Archival urges troubled parents to seek help

Local

FOLLOWING the rescue of a newborn baby found along Gotianuy Street in Barangay Kamputhaw in Cebu City earlier this week, Mayor Nestor Archival appealed to parents facing hardship to seek help from the city government and social welfare offices instead of abandoning their children.

Archival made the appeal after the infant was discovered inside a green eco-bag placed in a garbage area.

The mayor stressed that the city has mechanisms in place to assist parents who are unable to care for their children, particularly newborns, and that abandonment should never be an option.

“Ang ako gyung awhag naa tay opisina sa Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) nga andam motabang unsaon pagbuhi sa bata. Anyway, og dili gyud mo kakaya, ang DSWS maoy mangita og paagi kinsay maka-adopt niana—into a process nga legal,” Archival said.

He added that the city regularly extends care even to homeless individuals, underscoring that greater protection should be afforded to infants.

“Timan-e, ang mga tawo gani nga naa sa dalan, kadtong mga tawo nga way kapuy-an, giatiman gani sa Siyudad sa Sugbo, how much more anang bata nga bag-o pa gyud natawo,” the mayor said.

Police said the newborn was found in the early hours of Tuesday after residents noticed suspicious movement inside an eco-bag in a garbage area along Gotianuy Street.

Authorities immediately secured the area and transported the infant to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), where the baby was placed under protective custody and given medical care.

The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) later identified a woman of legal age as a person of interest in the case, whom police believe to be the child’s biological mother.

She is currently confined at VSMMC for medical treatment and remains under hospital care while the investigation continues.

According to police, the woman had been temporarily staying at an apartment in Barangay Kamputhaw after traveling to Cebu City for the Sinulog Festival. Witnesses told investigators they noticed her bleeding in the early morning on Tuesday and rushed her to the hospital. Before being taken to VSMMC, however, she was allegedly seen leaving the apartment and disposing of an item in a nearby garbage area.

Shortly after, residents discovered the newborn, leading to the police response.

The case has been turned over to the CCPO’s Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD), which is handling the investigation and ensuring that child-protection protocols and legal procedures are followed.

Authorities are also determining possible criminal liability under laws on child abuse and abandonment.

Col. George V. Ylanan, chief of CCPO, said the case is being treated with utmost seriousness.

“The abandonment of an infant is a grave offense and a clear violation of laws designed to protect children. We assure the public that the Cebu City Police Office will relentlessly pursue this case and ensure that those responsible are held fully accountable under the law,” Ylanan said.

Both the infant and the woman remain admitted at VSMMC and are receiving appropriate medical care, police said.(TGP)