SC upholds South Korean pastor's life sentence due to trafficking minors

The Supreme Court has affirmed the life imprisonment sentence on a South Korean pastor who was involved in qualified trafficking, particularly the recruitment of minors that resulted in forced labor.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan, the High Tribunal's Third Division found Si Young Oh, also known as Steve Oh, guilty of qualified trafficking in persons under Republic Act No. (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.

Authorities found that Si Young Oh had taken advantage of minors ''by making them render hard labor either for free or at measly allowances of P50, P100, or P200."

It was on April 15, 2013 when a joint operation by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Bureau of Investigation led to the rescue of the minors and the arrest of the pastor.

The Regional Trial Court of Angeles City, Pampanga convicted Si Young Oh of qualified trafficking in 2017, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeals in 2021.

The Court argued that even if the victims could have been driven by their religious convictions to agree to do construction work, ''a minor’s consent, even without the use of coercive or deceptive means, is not given out of their own free will.''

Aside from the life imprisonment, Si Young Oh was also fined P2 million and ordered to pay the victims P1.8 million in damages. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News