Mom, “abductor” appear to know each other

Suspicion has surfaced that the mother of three-monthold baby she reported to have been abducted by an unidentified woman at the Cebu South Bus Terminal lied and that she knowingly allowed the woman to take away her body in what authorities suspect could even be a case of trafficking.

This came about after the police saw a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage that captured the supposed abduction of baby Lady Love.

CCTV operator Van Derrick Gestopa said he was in doubt that an abduction happened on that day because the

footage, which capture the exit portion of CSBT, showed that at 6:32 p.m. Monday last week, 31-year-old Maricel Enriquez and the woman, who was already bringing the baby, were talking to each other.

While talking, the woman was facing Enriquez and was lulling the baby to sleep while Enriquez had with her a box of candies she was selling. Around three policemen were also seen across them.

At 6:35 p.m., the woman was seen sending someone a text message. After that, the woman handed Enriquez her shoulder bag, which the latter accepted and even slung on her shoulder.

The woman, still bringing the baby, then left towards the inside of the terminal, leaving Enriquez behind. Before she dropped out of the camera’s view, the women was even seen gesticulating towards Enriquez as if saying goodbye. Enriquez appeared unperturbed and continued selling the candies.

Enriquez then went outside of the CSBT at 6:57 p.m. bringing the bag with her and was out of the camera’s range. At 6:59 p.m., she again appeared in the footage, this time walking and as if searching for the woman and her child as she also heads to the interior portion of the terminal.

Earlier, Enriquez told reporters that she was busy entertaining customers at that time that was why she forgot about Lady Love and when she remembered about her baby, Lady Love and the woman were already nowhere to be found.

However, it was seen in the footage that she saw the departure of the woman with her baby but she just continued selling her candies as if nothing happened.

Upon learning of Enriquez’s claim, Gestopa said he had his doubts especially that when they asked her questions, her account over what happened were not consistent.

Gestopa also said it took the mother almost 30 minutes before “trying” to search for her baby and she did not ask for police assistance when there were policemen at the vicinity the whole time.

“Murag dili man (abduction) kay nag-istorya ra man gud silang duha. Kay og ikaw, gi-kidnap imong anak, palabihon diay nimo ang tinda kaysa sa bata? Mga 30 minutes pa gud usa niya gipangita…hinay pa gyud pagkalakaw,” said Gestopa.

Ramil Sato, a CSBT dispatcher, also said he thought Enriquez and the woman were friends. He remembered Enriquez talking to the woman because the two were chatting when he bought cigarette from Enriquez.

“Kaila tingali kay nag-istorya man sila,” said Sato.

Sato, though, said he did not hear what the two were talking about but was surprised when he learned about the alleged abduction. He also said he doubted that the baby was abducted.

On the other hand, Rebecca Andales defended her sister and vehemently denied the accusations Enriquez sold Lady Love to the woman.

Andales said Enriquez has five children, with two in the custody of their respective fathers; two others, including the son of an American, is in Andales’ care; and only Lady Love was left with Enriquez.

Andales said if her sister was not a good mother, she could have sold or abandoned her other children laready. She added someone even offered P50,000 to Enriquez in exchange for her half-American son but Enriquez did not accept.

“Kuwangan gyud ko og pagtuo sir nga gibaligya niya kay kung mao na, kato na lang iyang anak nga Amerkano, gihangyo gud to og P50 mil pero wa siya,” said Andales.

Enriquez, who went back to the CIDG-7 yesterday and bringing with her the documents that she found inside the woman’s bag, was interrogated by CIDG7 Director Marlon Tayaba and CIDG-7 Chief Investigator Delfin Bontuyan regarding the CCTV footage.

Bontuyan asked Enriquez if she wanted Lady Love to be adopted by that woman in exchange of a money but Enriquez said no.

Enriquez explained that the bag that was given to her was only left by the woman since her husband had already arrived by that time.

“Ingon siya nga dad-a usa ni oh kay naabot na akong bana,” said Enriquez, quoting the woman.

Enriquez said the woman was gesturing not to say goodbye but to promise that she would bring her baby back after she sees her husband.

“Niingon ra man to siya sir nga ‘ibalik ra lagi ko ni’ kay ako man giingnan nga ‘akong anak ha, ibalik na ha’,” said Enriquez, who added that she would never give her children to someone in exchange for money.

In a separate interview, Tayaba said they would dig deeper into the matter by making a closer scrutiny of Enriquez’s and the woman’s actions captured by the CCTV.

He also said they also have documents that could provide them a lead, like a remittance center receipt left inside the wallet in the bag of the woman. The receipt contains the name of a male sender and the name of the woman recipient.

“We will not leave any stones unturned to solve this case… Gaya ng nasabi ko, we are still investigating kung this is a kidnapping case or any other incident. We are still looking at all elements of kidnapping, kung pasok nga talaga or hindi,” said Tayaba.

He said that as far as their questioning of Enriquez yesterday, she has so far answered all their questioned properly. The police, however, will still subject her to another series of questions to get additional information that could help in the investigation.

“I-interview-hin pa nating mabuti to determine the veracity of the information given,” said Tayaba.