Baby kidnapped in Mandaluyong rescued in Camarines Sur

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Camarines Sur police rescued a three-month-old baby girl who was kidnapped from her home by a con artist in Mandaluyong City, police said Wednesday.

Senior Inspector Van Layosa, Lagonoy police chief, said the baby, a daughter of Liezel Tugade Diamon, was abducted on Tuesday evening.

The alleged abductor, Lovelin Casipi, 26, was arrested at the residence of her live-in partner in Barangay (village) Mancogon in Lagonoy, Layosa said. Her live-in partner, identified as 27-year-old Rex Transona, was also brought for questioning.

Reports said that Casipi, posing as a talent manager, asked to bring Diamon’s baby to an audition for a milk product commercial but failed to return the toddler.

Instead, Casipi brought her to Lagonoy on Monday and introduced the baby to Transona as her daughter, Layosa said.

Layosa said they had been on the lookout for Casipi after Senior Superintendent Ramiro Bausa, Camarines Sur provincial police director, alerted them that the woman and the baby might go to Lagonoy to visit her live-in partner. Bausa also provided them with a picture of the missing baby and a police sketch of the suspect, he said.

He said it was Teddy Dominguez, a retired police officer and a resident of Mancogon, who alerted the police to the presence of the suspect and the baby in his village.

Layosa said Casipi was being held at the local jail while the baby was placed in the care of the police’s women and child welfare desk.

Diamon, together with members of the Mandaluyong police, arrived Wednesday at the Lagonoy police station to fetch the baby, said Police Inspector Bernardo Penero.

“The baby went through medical examinations after she was recovered in Lagonoy town, and her doctor said she was in a good condition,” Penero said.

He said that Casipe allegedly took the girl to introduce her to Transona as their baby after their biological child died.

“So, she really took care of the baby,” Penero said. Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon; with report from Jamie Elona, INQUIRER.net, in Manila