By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The magistrate told Vargas to post another $3,000 cash bail for her temporary liberty |
A Filipina domestic worker showed up unexpectedly in
Kris Hope Vargas, 32, who is now a recognizance holder, went to court accompanied by her African boyfriend. She said she realized only yesterday that she had a hearing scheduled the previous day.
But after hearing her explanations, Magistrate Ada Yim ordered the defendant’s $2,000 seized by the court.
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Vargas was allowed to post another cash bail of $3,000 but Yim sternly warned her that this could be forfeited, too, if she again failed to comply with bail conditions. On top of this, she could be arrested and locked up.
Earlier, the prosecutor told the court that aside from not showing up in court on Dec 28, Vargas did not report to the police on 28 occasions between July 10 and Oct 12.
This was after she was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to six months in jail.
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As she had another pending case for overstaying, Vargas was told to report to the police regularly as part of her bail conditions for the second charge.
When asked why she repeatedly failed to comply with her bail conditions, Vargas said she was unwell. But after the October hearing, when she was again granted bail of $2,000, she did report to the police daily, she said.
Yim ordered a break so the prosecutor could check with the police Vargas’ reporting record for November onward. When the hearing resumed after lunch, the prosecutor said the defendant also failed to report on Dec 22, 23 and 24.
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In response, the defense counsel said his client has asthma and was not feeling well on those days.
He also said that Vargas thought she no longer had to report to police regularly as she had already obtained her documents showing she has a pending nonrefoulement claim.
Apart from these, Vargas had to go to the High Court over lunch to apply for a judicial review of her Immigration case.
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The lawyer said his client was asking for the court’s mercy for her absence during the previous hearing.
Yim noted Vargas’ repeated failure to report to police in line with her bail conditions before announcing the forfeiture of her $2,000 bail money.
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