Finding Ruby | The Trial | 5

Episode 5 - The Trial: The fight for justice now begins. Ruby’s perpetrators belong behind bars, but their lawyer will do anything to stop that from happening.

Ruby and the girls from the house are brought to the DSWD for safekeeping while the criminal trial against the perpetrators  is prepared.

Ruby’s fierce young lawyer, Attorney Kath of IJM, AKA ‘The Dainty Dragon’ is introduced for the first time, and we learn how her own life story of hardship and injustice impacts her quest for justice.

The trial does not go smoothly. Ruby and Kath are up against a fierce battle as the opposing defense does everything in his power to combat them and protect the perpetrators.

Despite terrible hardship and ongoing trauma, we see Ruby emerge in this episode with a strong voice as a leader and advocate for others.

The episode ends with a crucial key question: will Ruby agree to a plea bargain against her perpetrators?

And the bigger question behind it all: Just what exactly is justice? 

Issues this episode explores:

• How an OSEC case is prepared and prosecuted 
• The nature of justice 
• The psychological effects of waiting and trauma on survivor victims 

Show website: fightofmy.life

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CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence. Listener discretion is advised.

Please seek help if you need to.

To speak to a trained crisis supporter at Lifeline (24-hours): 131 114
To report a crime to the Australian Federal Police: 1800 333 000
For emergency assistance: 000

FOR THE PHILIPPINES:
If you have suspicions about the occurrence of online sexual exploitation of children in your community, immediately report to: www.1343actionline.ph

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Finding Ruby is a production of Cadence Productions.

Show written and edited by Nikki Florence Thompson and Rich Thompson. 
Additional production by Lydia Bowden, Anthea Godsmark, and Brendan Ridley. 
Sound design and mix by Rich Thompson and Brendan Ridley. 
Graphic design and social media by Sayaka Miyashita, Carla Moran, and Alyssa Sheridan. 
Director of photography is Brad Conomy. 
Matt Tooker is the executive producer.

Show Music
- "Homeland" by Searching for Light, featuring Jenna Carlie. 

Transcript

Cadence Productions

Rich:

Before we begin, a warning, this podcast contains descriptions of sexual violence. Listener discretion is advised. See the show notes for more information.

Speaker 2:

The Philippines, 1994.

Rich:

It is a stormy summer afternoon, an eight-year-old Kathleen, Kath for short, stands in the street with her head tipped back and her arms outstretched. Her eyes are closed and there is a look of peace on her small face. She's been waiting for this moment, waiting for the sky to break. Kath isn't alone. Beside her is a boy only a year older than her called Frank. Every summer, he is by her side in the sunshine and in the rain. Kath grabs Frank's hands. They move their feet in tandem to the pounding beat of the rain on the ready earth. Their toes squelch deep into the wet, fresh soil. The water streams down their faces like tears of joy and together they dance.

Kath grows up in the bustling city center of Manila, but each summer, her family returns to the countryside where her parents come from, and it is all made so much better by the presence of a very particular person. Though Kathleen and Frank meet when they are only children, their relationship grows and endures. Kath is from a conservative family. She attends an all girls Catholic school in Manila. For a while, Kath considers becoming a nun.

Kathleen:

I think just growing up, I also wanted to become a nun because I guess I've always had the heart for serving the poor.

Rich:

But when she turns 15 years old, she begins to see Frank in a new light. At the age of 19, they become boyfriend and girlfriend.

Kathleen:

So becoming a nun, it became out of the question. I didn't want to become a nun anymore. Then I pursued my law studies.

Rich:

Their career paths are very different. Kath has been studying law. Frank is the third officer of a ship, newly promoted to a junior officer. Frank is a seafarer, a sailor, and he must soon leave for a 10-month stint at sea, but he wants to give Kath something before he leaves. He wants to ask her a question. He wants to ask her to marry him, and he knows just how to do it.

Kathleen:

He didn't have a lot of money then. It wasn't a very expensive piece of jewelry, but it was very beautiful. It had three small diamonds in it to symbolize the stars, Orion's Belt, because he was a seafarer. So I told him every time we look at the sky, at the night sky, and see those three stars, we're looking at the same thing. Even if we're half the world away from each other, we're both looking at the same object in the night sky.

