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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider CICC teams up with other gov't agencies to combat online baby sellers

CICC teams up with other gov't agencies to combat online baby sellers

Published Jun 5, 2024 10:08 am

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), National Authority for Child Care (NACC), and Philippine National Police-Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) will be forming a technical working group to stop parents, brokers, and others involved in the illicit online sale of babies.

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Photo from Pixabay

In a statement released on June 5, the CICC, an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), said Executive Director Alexander K. Ramos held a meeting with NACC Executive Director Janella Ejercito Estrada, and Chief of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division of the PNP-WCPC Police Colonel (PCol) Renato C. Mercado on June 3.

During the closed-door meeting, Mercado expressed concern about the widespread online sale of babies and pinpointed four new active Facebook groups involved in the trade.

According to PNP, babies are being sold for P30,000 to P2 million.

In many cases, mothers are involved in the illegal sale of their babies.

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From right to left: CICC Executive Director Alexander K. Ramos, NACC Executive Director Janella Ejercito Estrada, and PCol Renato C. Mercado, chief of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division of the Women and Children Protection Center under the Philippine National Police. (CICC)

“Mothers would say that they were giving up their babies because they cannot afford to support them,” Mercado said.

“Poverty is indeed the driving force behind the online sale of babies,” he explained.

Additionally, CICC social media experts identified two more new Facebook pages engaged in the sale of babies.

Ramos conveyed his dismay with the use of social media in the illegal sale of babies.

“This problem on the illegal adoption of babies is not really new but it has been going on for years. But the black market trade is now getting more sophisticated with the use of social media,” he said.

The meeting took place at the National Cybercrime Hub in Bonifacio Global City and focused on discussing the issue at hand.

Meanwhile, NACC officials observed a trend where individuals engaged in the illegal adoption of babies are transitioning to Facebook pages that specifically target surrogacy.

Surrogacy is a process in which a woman carries and delivers a child for a couple or individual.

Estrada emphasized the importance for the public to engage directly with the NACC for the adoption of babies.

NACC is a "quasi-judicial agency" affiliated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and holds exclusive jurisdiction over child adoption and alternative childcare matters.

Furthermore, Ramos urged the public to report any social media accounts involved in the online sale of babies to the Inter-Agency Response Center (IARC) hotline at 1326.

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