Filipina maid faces jail term in S'pore

A despondent Filipina may languish in a Singaporean jail on charges of attempted murder for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in a hospital toilet bowl there last Saturday.

Executive Director Rolando Gregorio of the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office for Migrant Workers disclosed the Filipina domestic helper, identified as 34-year-old Fagarang Petron, might be imprisoned for up to three years for the charges.

Gregorio said the Philippine Embassy in Singapore would fully extend assistance to the Filipina since she was apparently in despair and confused when the incident happened. "It was good the baby was saved, she could escape from stiffer penalty, since the victim was not a Singaporean," Gregorio noted.

He added Philippine officials would ask the Singapore authorities to be lenient with Petron, who was reported to be confined in another hospital to recover. She was placed under a round-the-clock surveillance.

The DFA, however, has yet to receive complete information about Petron as well as the circumstances that led to the incident.

Singapore's The New Paper reported on Tuesday that Petron was been charged with attempted murder after her newborn baby was found with his umbilical cord still intact in a toilet bowl at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

Petron was arrested six days after the baby boy was discovered. The staff at the hospital managed to save the baby after receiving a call there were some blood in one of the toilets, according to The New Paper. --