According to some fairly explosive reporting from the GMA Network’s “Brigada” program, areas around several hospitals in Metropolitan Manila are playing host to a fast growing underground trade in newborn babies.
“Sarah,” an alleged baby trafficker featured in GMA’s coverage of the issue, speculated that the majority of her customers are couples unable to conceive on their own accord and unwilling to go through the traditional adoption process.
GMA reporter Hadji Rieta and her team, working with undercover assets, gained access to several “baby agents” over the course of their reporting. While meeting with the agents, prices quoted for the sale of newborn babies ranged from P10,000 to P25,000. The agents, acting as middlemen between prospective buyers and sellers, tended to key in on impoverished and/or teenage mothers.
In a related piece of reporting, GMA News Online documented several incidences of outright baby kidnapping in the Manila area.
Not all hope is lost however. New technologies, like the infant protection system, are being applied by Medical City in Pasig to deter potential baby grabbers. The infant protection system utilizes two mechanical tags, one attached to the baby and one attached to the mother. The devices are programmed to trigger an alarm if mother and child are separated by a certain distance.
