Baby of woman who slit open own belly found

MANILA, Philippines - The body of a full-term baby girl who was aborted by her mother last week was found yesterday morning, buried in a vacant lot of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority pumping station along Anonas street in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

Manila Police District (MPD) homicide investigator Senior Police Officer 3 Ronald Gallo said the baby was buried by two unidentified men upon the orders of Jennifer Lovino, the aunt of Janice Calipe, who performed a caesarian operation on herself – she reportedly slit open her own belly with a kitchen knife and sewed herself up using ordinary needle and threat – on July 5.

Gallo said Calipe, who is a midwifery graduate, will be initially charged with intentional abortion pending investigation and they are still looking at the possibility that she was aided during the course of the operation.

Barangay councilman Sebastian del Corro and tanod Emmanuel del Rosario of Barangay 636 Zone 64 accompanied investigators to the site where the baby was buried.

Del Rosario said Lovino had asked him Thursday night to bury the baby but he said he would do it in the morning, as he was still going to talk to a person at the Manila North Cemetery. He later found out that Lovino “hired” two scavengers to bury the baby instead.

Calipe and Lovino refused to give statements to the police, invoking their constitutional right to remain silent.

Gallo said Calipe reportedly told everything to Dr. Grace Mayuga of the Sampaloc Hospital, where she was brought after she performed the operation on herself.

A prominent doctor from another hospital said Calipe could not have performed the caesarian operation alone on herself because of the complexity of the procedure.