MANILA, Philippines - A three-year-old boy went missing from his home in Quezon City Sunday afternoon, his mother told the police yesterday.
The boy’s mother, a resident of Barangay Pinyahan, went to the Kamuning police station to report that she discovered her son missing from their house at around 5 p.m.
The mother said she was asleep that afternoon and did not notice her son go out of their house. She suspects that the boy followed his father when he went to Talipapa Market that day.
According to the mother, they were able to speak with a street child when they went out to search for their son in the vicinity of the Kamuning MRT station.
She said the street child told them that an elderly American, with his wife and two children, took her son when they saw him crying Sunday afternoon.
The American allegedly told the street child that he wanted to adopt the boy. The street child added that he frequently sees the American in the area.
The boy’s disappearance followed the kidnapping of a boy aged one year and seven months in another Quezon City barangay. The boy was later reunited with his parents.
In Taguig City, two boys remain missing after they disappeared in the last week of March.
In a related development, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to look into the reported cases of child kidnappings in the country.
Purisima also tapped the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) to assist in the investigation to once and for all stop the kidnappings.
The PNP chief said he has instructed CIDG director Chief Superintendent Francisco Uyami to pursue the investigation, although the PNP earlier said disappearance of children was apparently due to their parents’ or guardians’ negligence.
“If our local police did not act on your complaint, then you can report this matter to me at 0917-8475757,†said Purisima.