Woman who sold baby for P45,000 gets life

MANILA, Philippines — A woman who sold her eight-month-old daughter for P45,000 to repay a debt that she incurred in online cockfighting and three others have been sentenced to life in prison by a Quezon City court.

In a ruling dated Oct. 18, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 86 found the mother, another woman, a Nigerian and a man who acted as a middleman guilty of qualified trafficking in persons under Republic Act 9208 as amended by RA 10364, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported yesterday.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the court also ordered the accused to pay a fine of P2 million each.

Santiago did not name the mother and her three accomplices due to the sensitive nature of the case.

He said the court’s ruling serves as a warning to people who are engaged in human trafficking, sexual exploitation and other crimes against women and children.

The case trended online in March 2022 after the mother pleaded for help to recover her child whom she pawned for P45,000 as she was mired in gambling debt due to e-sabong.

She met with the middleman at a fast-food chain in Quezon City where she sold her child.

But the woman changed her mind and wanted her daughter back.

The NBI conducted an entrapment operation, which led to the arrest of the other suspects in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Authorities arrested the mother and the middleman in May 2022.