martin asked for a tip of 500,00 PHP.

All the items seized during the search such as notebooks, the condoms,contraceptive pills and other objects cannot be considered as items for domestic use. Moreover, the prosecution gathered the testimony of 11 reliable witnesses, who consistently proved that the place Gate 3 was indeed a brothel. 34 girls aged from 19 to 30 years where rescued during the operation, and each one of them had a notebook in which they recorded the date when they where hired, the nationality of the customer, where they were taken and the cash advances received.

The court only found Valentino C. Martin and M.D. weere active in the transactions. The participation of the other two defendants in merely opening the gate or pressing the buzzer to alert the girls, was not sufficient prove that they were involved in the management of the place. Therefore, L.S.V. and S.S.V. were acquitted for insuffiency of evidence against them. Furthermore, M.D. died on June 20, 2012 so according to Art. 89 of the Revised Penal Code, all criminal liability is exrtinguished by the death of the convict.

Valentino C.Martin was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 4 (e ) RA 9208 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was ordered to pay a fine of 1,000.000 PHP, and the properties derived from the commision of the crime were confiscated in favour of the Government. 

L.S.V. testified that on the day when the incident took place she was inside the store where she worked when two police officers came in and arrested her. She denied opening the gate at Gate 3 for them on November 25, 2010. She also denied the accusation that she hired or recruited girls for prostitution or sexual exploitation.

The court only found Valentino C. Martin and M.D. weere active in the transactions. The participation of the other two defendants in merely opening the gate or pressing the buzzer to alert the girls, was not sufficient prove that they were involved in the management of the place. Therefore, L.S.V. and S.S.V. were acquitted for insuffiency of evidence against them.

The four defendants denied their involvement in the incident and declaired themselves not guilty.

S.V. claimed she owned a sari-sari store in Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City. She stated that on November 25, 2010 she was at her store and denied being at the investigated establishment. She was arrrested in the evening of December 3rd.

Valentino C. Martin, L.S.V., S.S.V. and M.D. were charged with violation of Section 4 (3) RA 9208, that is, unlawfully mantaining or hiring a person to engage in prostitution or pornography. Nonetheless, the court only found Valentino C. Martin and M.D. weere active in the transactions. The participation of the other two defendants in merely opening the gate or pressing the buzzer to alert the girls, was not sufficient prove that they were involved in the management of the place. Therefore, L.S.V. and S.S.V. were acquitted for insuffiency of evidence against them.