Baby Niño’s ma identified

After nearly a week since he was left in the bus in Bogo and now in the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development personnel, Baby Niño’s mother was finally identified.

The staff of the district hospital of Daanbantayan and the Municipal social welfare officer confirmed on Saturday (Nov. 19) that the mother of Baby Niño was Cristina Batiancila.

They were sure that Baby Niño was the baby Batiancila gave birth to last Saturday Nov. 12.

They recognized Baby Niño through the photo in the newspaper and video footage through GMA 7. Dr. Ramon Fernandez, chief of hospital of Daanbantayan told CEBU DAILY NEWS that the mother was really an indigent.

Lydia Dualos,  Daanbantayan’s municipal social welfare officer, described Batiancila as a mother of four, who lives in sitio Tapon, barangay Sillon, Bantayan Island.

Dualos said Batiancila went to her office last Tuesday to ask for assistance.

She was surprised on Wednesday when she saw Baby Niño on television.

“Pagtan-aw namo sa news, mao man gyud bataa ang among nakita nga iyang gibitbit (When we watched the news, we immediately recognized the baby that she brought with her last Tuesday),” Dualos said.

She added that she immediately called up the DSWD office to inform them that they knew the baby and her mother.

Dr. Fernandez, for his part, said Batiancila was the 39-year-old mother, who went on labor aboard the Ceres Bus last Saturday (Nov. 12).

She never expected to deliver her baby that day.

It was the conductor and the driver who brought Batiancila to the district hospital.

“Nagkara-kara adtong tungora ang driver ug konduktor. Nakita na gud ang ulo sa bata adto (The driver and the conductor didn’t know what to do. The head of the baby was already out),” Fernandez said.

After the labor, Batiancila stayed in the hospital until Monday morning.

Batiancila even wanted to be discharged from the hospital last Sunday (Nov 13) morning. But Fernandez didn’t allowed her to go because she was so weak.

While confined at the hospital, food was given to her by her fellow patients.

“Naluoy lang gud niya ang ubang pasyente.. Gitagaan na lang siya ug pan ug ubang kinahanglanon sa bata ug sa iya (Other patients felt pity for her… They gave her bread to eat and provided her and the baby with other things they needed),” Fernandez told CDN.

Batiancila had a normal delivery with Baby Niño weighing 3.6 kilos.

Fernandez said that after leaving the hospital, Batiancila together with her newborn baby were aboard a Ceres bus from Kawit to Cebu City to look for his live-in partner, Leonardo.

Batiancila told him that Leonardo was a construction worker and was the father of Baby Niño.

She also has four other kids from her first husband and claimed that she was widow.

She said that she left her kids with her mother-in-law.

She also claimed that she worked once as a housemaid in the city where she met Leonardo.

“Although there are a lot of inconsistencies in her stories, masabtan nato siya (mother) kay she is financially unstable, mao na’ng ingon anah iyang disposition.”

“Since she is not a Benhur card holder (a card given by Benhur Salimbangon to the registered voter in the Daan Bantayan) we cannot go deeper in our investigation in her background because she has no profile in our record,” said Fernandez.

According to Dualos, when MSWD will submit a case summary, the hospital will pay her hospital bills.

MSWD also assured that they will provide assistance to the mother and the baby. /With STC Intern Tweeny Malinao