Woman surfaces to claim baby left at Kidapawan roadside

KIDAPAWAN CITY –– A 31-year old woman surfaced at the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) here, claiming she was the mother of the child found abandoned near a banana plantation in Sitio Panabang, Barangay Binoligan here on Tuesday.

Daisy Gaviola, CSWDO assistant officer, said the woman whose name she did not disclose, showed up at their office around 2 p.m. on Wednesday to claim the baby, who was placed under the custody of the City Crisis Intervention Center in Barangay Magsaysay.

But the woman failed to present a document that could justify her claim as the mother of the child.

“We asked her if she had the birth certificate of the baby but she could not show anything. She said she did not register the child yet,” Gaviola explained.

The woman insisted that her neighbors knew her and the baby and that they could attest for her, so Gaviola sent a social worker to the village where she lived to verify her claims.

The social worker found out that the woman, a single parent, had been known in the village to have a child, and that the baby had a record at the barangay health center where the child was immunized twice.

The woman admitted she was not in her right mind when she decided to leave the eight-month-old (not four months as barangay officials estimated) boy beside the road.

“I was confused because I’m leaving for Manila next week but I had no one to leave my child,” the woman told the Inquirer.

Gaviola said they were preparing the documents to send the baby to the Reception and Study Center for Children of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Koronadal City.

“Once we complete all the documents, we will transfer the baby tomorrow,” Gaviola said.

Among the documents that they would need are a referral slip, the child’s case study, police and barangay blotters, and the child’s medical certificate./lzb