Have you seen my mommy? —photo by JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE
An overseas Filipino worker who had just arrived in Manila from Jordan left her baby with a woman she had befriended earlier at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
At press time Friday, airport officials were still waiting for Vilma Lastima, the mother of the 3-month-old baby, to return and claim her child. Otherwise, the baby will be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as part of standard procedure.
Myrna Bonaobra, the woman who was left with the baby, told the Inquirer she was at Naia Terminal 1 Friday morning to meet a friend. While waiting, she began talking to Lastima who said she arrived Thursday night from Amman, Jordan.
Instant friendship
“I’m a friendly person. We just started chatting even if I did not know her. She told me she lives in Davao and had nowhere to stay here [in Metro Manila],” Bonaobra said.
“I said she could stay in my house temporarily because I was concerned for the baby and she really seemed to need a place to stay,” she added.
Errand to run
Bonaobra, herself an OFW, said that Lastima accepted her offer but at 10 a.m., the woman asked her to “momentarily” look after her son because she had an errand to run.
“I even teased her that she might not come back,” Bonaobra said, adding that Lastima turned over her travel documents as well as the baby’s to assure her that she would be returning.
After several hours, however, Bonaobra became alarmed and asked the Airport Police Department (APD) for help.
Based on the travel documents, the baby was born on Aug. 30 in Amman, Jordan.
The APD’s Nestor Dugan said the child would be turned over to the DSWD although he was hopeful that the baby’s mother would return. Dugan, meanwhile, assured the public they would exert every effort to track her down and return the baby to her.