Newborn baby abducted Sept. 28 in Las Piñas still missing

Riza Garcia shows a photograph of her son, 2-year-old Zac and twins Zia and Zianne.

Riza Garcia has not even taken a photo of herself with her newborn twins, who her born on Sept. 7, three weeks earlier than their scheduled delivery, via caesarian section.

The twins were taken from her and placed in incubators for more than two weeks.

Barely two days when she finally got the twins back in her arms, a woman abducted one of them.

The 24-year-old mother hasn’t given up hope that Zianne would be reunited with her twin Zia and her 2-year-old brother Zac.

Police investigators, however, were still facing a blank wall almost a week after woman who posed as an employee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development abducted the 25-day-old baby.

Garcia told the Inquirer that on the morning of Sept. 28 she and her 51-year-old mother Norma were at Las Piñas District Hospital to have the twins checked up.

A woman, who looked like she was in her 40s and dressed in pink shirt, approached them and introduced herself as Nathalie Damaso, an employee of DSWD.

The woman did not present any identification card.

“Hindi na rin kami naghanap o nagtanong kasi nawala na sa isip namin,” Garcia said. “Mabait naman siya at di mo mapaghihinalaang gagawa ng masama, dahil maayos magsalita. Tinatanong pa pangalan at birthday ng kambal at kinakarga niya na si Zianne kahit nasa ospital pa lang.”

[It didn’t occur to us to ask her for an ID. She was kind and you wouldn’t suspect her of being able to do something bad, because she spoke well. She even asked for the names and birthday of the twins and she carried Zianne right there in the hospital.]

The woman told them she could include the twins under the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program, the government’s conditional cash transfer program also known as 4Ps.

The program, Damaso said, could help pay for vitamins and medicine that the twins would need.

Riza Garcia agreed. She said she was won over by Damaso’s kindness.

She even stayed with them for more than three hours and offered them free lunch.

From the hospital, Garcia said they got on a jeep and traveled around 3 kilometers to RFC Mall, where they ate at a fastfood restaurant.

“Here’s P200. Go order your food. I am still full,” Riza recalled Damaso telling them.

Damaso then volunteered to carry Zianne from her grandmother Norma.

“But when we glanced back after ordering food, the lady in pink was nowhere,” Riza said.

She said Zianne still had her baby tag “Garcia B” on her left leg.

Chief Insp. Romeo Bartolome, the chief of Las Piñas police investigation unit, said both the hospital and DSWD denied having Damaso as an employee.

“They were duped,” Bartolome said.

He said they already submitted copies of the closed-circuit television footage of the suspect to the Anti-Cybercrime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation to get an “enhanced version” of Damaso’s face.

They have also alerted all police units to check for the whereabouts of Damaso, who clearly used a false name.

Damaso is facing charges of kidnapping and usurpation of authority.

Meanwhile, everyone at the Garcias’ home in Barangay CAA were anxious, each asking if there were updates on Zianne.

Riza said her mother blamed herself for losing her granddaughter.

“She’s just staring at nothing and not talking to anyone,” Riza said. “Sometimes she will just walk aimlessly.”

She kept telling her mother: “It’s not your fault. No one wanted Zianne to be abducted.”

Zia seemed to be feeling the lost of her twin.

“She’s not active anymore and seems to be looking for her twin,” Riza said. “When they were together they both cried out loud at the same time, asking to be breastfed.”

Riza was also worried on how Zianne was doing.

“Is she drinking her milk? Is she being breastfed?” she said.

She said Zianne was in a more delicate condition because she would have difficulty in breathing when not fed.

For those who have information on Zianne or the suspect, you may reach the Garcia family through 0918-422-2280 or (02) 659-8460.

/atm