Rich:

Frank must leave on his journey, but when he returns, they will marry. By now, Kath has finished law school. In fact, she's just passed the bar on her first try. She is elated. A new future awaits them both together.

For the first couple of days after Frank boards the ship, they message and call one another. But on the third day apart, Frank's responses suddenly stop. No matter how many times Kath tries to contact him, he does not reply. Kath senses something is not right.

Kathleen:

During that time when he was no longer responding to my texts and calls, I actually felt that something very wrong had happened to him. And then after 10 days, I was told by the family and by the manager of where he worked that he hung himself.

I knew that's just not possible. That's not him. I know this man. I know he couldn't do that to himself. He was newly promoted. I just passed the bar and we were about to get married, so there was no way that he could do that to himself.

Rich:

Kath suspects foul play from the beginning. Her heart knows it, and her newly found lawyer's instincts know it too.

Kathleen:

So there was evidence missing. The chain of custody was really messed up. We always knew that there was a cover up and the company offered to pay the full amount of the insurance. If somebody would kill himself, you're not entitled to receive insurance, right? But why would they pay the full amount? They pay the family more than five million pesos. There's foul play.

Rich:

Frank is autopsied twice. They find bruises on the back of his legs and there are signs he was hit by a blunt object.

Kathleen:

That was the darkest day of my life when I saw him at the airport inside a coffin.

Rich:

It's a cover up. Kath is convinced of this.

Kathleen:

His job required him to check the containers every once in a while so he probably discovered something illegal. This is not verified, but we think that he died because he discovered contraband inside the ship. He discovered illegal drugs.

Rich:

Kath tries with everything in her to secure justice. She personally visits witnesses' houses trying to convince them to testify, but fearing for their own lives, nothing she says can compel them to come forward.

Kathleen:

If we're fighting an organized crime syndicate, then you can expect that they will hunt you. They will not leave you in peace. I'm not surprised that your families didn't want them to get embroiled in the legal case and I can forgive that.

Rich:

The case is eventually archived.

Kathleen:

I think my thirst for justice, my hunger for justice deepened. It grew after that.

Rich:

From that moment on, helping the forgotten, the downtrodden and the abused that are mistreated, this is no longer just Kath's ambition. It is now the fight of her life.

Kathleen:

I developed a personal passion and enthusiasm for advocating for the rights of victims of heinous crimes.

Rich:

And her first battle is closer than she knows. Not so long after Kath loses her fiance at sea, another young girl prepares to board a ship to take her to her life she will spend the next six years trying to recover from and Kath will be there to help steer her to the shore.

(singing)

From Cadence Media, this is Finding Ruby.

(singing)

A true story of loss and trauma at the hands of the world's fastest growing crime, but also a story of triumph, of rescue, and resilience.

(singing)

This is the story of 16-year-old Ruby, thrown into the fight of her life and of those who have chosen to come alongside her and make it the fight of their lives too. Episode five, The Trial.

Rich:

As the rescue team pulls up outside the house in Pampanga, 27-year-old Kath rubs her hand across her dry eyes. She is both wired and tired, running on only a couple of hours of sleep. Just three days into her new job as a lawyer with IJM and she has hit the ground running, sprinting. 

From the outside, she can't tell anything in particular about the house. It certainly doesn't look friendly, but surely it can't be as bad as they've all been preparing her for. When the team had given the signal to go, she follows them through the front door. Immediately, she is shocked.

Kathleen:

When I went inside, I felt the hair on my arms rise. I had goosebumps. It was cold and dark. When I went inside the room, the crime scene, I saw that sex toys were scattered on the floor. There were laptops, web cameras sitting on the floor with mattresses sprawled and blankets and rugs. It was really scary for me. That's something I will never forget.

Rich:

It is inside the house, amidst the chaos of the rescue, that Kath and Ruby come face to face for the first time. Ruby is undernourished. Her long hair is wet. It is clear she isn't prepared for their entrance. But even so, Kath sees a steady fierceness inside her. There is something unusual about this girl.

Kathleen:

Even when I first saw her, I already felt that she was different. She had this aura of bravery or courage. She's calm and collected. She wasn't panicking like the rest of the victim survivors that we rescued that day.

