Singaporean arrested over "illegal babies" in Manila

Singaporean arrested over "illegal babies" in Manila

Thu, Dec 18, 2008
AsiaOne

A Singaporean woman accused of human trafficking was placed in house arrest in the Philippines. This follows the discovery of the alleged illegal operation of a children's home in a province near Manila on Tuesday.
Nine babies - five girls and four boys - from one to nine months old were rescued from the Fox Children's Home in Jala-Jala town in Rizal province. Law enforcers had stumbled upon the babies while trying to arrest former Jala-Jala, Rizal mayor Voltaire Gellido for alleged large-scale estafa, which is a crime committed by a person defrauding causing damage to another.
Irene Low Ai Lian, 50, who was renting the house from the former mayor, is suspected to be an alleged member of a syndicate selling babies in Singapore. She runs an adoption agency in Singapore, called the Fox Family Services Adoption Centre, which she set up two years ago.
In an interview with local television station ABS-CBN, she said, "I think it's totally unfair. I donate money for food because I believe that God has given me my son...my husband and I couldn't conceive many years ago and I wanted to do something great."
Her husband, Mr Robert Fox, told The Straits Times: "She would not do anything against the law."
She is set to be charged today for violating the Philippines' child welfare code.
In the Philippines, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) condemned the reported sale of babies found in the house.
'We reiterate a very strong warning to all those who engage or plan to engage in human trafficking. We, at the DSWD assure everybody that they will be dealt with accordingly, with the full force of the law,' DSWD secretary Esperanza Cabral said in a statement.
The foundation's owner, who declined to be identified, maintains that they have a permit to operate.
"We do have the permits. We have complete permits, the Mayor's permit and the DSWD is calling us," the owner said in an ABS-CBN interview.
The DSWD still decided to close the foundation despite the verification of documents. It reiterated that "it will exert maximum efforts to protect the babies. Diligent efforts will be made to locate (their) parents."
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