By Liezelle Soriano
MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed qualified trafficking and child exploitation charges against two individuals for selling a newborn baby online.
The charges were filed against Arjay Escalona Malabanan and Ma. Chariza Rivera Dizon, the latter being the mother of the victim.
The case originated from a complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) against Malabanan and Dizon.
“Evidence adduced sufficiently established the crime of qualified trafficking: respondents facilitated the adoption of the newborn baby; facilitation of the adoption was for a consideration of ninety thousand pesos (P90,000.00); purpose was to facilitate illegal adoption; the trafficked victim is a child; and the act of trafficking was committed by or through the use of ICT or any computer system, the transaction having been done through Facebook Messenger platform,” the resolution stated.
“The act of respondents in selling the newborn child is an act of exploitation,” it added.
The prosecutors recommended no bail for the qualified trafficking charges and a bail of P80,000.00 for the child exploitation charges, according to the DOJ.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla emphasized that children should be “fully protected by law,” describing them as the “most precious treasures of society.”
“We will never allow anyone to exploit them in any way,” Remulla said.
“Let us be the defenders of these vulnerable sectors and innocents who desperately need us,” Remulla added.
(el Amigo/MNM)
