Missing boy’s parents: Please return our son

MANILA, Philippines - The parents of the missing three-year-old boy in Quezon City yesterday appealed to the person who allegedly picked-up their son to return the child to them.

“Please return our son,” said Joel Calimag, father of John Gabriel, who disappeared from their home Sunday. “I want to see my child.”

The Quezon City Police District is conducting follow-up investigation to locate the Caucasian male, supposedly an American, who allegedly picked-up the boy when he saw him crying at the MRT Kamuning station.

The parents of the boy went to QCPD Station 9 yesterday with the 12-year-old street child who allegedly saw the Caucasian taking the boy.

The street child said he first saw John Gabriel playing at the MRT Kamuning station.

He said the Caucasian, whom he often sees in the area, told him that he wanted to adopt the boy. The street child added that the foreigner asked him to get the number of the boy’s parents in case they look for John Gabriel.

Calimag said he had no idea how his child reached the MRT station from their house at NIA Road in Barangay Pinyahan.

“Maybe someone carried him from our area,” he told The STAR. “He’s too young to walk from our house to the station.”

The boy’s mother, Grace, said she was asleep that afternoon and did not notice her son come out of their house.

Police said they would look into the CCTV at the MRT station to see if the incident was captured on tape.

TF Sagip Anghel activated

Meanwhile, police yesterday activated Task Force Sagip Anghel to look into reports of missing children in the metropolis, which reached 40 cases since January 2012.

The task force is composed of officers from the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) under the supervision of Chief Superintendent Christopher Laxa, NCRPO deputy director for operations.

NCRPO spokesperson Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas said of the 40 cases, only four are still being investigated by police, including two in Taguig and one each in Parañaque and Quezon City. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe