Following the news about the baby abandoned in a Gulf Air plane, a dead infant was found inside a trash can aboard the SuperFerry 19 on September 13, reports ABS-CBNNews.com. According to the report, a utility man said he discovered the eight-month-old baby boy wrapped in plastic in the ferry's bathroom, while the vehicle was on its way to Manila from Cotabato.
SuperFerry officials turned over the mother identified only as "Maria" to the police in Bacolod City. "Maria," 30, told ABS-CBN News she was urinating in the toilet when she suddenly gave birth to the baby boy, who accidentally fell into the toilet bowl. She said she was wrapping him in plastic when she lost consciousness. When she supposedly came to, she said she found him stuck in the toilet bowl. Insisting her baby's death was an accident, she claimed her only mistake was not crying for help.
Inspector Jovy Cabcaban, head of the Bacolod City Police's Women and Children's Desk, said they will determine the real cause of death of the baby through an autopsy of his body. Police investigation showed that Maria has had three children, all of whom died in infancy, and that her relatives were unaware of her recent pregnancy. Maria may have a mental disorder, Cabcaban added. According to ABS-CBNNews.com, an infanticide case against her is being readied.
24 Oras video: Abandoned infant found in Blumentritt trashcan.
Meanwhile, two more abandoned infants have been found recently: a baby girl in Bluementritt, Manila and a baby boy in Pangasinan, according to GMANews.tv. Found crying inside a trashcan on September 13, the baby girl is now in a stable condition at the Chinese General Hospital. Police are still searching for her mother.
24 Oras reported on September 13 that a baby boy was found on a road, surrounded by ants, near a hospital in San Carlos City, Pangasinan. Residents who brought him to the nearby hospital said they found him with his mother who supposedly has a mental disorder. The baby boy's condition is now stable but doctors are on standby for possible infections.
24 Oras video: Abandoned baby found near Pangasinan hospital.
GMANews.tv reports that 986 babies were abandoned from January 2008 to February 2009, based on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The data cited extreme poverty as the most common reason parents leave their infants.
For more on this story, log on to ABS-CBNNews.com and GMANews.tv.
