The Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Bohol has dismissed the anti-human trafficking charges which police had filed against the owner of Solid Gold KTV Bar, a popular entertainment joint earlier ordered closed by City Mayor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap II. In a four-page resolution released less than 48 hours after last Monday's preliminary hearing of the case, Deputy Provincial Prosecutor Ponciano Uy threw out the case lodged against Gerardo “Gerry” Osabel, owner of the 12-year-old Solid Gold KTV Bar, in alleged violation of Republic Act 9208, which has been expanded as Republic Act 10364, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. “There is no evidence to establish that the respondent violated any provisions of RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364,” said the resolution approved by Provincial Prosecutor Macario I. Delusa.

In the resolution, the fiscal has ordered the release of Osabel, who was under hospital detention, following his arrest on May 2 at his residence in Barangay Sta. Fe, Alburquerque. Rescued from the house of Osabel were three young girls who work at Solid Gold KTV Bar. The alleged human-trafficking victims were then turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The fiscal said that based on the testimony of Carmelita Tecson, provincial DSWD officer, the three rescued young women had left the DSWD Center, or the Bohol Crisis and Intervention Center. “The most important element of the crime of human trafficking as in this case, is the presence and existence of the victims who are expected to testify on their respective ordeals in the hands of the alleged trafficker,” the fiscal penned in his resolution, copy of which has been furnished to the Bohol Police Provincial Office, Osabel, DSWD Office through Tecson, and Atty. Alexander H. Lim, of the Trabajo-Lim Law Office.

“While the efforts of these police officers are laudable, the undersigned cannot supply for the complainant, the quantum of evidence needed to support a finding of probable cause for the filing of information in court of the crime charged,” prosecutor Uy said. Earlier, on May 2, elements of the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) and Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) led by Police Senior Inspector Roland Desiree Lavisto, by virtue of a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge (RTC) Judge Dionisio Calibo Jr., swooped down on Osabel's residence in Albur town and rescued the alleged victims of human-trafficking. The police operation stemmed from a complain of a 17-year-old girl from Butuan City who alleged that sometime in 2012 she was promised to work a decent job in Bohol but reportedly landed as GRO (guest relation officer) at Solid Gold KTV Bar. The alleged human trafficking victim, as recorded in the Albur Police Station blotter, jumped over the fence of Osabel's residence on way to her freedom as she sought police protection. The testimony of the 17-year-old was made integral part of SWAT's application for search warrant, the implementation of which was witnessed by Bohol's Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) head Gerry Guidaben, DSWD's Tecson, mediamen, and barangay officials.