Woman who kidnapped baby from Taguig hospital charged

MANILA, Philippines - The Taguig City police has filed kidnapping charges against a woman who took a newborn from the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital by pretending to be a social worker last Feb. 13.

The baby boy was rescued from the home of Maria Rosman Mañalac, 24, in Bagumbayan, Taguig last Saturday and returned to his parents.

According to Superintendent Celso Rodriguez, officer-in-charge of the city police, Mañalac was seen on surveillance video leaving the hospital delivery room with the infant on the night of Feb. 13.

Police officers said Mañalac took the newborn from his mother after flashing a fake Department of Social Welfare and Development identification card and telling her she would take the baby for newborn screening.

Chief Inspector Benito Basilio, who heads the city police’s criminal investigation division, said Mañalac confessed that she took the baby to replace her son, who died soon after being born last year. She also suffered a miscarriage the same  year.