SC increases jail time for maltreated maid's ex-employer

The Supreme Court (SC) sentenced the former employer of househelp Bonita Baran to up to 40 years in prison over his serious illegal detention conviction.

In a resolution dated February 10, the SC Second Division found Reynold Marzan guilty as the main accused in the case.

The SC modified the decisions of the Court of Appeals and Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77, which only found Marzan to be an accomplice to his wife Anna Liza's crime and sentenced him to eight to 14 years in prison in 2017.

Reynold was “not an innocent bystander in this case,” the SC said, as it raised the penalty to reclusion perpetua or a prison term of between 20 and 40 years.

“Not only did he know about Anna Liza's repeated acts of detaining Bonita inside the rooms of their residence, he himself actively participated therein each time by also locking the main door of the house. This overt act was clearly in furtherance of a conspiracy to detain Bonita against her will,” stated the resolution which also junked the spouses’ plea for acquittal.

“Bonita positively testified that her detention occurred between June 2009 and May 2012. She got locked up whenever Anna Liza was not satisfied with her work or when there were guests in the house. Bonita begged appellants to just let her go home to her family in Catanduanes, but her plea fell on deaf ears,” it added.

Baran also had gone blind as a result of her employer's abuse.

The SC directed Marzan to pay Baran P75,000 each for moral and exemplary damages as well as civil indemnity. These amounts shall earn an interest of 6% per annum from the finality of the resolution until fully paid.

The SC, meanwhile, dismissed the case against Anna Liza following her death on June 22, 2020. The trial court had meted out the penalty of reclusion perpetua on Anna Liza. — DVM, GMA News