Woman, 64, arrested for selling abortion drug

A 64-year-old woman was apprehended for allegedly selling Cytotec, a drug for ulcer that causes abortion, in Quiapo, Manila on Saturday afternoon.

Police were conducting a clearing operation against illegal vendors along Carriedo street when they chanced upon Elizabeth Franco, of Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong, allegedly offering abortion pills to a prospective buyer near the Quiapo Church at around 3 p.m.

Chief Inspector Leandro Gutierrez, head of the Plaza Miranda police community precinct, said they recovered from Franco 179 pieces of Cytotec, several pieces of abortion pill Arthrotec and two pads of methergin tablets amounting to P50,000.

Methergin is a drug used for prevention and control of postpartum hemorrhage.

During questioning, Franco refused to disclose the source of the banned drugs.

Superintendent Thomas Ibay, comander of the Manila Police District Station 3, ordered his men to act as buyers in a bid to rid the vicinity of the Quiapo Church of abortifacient drugs.

Ibay said they received information that vendors in the area get the abortion drugs from a Pakistani.

“We have been operating against sellers of abortion pills but unless we get hold of the source, this illicit activity would not stop. Those who were arrested refused to cooperate with the police and they simply post bail and get back to Quiapo,” Ibay told The STAR.

Open secret

The selling of Cytotec is an open secret around the Quiapo Church.

Most of those involved in the trade are ambulant vendors selling herbal medicine.

A tablet of Cytotec ranges from P150 to P300, depending on the volume and its availability in the market.

Yesterday, a source of The STAR managed to buy five tablets of Cytotec for P750 from a woman selling herbal medicine at the corner of Evangelista and G. Puyat streets.

The woman said the dealings happen “right under the noses of the authorities” and they always get away with it.

Police said charges of violation of Republic Act 9711 or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009 would be filed against Franco.