Minglanilla policemen help bring mentally challenged woman with two kids home

A woman and her children were found along the streets by members of the  Minglanilla Police Station. | Photo from Minglanilla Police

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A mentally challenged woman along with her six-year-old boy and months old baby, were able to get home safely in their hometown in Alogunisan on Tuesday morning, June 23, 2020, after being reported missing for two days.

This was made possible through the efforts of members of the Minglanilla Police Station in Minglanilla town, southern Cebu.

According to Police Master Sergeant Christopher Cesa of the Minglanilla Police, he and his team chanced upon the woman with her kids sitting on the ground in an establishment in the town’s Barangay Linao while they were patrolling on Monday, June 22. They noticed that the woman and her children were not wearing any masks to protect them from the dreaded COVID-19.

Cesa said that the policemen initially approached the woman to call her attention about health guidelines she and her kids needed to comply with. But they believed something was off when the woman could not properly answer the questions they asked.

When the woman was asked where she lived, the police did not get any answers.

Cesa said this is when they decided to bring the woman and her children to the station.

The police then tended to the needs of the children and brought them food, milk, and some diapers.

According to Cesa, they have had some problems with contacting the family of the woman as even the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) were having a hard time tracing where the woman lived with the name she gave.

This is where the police then resorted to posting about the family online, hoping that someone would be able to identify them.

A few hours later, the Asturias police station reached out to their counterparts in Minglanilla and informed them that the family of the woman were from Aloguinsan, a town around 41 kilometers southwest of Minglanilla.

Asturias police said the woman’s family has been looking for her for about two days already.

With this, Cesa said they were able to coordinate with the DSWD and sent the woman and her two kids home to Aloguinsan. /bmjo