Man in toddler’s kidnap faces raps

MANILA, Philippines - Criminal charges have been filed against a man who allegedly snatched a boy in Quezon City then attempted to sell him in Parañaque City.

Dennis Nabua was charged with human trafficking with the Quezon City prosecutor’s office Monday, according to Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano.

Police are hot on the trail of Nabua who remains at-large.

Superintendent Pedro Sanchez, commander of QCPD Station 2, cited witnesses’ accounts that Nabua was the same man who kidnapped one-year-old Lovelio “Buboy” Mendoza in Barangay San Antonio on April 2.

Based on a footage obtained by The STAR, the child followed a man carrying a basin that had empty plastic bottles. The toddler walked several blocks from the store where his mother was buying cellular phone load credits. Later on, the suspect and the child boarded a tricycle. 

Sanchez said Nabua brought the boy in Baclaran, Parañaque on the same day and asked if anyone would be willing to adopt him.

When no one took the child, the suspect asked a couple if he could entrust the boy to them. Nabua even asked P1,200 from the couple supposedly for his trip to his hometown in Pangasinan.

Two days later, the couple contacted the boy’s parents after hearing news about a missing child in Quezon City.

Albano said Nabua’s photo was posted on police cars along with the pictures of missing children in the metropolis as the police intensified their efforts to locate them.