Rich:

Ruby is taken to the Department of Justice, where eventually Kath takes her statement. She listens as Ruby details the horrors of the last two months. Kath doesn't need to ask how badly Ruby wants her perpetrators brought to justice, she can see it. 

Rich:
After two days at the DOJ, the rescued girls are moved into protective custody at the Department of Social Welfare and Development or the DSWD as it's known. For almost 12 months, this facility becomes Ruby's new temporary residence, but it isn't a home. Though she is beyond grateful to have escaped, she is surprised to find how claustrophobic this new space feels.

Ruby:

We were actually really crowded. In one dorm, there was 96 of us were staying there. And then on the other dorm, there was like 80 girls staying there also. So it was really crowded. It was arranged like double-deck beds were arranged in a row. There were girls who were sharing a bed because it's too crowded

Rich:

The days and months after rescue seem in their own way like a different form of captivity. Ruby is no longer locked in, no longer made to do acts against her will, but this new stage of life has its own very real feeling of constraint. There may not be curtains blocking out the windows, but it is still hard to feel the light.

Ruby:

I'm not sure of what the future has for me. It's just like I'm existing. But yeah, I don't know the purpose or the meaning of my existence.

Rich:

Everyone there is waiting for something and none of what has brought them there is good. Some of the girls there are victims of violent crimes. Sadness and trauma lingers on all the surfaces and over it all is a heavy blanket of boredom. There is a repetitiveness to the girls' daily routine, a monotony. Each day the girls wake, eat, exercise and return to their crowded dorm.

Ruby:

And we don't have a lot of things to do there, so every day is like the same. That made it harder for us or for me. I was bored. I don't know what to... I'm slowly losing hope during that moment.

Rich:

You said one thing that was keeping you going was justice, the justice. What did you hope would happen to your perpetrator?

Ruby:

So the hardship that I experience in that center adds up the hatred that I had towards them. And so, there's only one thing that I want to happen to them during that time. I want them to be imprisoned. I want to see them live behind bars the rest of their lives. I don't care how hard it would be for them, how it would be for their family. Yeah. I just want them to be punished for what they did, not just for me, but for the other girls.

Rich:

We need to remember that Ruby is young. She's just 16 during this time at the DSWD. She has no friends or family in Pampanga. She's only been in this city for a few months and all of it has either been spent in that house being abused online or in the dorms at the DSWD. Remember, she's still dealing with the loss of her parents and having to leave her home. That's all still fresh, too. Any bitterness that is welling up in Ruby is understandable. The thing about Ruby is despite all this or maybe as a result of all this, there is a fierceness, a result that grows steadily in her. Many of the girls rescued from that house have chosen not to testify against Nadine and Pedro. Again, this is very understandable considering their age and everything they've been through, but when Kath approaches Ruby, it's a different story.

Rich:

So you ended up choosing, "Yes, I will testify."

Ruby:

Yes. Mm-hmm.

Rich:

And why did you make that choice?

Ruby:

It's because I see how broken those lives were affected by what they did and I want justice for that. I want them to be punished by what they did. To me, yeah, that kept me going. I just didn't look at myself, like what happened to me. I was also considering those other girls that were rescued with me.

Rich:

So you felt like for the sake of the group, you needed to speak up?

Ruby:

Yes. I was also thinking of the other people that they might be victimized in the future also. It has to stop right there.

Rich:

But as we all know, it's one thing to desire justice and a whole other thing to actually obtain it. What Ruby didn't yet know was that standing in between her and justice was a rising formidable force, a power that none of them saw coming.

When Kath finds out who the opposing lawyer is, her heart sinks. Kath, remember, is a rookie, but even though she is new to IJM, she's familiar with the reputation of her opponent. They've hired one of the best lawyers money can buy.

Kathleen:

He was a male veteran lawyer who was quite popular in town, and he was really aggressive and short-tempered. He was often arrogant and he displayed harsh and insulting demeanour towards his opposing counsels and their witnesses, even to court staff. He had the propensity to twist facts, ascribe malice, and muddle the issues of the case. He loved bullying and badgering witnesses for the prosecution. So I was a bit worried for Ruby.

Rich:

He is a veteran, a tall, imposing man who is used to throwing his weight around. Lawerence Aritao, now the director of prosecution and aftercare at the Centre to End OSEC, had spent years in the courtroom representing survivors of exploitation. He was very aware of this opposing lawyer's reputation. 

