Missing baby returned to parents

Kristine Joy Salik left the couple’s house in Taguig City, taking the child with her. —PHOTO FROM RAFFY TULFO IN ACTION STREAM

Despite an apology from the suspect, the parents of a 5-month-old baby girl in Taguig City are bent on suing a nanny for kidnapping after she disappeared with their child for over 24 hours.

Kristine Joy Salik, 34, returned the infant to her parents, Princess Jean Perrin and Jeric Victoriano, after she turned up at broadcaster Raffy Tulfo’s radio program around 3 p.m. on Thursday.

This was after the parents’ appeal for their baby’s return went viral on social media.

The apologetic Salik said she did not kidnap the child but only took her to a nearby mall before noon on Wednesday to claim money from a remittance center.

She added that the baby’s  grandfather, Isagani Perrin, who had recommended her for the job, gave her permission to bring the infant along. Isagani, however, denied this.

“We were about to go home in the evening yesterday but many people were already sending messages to me that I had kidnapped the baby,” the suspect told Perrin and Victoriano.

“I did not know what to do. I was scared that when I go out, people would attack me and [the baby] might also be hurt,” Salik said.

Her explanation, however, failed to convince Perrin who  told her: “If you were a mother yourself, you would know what I was feeling, being away from my child. Why did you prolong our suffering [by not returning] within 24 hours?”

“As a parent, it’s hard to forgive a wrongdoing done to your child,” added Victoriano who said the suspect should be taught a lesson by being jailed.

The couple said they would push through with the filing of kidnapping charges against Salik.

She became a suspect after footage taken by a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera showed her walking on the street—with the baby in her arms—near the couple’s house in Barangay Bambang, Taguig City, at 11:14 a.m. on Wednesday.

According to Perrin, Salik had been with them for just a week. She said she met the suspect on Facebook after she posted that she was looking for a nanny.

Salik was able to provide a barangay clearance, Perrin added. She said that she hired the suspect because she seemed meek and gentle.

An hour before the alleged kidnapping, Perrin said she was about to sleep with her baby in her room when Salik insisted on keeping the child with her so that the former and Victoriano could sleep uninterrupted.

After more than an hour, Victoriano woke up. He looked for Salik and the infant but both were gone.

“I thought they were just outside, but I could not find them there. Even our neighbors did not see them,” he said.

The couple reported the matter to barangay officials who checked the CCTV camera.

No NBI, police clearance

Col. Alexander Santos, Taguig police, said the couple did not find anything suspicious about Salik, even if she was unable to present a clearance from the police or the National Bureau of Investigation.

But he said the tax identification card and barangay clearance she gave to Perrin could be fake because the addresses were false.

The police had gone to the addresses Salik listed on the documents she submitted: San Mateo and Rodriguez, both in Rizal province. Barangay officials in both areas, however, said they had not heard of her.

Santos urged parents to be “very cautious and vigilant” when hiring people, especially those looking after their children.