Even unborn babies tagged for sale online

EVEN unborn babies are being scheduled for sale online, the executive director of the National Authority for Child Care (NACC) said Wednesday, just a week after police arrested a woman and her agent for trying to sell an 8-day-old boy on the Facebook marketplace.

«We absolutely need to ramp up the information campaign, especially among local government units, because this illegal operation occurs online,» said Janella Estrada, executive director of the NACC. «Even unborn babies are scheduled to be sold.»

Estrada said her agency, attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is monitoring some 40 Facebook profiles that are being used to illegally sell babies online.

Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE

In a press briefing Wednesday, Estrada also said they were actively engaging with social media providers such as Facebook to monitor accounts, pages and groups involved in these illegal activities.

The DSWD this week acknowledged the NACC and the Philippine National Police's Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) for busting a syndicate involved in the illegal sale of babies over the internet, with prices ranging from P10,000 to P100,000.

«These social media sites are selling babies online under the guise of adoption, and since February, we have been coordinating with the PNP to put a stop to this illegal activity,» Estrada said.

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The PNP-WCPC conducted an entrapment and rescue operation against two suspects at Immaculate Conception Church in Dasmariñas City, Cavite, on May 15, citing a violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2023, as amended, including the provision against child selling, which carries a penalty of 12 years to life imprisonment and a fine of P1 million to P5 million.

«Let this be a stern warning against baby-selling syndicates that we will go after you, and we will prosecute all arrested suspects until they are convicted and meted prison sentences,» Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian stressed that poverty is never a reason for mothers to engage in the illegal sale of children, as the