3 days ago
Mom arrested for selling two-week-old infant online for P45K
A mother was arrested in a hospital in Tanauan, Batangas after attempting to sell her two-week-old infant online for P45,000.
According to Marisol Abdurahman's exclusive report on '24 Oras' on Friday, the Philippine National Police's Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) also rescued the suspect's one-year-old child.
'Ang inaalok niya lang talaga ay yung two-weeks-old na baby boy. But then nakita namin na may one-year-old na child-at-risk, so ni-rescue na rin ng aming team,' said PNP-WCPC public information officer Police Major Shari Vanessa Deseo.
(She was only offering her two-week-old baby boy. But then we saw there was a one-year-old child-at-risk, our team rescued that child as well.)
The suspect was arrested during an entrapment operation wherein the undercover agent had to pay P25,000 for the hospital bills and P20,000 for adoption of the infant, Deseo said.
But the suspect said that she had no choice but to put her baby for sale out of desperation for money.
'Hindi ko naman po talagang gustong mangyari yan sa anak ko, kasi single parent po ako. Napilitan lang po ako kasi gusto kong mabayaran yung bill namin kasi wala akong mapagkukunan,' she emotionally explained her side.
(I really didn't want that to happen to my child, because I'm a single parent. I was just forced to because I wanted to pay our bill and I had no other source of income.)
For its part, the PNP-WCPC warned that selling babies online is punishable by law.
'Ang penalty na imposable dito ay pwedeng life imprisonment depende sa gravity ng offense…Hindi lang yung nagbebenta ng baby ang napaparusahan dito, but also yung bumibili ng mga babies na wala po sa proseso,' said Deseo.
(The penalty imposable here could be life imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the offense. It's not just the one selling the baby who gets penalized, but also those buying babies outside of the proper process.)
The suspect's two children are now under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Meanwhile, the suspect was also charged with violation of the Trafficking in Persons Act, the report said. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA Integrated News
