Social Welfare and Development Sec. Rex Gatchalian. —Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — The police have arrested a woman and her agent for trying to sell an 8-day-old boy through the Facebook marketplace.
“We will use the fullest extent of the law to apprehend and prosecute those [who are] caught,” Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said at a press conference on Monday, as he described the illegal online baby trade as a form of human trafficking.
READ: NACC decries child trafficking in view of reported online ‘baby trade’
At the same press conference, Police Col. Renato Mercado, chief of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division of the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Protection Center, said the suspects were caught in an entrapment operation on May 15 in Dasmariñas City, Cavite.
He said they were trying to sell the infant for P50,000 to P90,000.
READ: Review of child adoption process sought to curb trafficking of infants
The baby is now in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) while his alleged trafficking is being investigated.
Facebook pages
The National Authority for Child Care (NACC), an agency of the DSWD, said it has monitored since last year as many as 40 Facebook pages involved in the illegal adoption and sale of infants.
Even babies who are not yet born are already lined up for sale, according to the agency.
Janella Ejercito Estrada, executive director of NACC, said some parents advertise their babies as “commodities” on social media, with agents even imposing an adoption fee.
She urged those wishing to adopt children to go through proper government channels, which do not require such fees.
Gatchalian said his department wrote the Philippine office of Facebook last year about the illegal trade but has yet to receive a response. The DSWD will again contact the social media company, he added.