Lawrence:

So very prone to, I guess, letting the whole court know that he's an incredible defence lawyer, finding ways to show how brilliant he is.

Rich:

He is determined and brash. Attorney Rey who helped oversee the search warrant, knew that he would not be afraid to use any means possible to free Nadel and Pedro.

Atty Rey:

They were trying all kinds of legal strategies to delay the case, and of course, have the case dismissed.

Rich:

The fierce battle starts immediately. He wants to stop the case from reaching the court at all. Motion after motion is submitted. All he needs is for one of these motions to stick, and he'll be able to undo the whole case and have it thrown out. On July 26th, the accused submits a motion for reinvestigation. On September 23rd, the accused submits a motion to quash the search warrant and therefore invalidate all evidence obtained under it. On October 11, the accused submits a motion to quash some of the information found as irrelevant to the case. On October 29, the accused submits a motion to remove Kath as the attorney. And one more, on December 19, the accused submits a motion to suspend a trial date until all motions presented are resolved.

It is a sharp learning curve, but though the motions are frustrating, Kath does not let them silence her. By the 21st of May, after Kath and her team had systematically dealt with each motion, filing counter arguments at every step, at last all the motions presented were denied. A trial date is set for June 25, almost one year since the rescue took place. The opposing lawyer is furious. He now intently begins work on preparing for the trial. His primary strategy is to undermine and humiliate each of Kath's witnesses, including her star witness, Ruby. Kath needs to make sure Ruby is ready for the onslaught that's coming her way.

When Kath sits down on a hard chair across from Ruby at the DSWD, she senses a simmering tension beneath Ruby's still surface. Kath is patient and caring. She guides Ruby at each step.

Ruby:

It's actually felt like being in a movie, Rich. I didn't have any clue idea like what's going on inside courts. Attorney Kath, it was like a student and a teacher relationship that I had with Attorney Kath.

Rich:

Kathryn, Ruby meet several times in the lead up to Ruby's first court appearance, but still, Kath has this niggling feeling that she may have not done enough to prepare her. In particular, there is one moment that she worries about, the moment when Ruby will need to, in front of the court, identify her perpetrators by pointing at them, by looking at them. After all the trauma Ruby has faced, how will she hold up in that moment? June 25 is fast approaching. When the time finally comes, will Ruby really be ready? Can anyone ever be?

Kaffee:

Colonel Jessep, did you order the Code Red?

Judge:

You don't have to answer that question.

Colonel Jessep:

I'll answer the question. You want answers?

Kaffee:

I think I'm entitled.

Colonel Jessep:

You want answers?

Kaffee:

I want the truth.

Colonel Jessep:

You can't handle the truth.

Rich:
Courtrooms are very intimidating places. Not many of us are as comfortable as Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men. I've often thought that courtrooms are like hospitals. It's rare that you're going inside one for a pleasant occasion. When you do go in, it feels like you're about the only person who doesn't quite know what's going on.

Rich:
Where are we at the moment?

Reb Basilan:
We are at the Hall of Justice in Angeles City, Pampanga. It's the Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Hall of Justice.

Rich:
That's Reb Basilan from IJM. He took us to the courthouse where Ruby's case was held.

Rich:
And this is the very spot where Ruby came in and confronted her traffickers.

Rich:
It is indeed a very intimidating place. Armed guards flanked by tall Roman style pillars stand at the top of the stairs leading into the foyer. Inside, the marble floor of the large open foyer turns every step, every hushed word into an echo that seems to amplify its significance. The courtroom itself is a lot smaller than what I had thought it would be. There are three long wooden benches, they almost look like church pews, directly behind a desk where the prosecutor and defence sit side by side. The thing that strikes me is how close everything is, how little space there is between the perpetrators and those bringing them to trial. There's not much room to hide.

In front of this desk is a wall made of see-through Perspex, dividing the judge, the bailiff, and the court reporter from the rest of the room. The only windows offering a glimpse of the outside world are behind them. Again, we've taken some photos and put them on our website so you can see for yourself. I bring all this up because I think it is important for us to have in our mind what Ruby was physically faced with on the day when she testified. And I asked Lawrence Aritao to help us understand what children like Ruby are faced with emotionally too.

