Woman accuses taxi driver, cohort of kidnapping her 2-week-old baby

ACCOMPANIED by concerned bystanders, a woman went to the police Tuesday morning to report the loss of her two-week-old daughter to a taxi driver who drove her around Manila for eight hours.

The police, however, noted several loopholes in her story although for now, they were giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Hours before she reported the alleged kidnapping, Maricel Quijano, a 34-year-old resident of Caloocan City, was spotted crying nonstop and walking aimlessly at Rizal Park, attracting the attention of several people who took pity on her.

At the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 3 in Sta. Cruz, she told the police that she had lost her baby and valuables to a taxi driver who was aided by a woman.

According to her, her ordeal started at around 2 p.m. on Monday outside the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC) in Sta. Cruz.

She had taken her daughter to the hospital for a checkup when her mother-in-law called her up and asked her to come home.

Quijano said she immediately got into the front passenger seat of a taxi cab in front of JRMMC and told the driver, who was wearing a surgical mask, to take her to Monumento.

She added that instead of driving to Monumento, the driver took her to the Sta. Cruz area and when she asked him where they were going, he grabbed her bag.

Woman appears

Quijano said that before she could protest, a woman appeared in the back seat and took her baby from her.

“I do not know if she was already there when I got into the taxi.  But she snatched my baby and scratched at my arms when I refused to let go,” she told the Inquirer.

She added, “I had to let go because I was afraid my baby might get hurt.”

She said that she then asked the driver to let her and her baby out of the cab.

“Let us off. You’ve already gotten my things,” she told him but the driver merely looked at her and drove on.

Asked why she never tried to fight off the suspects, Quijano  told the Inquirer, “I was nervous. I could not move.  We just kept on going around Manila until it was already dark.”

At around 10 p.m., she said the driver and his companion ordered her to get out of the cab.

When she protested that she could not leave her baby behind, she was shoved out of the taxi cab which then sped off.

“My mind just went blank. I did not know where I was. It was so dark. I just kept on walking around.  It was already morning when I realized that they had left me at Luneta.  Some people there helped me,” she said.

SPO2 David Gonzales, MPD Station 3 case investigator, said that based on the victim’s complaint, she lost her baby, P8,000 in cash and a bag containing her daughter’s things.

He added that Quijano described the  woman who took her baby as around 50 years old, 5’ 1” tall, chubby and with fair skin.

According to Quijano, the baby was her first child with her live-in partner of 10 years.

“I already have a name for her, Kim Charmly,” she said, adding that she hoped that the baby would be returned to her.

Asked why she was not able to get the taxi’s license plate, she told the Inquirer, “It’s  not my habit to do that. I just get into taxis.  I regret that now.”

Benefit of the doubt

“We are still establishing the veracity of the report but for the time being, we are giving the complainant the benefit of the doubt,” MPD Station 3 commander Supt. James Afalla told the Inquirer.

“She (Quijano) told us that she only gave birth at home.  She has yet to show us pictures of her stolen baby,” Afalla said,  adding that he found it odd that from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. on Monday—the period she reportedly spent inside the taxi cab—Quijano failed to ask for help or catch the attention of other people.

“She could have simply opened the window of the taxi and screamed for help at any point but she did not.  She also was not able to take note of the license plates during the [eight-hour] ride,” he said.

In addition, it took Quijano some time to report her ordeal although she had an explanation for the delay.

“I did not know they (suspects) left me at Luneta. It was so dark. They took my baby and my things and just left me.  My mind was blank. I just kept walking,” she told the Inquirer.