“Under the complaint for this crime it is possible to convict for coacción under proof of the requisites of that offence ... but among those requisites is that of violence through force or intimidation, even under the liberal rule of our jurisprudence ...; consequently the charge of coacción against the accused cannot be sustained upon the evidence.”
it is nevertheless true that this child, who had been thrice sold, was detained just as effectively in Caoayan as if chained to a post in the house of the man who bought her, and was required by him to perform menial labour without compensation. It would have been utterly impossible for her to escape and to make her way back through Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya to her own people, no matter how strenuously she might have endeavoured to do so.
It is extremely difficult to prove forcible detention in connection with most cases of slavery in these islands. Negrito slaves are usually purchased when mere babes and later have no recollection of their parents or of their former wild life in the hills. Babes or very young children bring a better price than do older children, for the reason that they are less likely to run away.
Adult Negritos, and adult members of other tribes held in slavery, have, as a rule, been made to feel the heavy hand of the oppressor and are so afraid of their lives that they will not testify. Only under very exceptional circumstances will they admit that they are being held against their will, although they are quick to make their escape when a favourable opportunity presents itself.
The difficulty involved in protecting these simple people is illustrated by the following case which came to my personal attention:—
An eleven-year-old Bukidnon girl was carried away from northern Mindanao to Bohol by a Filipino school-teacher who had been discharged from the insular service. Her parents gave every indication of bitter grief and begged to have their daughter restored to them. This was finally accomplished, to their great joy, as a result of my efforts. The kidnapper was ultimately brought into court, but before the case came up for trial the parents had been subjected to such “influence” that when called to the witness-stand they swore that the kidnapper had taken their daughter with their full knowledge and consent.
In order to be reasonably effective, laws in these islands must be so framed as to make it possible to protect people too ignorant, or too timid, to protect themselves.
Returning now to the Supreme Court decision, the court also held that:—
“... the defendant appears to have engaged in the business of buying in Nueva Vizcaya children to sell in the lowlands of Isabela.”
But it further held that:—