Lawrence: 

By the time they're asked to go to court, if they're asked to go to court, so we try to keep them away from having to be in court as much as possible. Only in the rarest circumstances where there's no other alternative will the prosecutor ask a child to appear before them. And then in court, again, only if let's say the judge says, "We really can't get around it. We're going to have to see the child." Even then, we have many prosecutors that will advocate for alternative ways to get what's required.

So, what is it like for them? It's important to think that by the time they're presented in court, they've already been pulled out or rescued or removed from the situation where they were being exploited and that removal is tumultuous. So by the time they testify, they've gone through that. If they testify, they've got to be ready. The social worker and even the prosecutor, they're not going to call the witness unless they feel that in this case, they're ready and I'm not going to be harming them by presenting them.

Speaker 2:

June 25th, 2014, Pampanga Regional Trial Court.

Rich:

Kath arrives early and waits in the justice hall for Ruby and her social workers to arrive. To call this a big day is an understatement. Ruby has admitted to Kath in their preparation sessions how she is both angry and fearful of her perpetrators. This will be the first time Ruby has seen them since the rescue. How will Ruby react?

Ruby:

Because honestly, every time I see my perpetrator's faces, it actually gives me chills. The desire within me to just grab the lady boss's hair, the anger is still with me, I mean, within me, so it's really hard to have self-control also. At the same time, I'm actually scared to be with them.

Rich:

When Ruby at last approaches the door of the building, Kath rushes forward to meet her. Her heels echoing on the floor. Ruby is pale. Kath learns she was sick during the drive.

Kathleen:

We held hands as we entered the justice hall that morning. I remember Ruby's hands were cold and clammy. I was telling her to relax, that we're here to protect you and to have faith, that she was only there to tell the truth, nothing more, nothing less.

Rich:

She ushers her into a private waiting room at the side of the court. She can stay here until her presence is required.

Kathleen:

Because I didn't want her to run into her perpetrators in the lobby or in the corridor.

Rich:

Accompanying Ruby are two social workers, one from IJM and one from the house where she is staying. This social worker has become something of a  surrogate mother to Ruby.

Red:

She was so nervous. We were both like, I am too, "Hold my head. We can do this. Yeah, we can." We talk about the things that can remind her of how brave she is, reminding her of her feats, reminding her of the things that she overcame. Before we get into the courtroom, we pray with our social worker. When we get there, it's like we're like alliance. Nobody comes to be in front of us. We're fine.

Rich:

But when it comes down to it, though they can be there to support her, none of them can do what she needs to do. None of them can stand before the court and testify to the terrible wrongs she has suffered at the hands of others. Ruby alone is the only one who can do this and she is just 16 years old. 

Eventually, the judge calls for the first witness. It is time for Ruby to testify.

When Ruby moves to take the stand, Kath is aware of her whole body tightening in anticipation, a familiar adrenaline kicks in accelerating her heart rate, quickening her breath.

Kathleen:

She held her head high as she sat on the chair, placed one hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. The rule on examination of a child witness was applied. The judge excluded the public from the courtroom. She came down from the podium, took off her judicial robe and allowed Ruby to turn her back against the accused while she gave her testimony.

Rich:

With her back to her perpetrators, Ruby begins. She is without a doubt nervous. Her hands tremble visibly, but fear is not the only emotion that accompanies her. Her presence has a tangible effect on those around her.

Red:

Of course, she was shaking, but there's so much conviction. There's so much strength and courage and so much... She was so sure about her testimony. She said it with so much courage. I think, yeah, she's really decided that she wants justice. That's exactly what I see in her.

Rich:

And then comes the moment when Ruby is asked to identify her perpetrators. It was a moment that they had rehearsed over and over on the car ride trips.

Red:

Because this is what we've talked about when we were in the van. When you are going to be asked to point fingers on that, make sure that you look at them with no fear. We'll just talk about the fear later. We'll just talk about the fear later, but look at them.

Rich:

Ruby turns around and with the kind of courage well beyond her years faces her perpetrators. She points at them.

Ruby:

I don't know where I took up the courage to look at their eyes and really point at them, the two of them. Yes.

Rich:

Did you look in their eyes?

