MANILA, Philippines - The 20-year-old father of a baby boy was arrested yesterday for dumping the baby’s corpse in a vegetable patch along NIA Road in Quezon City yesterday.
Police said Joseph Cajinod, who was arrested at his house yesterday morning, admitted that he was confused and decided to dump the baby because he had no money for burial expenses.
Cajinod’s 18-year-old live-in partner remains at the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), where she gave birth to their baby Sunday afternoon. Police said she is unaware of what happened to their child.
Dr. Maria Victoria Abesamis, EAMC chief of clinics, said an 18-year-old woman gave birth at the hospital at 4:40 p.m. Sunday. She said the baby was barely five months old and died at 10 p.m.
Abesamis said Cajinod claimed the body at the hospital morgue and promised to give the baby a proper burial.
Quezon City police Station 10 commander Superintendent Constante Agpaoa said they are considering filing charges of illegal disposal of a dead person, a provision under Presidential Decree 856 (Sanitation Code of the Philippines), against Cajinod.
Police said the baby’s body, with two hospital tags still attached, was found in the vegetable patch in Barangay Pinyahan at around 9:15 a.m. yesterday. The tags bore the names “Baby Boy Jay Gonzaga” and “Dra. Ramirez.”