A health worker of Liloan town carries the abandoned newborn found in a dumpsite in Brgy. San Vicente, Liloan, Cebu. | Photo by Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A couple was arrested for allegedly abandoning a newborn baby in a dumpsite in Liloan town, northern Cebu on Monday, June 12.
Police in Liloan confirmed that an infant, still attached to its umbilical cord and placenta, was found inside a sack in a dumpsite in Brgy. San Vicente early Monday morning. The baby is currently confined in a health center there.
Police Major Eric Gingoyon, chief of Liloan Police Station, said they arrested Vilma Jemes Sayre and Raul Taritas, a live-in couple, around 11 p.m. on Monday.
Sayre and Taritas were accused of abandoning the newborn, who was discovered by a child scavenging the area, said Gingoyon.
Based on initial findings from the police, Sayre gave birth to the child on Monday dawn. She believed the infant was dead, as it did not cry as most newborns do.
In an interview with Cebu-based radio station, dyHP, Sayre pointed to Taritas as the one responsible for ‘disposing off’ of the newborn.
Poverty
Due to poverty, the mother had not undergone any pre-natal checkup after learning she was pregnant with her sixth child. She added that her partner also threatened her multiple times if she even attempted to go to a healthcare worker for a check-up.
According to Sayre, Taritas is not the infant’s father, and the baby may have been an ‘accident’ when she briefly engaged in prostitution before.
“Nagvasectomy naman sad siya (paghuman sa among ika-lima nga anak). Masuko siya kung mugawas daw ko magpapre-natal kay mauwaw daw siya (nga di siya ang amahan),” she said.
She admitted resorting to prostitution to provide for her family, which includes her, Taritas, and their two children. The couple had a total of five children, three of whom had been already transferred to their grandparents’ care.
When Sayre’s partner learned about her pregnancy, he got mad. They also frequently fought, said Sayre.
“Sige ra mi ug away. Iyaha man kong baharan nga patyun kung magpapre-natal sad ko. Kung mahubog, manghagis,” she explained.
When she gave birth to the child last Monday, Sayre was the only one left inside their house in Brgy. San Vicente.
Taritas went out to claim his income from a nearby junkyard while her two children scavenged for scraps like metal and plastic bottles to earn money.
Eventually, Taritas returned home and found his partner weak, and the infant right underneath her legs. The newborn had not been crying, leading the couple to assume the baby was dead.
“Wala sad ko nakapapre-natal, mao to (nagtuo mi nga patay na ang bata)… Niana man dayun siya (Taritas) nga siya na balaha mu dispose sa bata,” added Sayre.
Police managed to trace Sayre and Taritas after the child who reported the discovery to barangay officials in San Vicente also claimed to have seen Taritas walking away from the dumpsite hours before.
According to Gingoyon, the abandoned newborn in Liloan is in good health condition.
Sayre and Taritas will be facing cases of Frustrated Infanticide.
Liloan is a first-class municipality located approximately 23 kilometers north of Cebu City. /rcg
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