Ruby:

Yeah. Yeah. I looked in their eyes and I actually saw that they were looking down. They are looking down. Yeah. They did not, I think, have the confidence to look back at me.

Red:

It's like they're no longer in control. Yeah. I think the word is sheepish.

Rich:

Of course, they have their reasons for this. The sentence they potentially face is harsh, nothing less than life in prison, but their lawyer is determined to not allow that to happen.

When at last it is his time to question Ruby, the opposing lawyer has no qualms about bringing the full force of his power to bear on her. It is brutal for Ruby's support team to watch as he hits Ruby from all sides. The large man circles Ruby like a heavyweight boxer. Kath notices that beneath his glasses, his eyes are bloodshot and watery. She wonders briefly if he is unwell. He pounces with bare, brutal force. He shouts and yells. Kath leans forward following the action intently, objecting at every opportunity.

Kathleen:

Sometimes this lawyer got away with it over my vehement objections because the judge allowed him to. But at other times, we would put him in his place.

Rich:

To look at her, Kath is a petite, elegant woman with long dark hair and a warm, ready smile. With those she represents, like Ruby and also with her team members, she is unendingly empathetic. But when she enters the court, she knows how to bring the fire. Perhaps this is why they call her-

Atty Rey:

They call her Dainty Dragon.

Rich:

The Dainty Dragon.

Atty Rey:

She has a gentle spirit, but in court, she's the fiercest lawyer, the bravest lawyer they would see. I think even the defense counsel feared her.

Reb Basilan:

If she has to unleash fire in court, she will. And if she feels that the judge will respond to it better, she will. And so, it's a total strength. It's a total strength, and I think just in general, a very loving person and the kind that you would want as your lawyer.

Rich:

Inside the court Attorney Kath may be a dragon, but ultimately at the end of the day, she is human. She feels the weight of what she is fighting against.

Kathleen:

Well, there were times when I doubted myself. I doubted if I was enough. I say that there were times when I doubted myself, because there were times when the child sexual exploitation materials that I was exposed to was just too much for me to bear. Well, at that time, that's what I thought, that it was too much for me to bear. I had to go through hundreds or thousands of videos just for one case. It really took a toll on me on my emotional health at that time.

Rich:

And there are physical costs to her work too. During her early years in Pampanga, Kath lives alone, often returning home as late as midnight, always looking over her shoulder.

Kathleen:

Attorney Rey was worried for my safety because there were many times when I would get too aggressive in court so I would hurt the feelings of the relatives of the accused. And so, sometimes in Kapampangan dialect, the security, the bodyguard who was with me during the hearing would hear that these people want to kill me. They're not death threats, but they're whispering amongst themselves how much they hate me.

Rich:

And that doesn't bother you, that doesn't put you off?

Kathleen:

At the time, no. I was too brave, sometimes to a fault.

Rich:

She is aware her role does not make her popular. To some, she's the worst type of enemy, but for others to the ones who count, she is a refuge, and for this, she is willing to risk whatever it takes. 

And it turns out that Kath and Ruby make a formidable team.

Kathleen:

Ruby boldly, courageously, and truthfully narrated her story. No matter how hard this defense lawyer tried to pervert the truth by asking irrelevant, improper and misleading questions, Ruby was able to explain her answers well. Ruby was steadfast in her answers well. During cross-examination, she answered in a straightforward manner and with conviction. She was not embarrassed nor intimidated at all, Rich. I think it was the other way around. The defense lawyer could not badger or cower Ruby. Ruby definitely knew what she was saying and understood what she was fighting for.

Rich:

The case continues on in spurts for the next three years, constantly interrupted by stalling tactics from the defense. Ruby is called in multiple times by the defense lawyer, and each time she grows in confidence.

Ruby:

He was so frustrated that I was able to answer all of the questions that he was throwing at me and not feeling intimidated at all. I was even looking straight at his face while answering him.

Rich:

Eventually, her steadfastness drives him to rage. Ruby remembers the moment when his anger boils over and he loses control completely.

Ruby:

He banged the table in frustration.

Rich:

That must have felt pretty good to see him frustrated.

Ruby:

Yes, I was actually laughing inside though I'm really nervous.

