Safe haven for infants

Lately, I've been reading news stories of infants being abandoned. The other day, a newborn baby girl was found inside a box in Lapu-Lapu City. Last year in the same city, I saw a Facebook video of a newborn baby boy found in a paper bag. I am reminded of my experience when I was still in second grade when I was one of the curious onlookers of a newborn who was found in a dumpster along V. Rama Ave. When I worked as a nurse at VSMMC, there were mothers who, after giving birth, just left their babies at the hospital and never came back. In all cases, the police investigate and try to find the birth mother, and if not found, the Department of Social Welfare and Development takes custody of the child.

What really tugged my heartstrings was the recent case of an abandoned premature baby boy found in Daanbantayan last May. Despite the expert medical care at VSMMC and the all out support from the Cebu Provincial Government, the poor child did not survive. Such death could have been preventable.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution vows to value the dignity of every human person and defends the rights of children and affords them special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development. In response to this state policy, there are provisions in the Revised Penal Code and other existing special penal laws that seek to punish crimes against children.

However despite all these laws, still, newborn abandonment happens all the time. We become indignant, and rightfully so, of such cruel, senseless and inhuman act of the mother or the adult who left the child at such precarious situation that not even animals do such a thing to their young. But after the initial shock, we move on and forget about it. And the next thing we know, there's another abandoned baby found somewhere.

So what must be done? First let us recognize that

This column is not a substitute for professional legal advice obtained from a US licensed immigration attorney. The information contained herein does not constitute a warranty or guarantee or legal advice regarding a reader's specific immigration case. No attorney-client relationship is and shall be established with any reader.

For any questions, comments and observations, please contact Atty. Marco Tomakin at mtomakin@gmail.com

newborn abandonment is a societal problem. Not only does it harm the child but the mother as well. As a community, it also reflects upon us on what systems we have in place for mothers of these abandoned children who may have been victims of rape or...