Orphanage exec gets second kidnap case

MANILA, Philippines — Another mother filed a kidnapping case yesterday against an official of an orphanage for failing to return her one-year-old son to her after she placed him in the orphanage’s custody in January.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said in a statement that Melanie Marzan filed a case of kidnapping and failure to return a minor against Gentle Hands Inc. (GHI) executive director Charity Graff, a Canadian, before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office.

Monina Espinosa Roxas filed the first charge of kidnapping and failure to return a minor against Graff for refusing to return her three children she entrusted with the orphanage.

Marzan, a single mother, entrusted her son with GHI last Jan. 30 as she was pregnant with her second and child and was looking for a nanny.

Within one week, Marzan tried to get her son back but Graff refused and required the moter to submit certifications on her “parenting capability” from the DSWD and the local government unit.

The DSWD said Graff refused to release Marzan’s son even if the mother obtained the certifications until the agency intervened in May.