Kathleen:

Ruby is unique. I mean, in general, victim survivors would feel despair if the case would go on for more than two years, because more often than not, they would ask me, "How long will this have to be before this ends? Because I want to be able to sleep well at night. I want to be able to move on. I want to move past this. I just want to go on with my life," but Ruby is different.

Rich:

Personally, I have learned a great deal from Ruby and Kath. In particular, I have learned that pursuing good, pursuing justice takes a certain kind of bravery and resilience, a steadfast commitment that means you show up each day, even when you don't know what the outcome will be, even in the face of powerful opposition. You don't just endure the opposition, but you allow it to refine you and grow you.

Kathleen:

I think as time passed, Ruby became more empowered. During that four-year period of time, Ruby was able to encourage other victim survivors as well inside her shelter, inside a shelter where she stayed at. Ruby really serves as the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. I've seen that.

Rich:

Of course, others took the stand for the prosecution too in this time, including two of the other girls rescued and Senior Officer Henry Castro Verde. There was one more key turning point we want to tell you about. A digital forensic examiner, Narissa Salcedo, was presented for the first time concerning digital evidence found on the hard drives. This was a pioneering move from Kath. The damning evidence was presented in open court. With the defense unable to find any holes in any of it, the case was looking stronger and stronger. Eventually, the belligerent defense lawyer has enough. He files one more motion. It is in relation to his own departure from the case.

Kathleen:

This defence lawyer eventually filed a motion to withdraw his entry of appearance as defense counsel. He gave up. He simply gave up. The other lawyer said that he backed out because he couldn't take it anymore. He knew that he would lose the case and he didn't want to lose.

Rich:

So, you beat him.

Kathleen:

Ruby had this effect on that lawyer. That's why he backed out.

Rich:

With the opposing attorney standing down, things start to change. After lagging for so long, the case takes a sharp turn. A younger attorney from a new law firm takes the older man's place and he approaches Kath with new energy and direction. He has a proposal for them. He asks if they will accept a plea bargain. This new offer will speed up the case considerably and it would result in Ruby and the other girls being paid compensation. In many ways, it sounds ideal except for one major point and it is major, if they agree to the plea bargain, the perpetrators' sentences will be dramatically reduced from life to 15 years. At first, there is a feeling of unreality.

Red:

We were like, "Really? Is this really happening?", and Ruby was like, "What is it? How am I supposed to respond to this?"

Rich:

We need to realize just how significant this moment is for Ruby. For four years, she had been imagining Nadine and Pedro being put behind bars for life. After everything they had taken from her and from the other girls in captivity, it seemed right and fair. The scales of justice would be balanced. And so, what was at stake was actually a sense of justice of wrong being made right. For Ruby to agree to a lesser penalty of 15 years, she would essentially be agreeing to forgo the full measure of justice that could be allotted. In a very real and tangible way, Ruby would be absorbing some of the punishment that they deserved. It would take a significant measure of grace and forgiveness. The other two girls look to Ruby for guidance to know what to do with this offer. Ruby recalls this time as one of great unrest of inner turmoil.

Ruby:

I actually fought a lot with myself with that, on that idea, but just like, "Will they be worth forgiving? Will they not really do it again?"

Rich:

Attorney Kath has brought the girls this far and will continue to fight for them, come what may, but this decision is not hers to make. She is not the one that has to live with the consequences of it. Kath leaves the decision in the girl's hands. And what Ruby does in that moment, what happens next is still talked about in the halls of IJM today.

(singing)

On the next episode of Finding Ruby, 

Kath: 

But as her lawyer Rich, I actually tried to stop her I was thinking that the encounter might just cause her further trauma. 

Rich:

Finding Ruby is a project of Cadence, a creative agency for good in Sydney, Australia. This podcast is written and edited by Nikki Florence Thompson and me, Rich Thompson. Sound design and mix by me and Brendan Ridley. The show website where you can dive in deeper into each episode can be found at findingruby.com. Our theme song is Homeland by Searching for Light. A special thanks to Lydia Bowden, Evelyn Pingel, Meryll Sarco, Lannie Alano, and all the team at IJM Philippines for opening their doors to us. And of course, a big thanks to Ruby for telling her story. And finally, a big thanks to you for choosing to come on this journey with us. We'd be really grateful if you would take a moment to rate and review the podcast so that other people can find it too. We'll see you on the next episode.