CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 31-year-old mother was arrested after she allegedly drowned her 11-month-old baby girl inside the toilet of a rented room in Barangay Santo Niño, Cebu City on July 26.
The mom, who is from Misamis Occidental, was in Cebu to have her baby treated by an arbularyo or faith healer in Talisay City, said Police Master Sergeant Erasmo Rosel of the Waterfront Police Precinct in an interview with CDN Digital.
Rosel said the woman’s father found the baby head first inside a pail of water past 6 p.m. on July 26.
Police said the father, 60, accompanied his daughter and his granddaughter in Cebu from Mismaks Occidental.
The police officer said the father just left her daughter for a while to buy mineral water.
He was surprised when he came back that his daughter answered “I don’t know” when asked on the baby’s whereabouts.
The father immediately searched the room and found the baby inside a pail of water in the toilet.
He then rushed the baby to the hospital, but doctors declared her dead on arrival.
The father told Rosel that they arrived in Cebu on Thursday, July 25, to visit a faith healer in Talisay City who will check on the baby’s condition.
The father said the faith healer told them that the baby had a problem with her teeth, and that the faith healer had healed her.
He also said that they were set to go home on Sunday, July 28, to Misamis Occidental.
Narrating the story shared by the father, Rosel said the father was the one who accompanied her daughter to Cebu because her husband is an overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia.
Police Master Sergeant Rosel said that the mother was arrested and detained at the Waterfront Police Precinct pending the filing of charges. / dbs
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Tawag Paglaum Centro Bisaya is a 24/7 call-based hotline for suicide prevention and emotional crisis intervention established in Cebu. Anyone in Central Visayas experiencing a mental disorder relapse or suicidal thoughts may reach the hotline at 0939-936-5433 or 0927-654-1629.