THE couple who sold their newborn outside a hospital on March 6, 2025, is now behind bars after they were arrested on separate days based on warrants of arrest issued by a court.
The latest to be arrested was the 44-year-old mother, alias Melda, a resident of Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City. She was arrested at 1:28 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
Members of the Mambaling Police Station received the warrant of arrest issued by Judge Leah Iligan Geraldez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 20, 7th Judicial Region, Cebu City, dated July 18, 2025.
The warrant was for a violation of Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) 11862 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022, which amended RA 9208 and RA 10364.
On July 20, her partner, alias Bungot, 49, who also resides in the same area, was arrested by the Carbon Police Station.
After receiving the arrest warrants against the couple, the units formed a tracker team to locate and apprehend them.
Both Bungot and Melda were allowed by the court to post bail at P200,000 each for their temporary release.
Earlier, members of the City Investigation and Detective Management Unit arrested the buyer of the baby, alias Zel, in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.
Zel had been listed as the city’s second most wanted person. After the arrest warrant was served, Zel was also released upon posting a P200,000 bail for temporary freedom.
According to Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, deputy city director for operations at the Cebu City Police Office, the baby’s biological parents were first apprehended during an operation related to illegal gambling.
The case for violation of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act was filed through regular filing, which meant that the suspects were released a few days after being detained for illegal gambling charges.
“Regular filing na siya except atong nadakpan gyud nato on a different case ang inahan kay as I understand last time, nadakpan na siya sa illegal gambling before pag responde sa atong kapulisan didto sa area niya a couple of months ago," said Macatangay.
(It was a regular filing. The mother had also previously been arrested for illegal gambling during a police response in her area a couple of months ago.)
She also clarified that the court’s decision to allow bail for the accused is beyond the police’s control.
The police are urging individuals who wish to adopt children to follow the proper legal process, such as going through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, to avoid facing legal charges that could cause problems for them later on.
Macatangay said the law prohibits anyone from buying children outside the proper government process, which has specific legal requirements that must be followed. (AYB)
