Babies are not commodities
The online marketplace offers everything for sale, even those that one would normally find unthinkable as a “commodity,” for example, human infants as young as 6 days old.
Cases of online “baby or child selling” have gotten worse and more brazen, prompting the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to call for a government crackdown on the practice that has been going on for years but has proliferated on the internet, where the reach is wider, and the deals are faster.
In May 2024, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) apprehended a mother and her broker attempting to sell an 8-day-old baby for P90,000. In July last year, a guardian tried to sell on Facebook a 1-month-old baby for P90,000. Then this week, a 17-year-old mother was caught attempting to sell her 1-month-old baby on social media for P55,000 to raise tuition money that she had spent elsewhere. Police arrested the perpetrators in the three cases that took place in different locations—Cavite, Pasay City, and Quezon City—and rescued the babies for sale. But just how many more similar cases are unreported or happening offline?
A form of trafficking
The Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) already raised the alarm in July, pointing out that buying and selling a baby is a form of trafficking in persons and is punishable under Republic Act No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012. These laws impose a jail term ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment and fines from P1 million to P2 million.
“Baby selling not only violates the law, but also violates the rights and dignity of the child,” the CWC said.
In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates that the state should prevent the abduction, sale, and trafficking of children.
One of the most well-known cases was in 2022 when a mother, who was deep in online “sabong” debts, tried to sell her 8-month-old baby for P45,000 to a person she met through a Facebook group called “Bahay Ampunar.” The baby was eventually rescued, and four individuals, including the mother and a Nigerian national, were arrested. Two years later, in 2024, a Quezon City Regional Trial Court sentenced the four accused to life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million each.
But this has been the only conviction, so far, out of at least 16 arrests.
Most common reason
CHR Commissioner Beda Epres said poverty was the most common reason why individuals, even parents themselves, would sell children, often in the guise of adoption.
The perpetrators encourage those who “buy” or “adopt” the children to apply for late registration of birth, a process they have used as a shortcut to the often tedious or long adoption process. But these are considered crimes under RA 11642 or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, enacted in 2022. The law, in fact, has shortened the adoption process to at least six months, down from two to three years. It also established the National Authority for Child Care (NACC) under the DSWD to handle applications and prescribed a timeframe to resolve adoption petitions.
As the CWC pointed out, there are legal and compassionate processes that provide alternative care options for children, such as those under RA 11642. These processes provide faster and safer placements for children and ensure that their inherent dignity and best interests are upheld and protected.
“Many of them come from the poorest of the poor segment of society,” CHR’s Epres said in a TV interview, adding that those who manage the social media accounts, particularly on Facebook, take advantage of their poverty.
Online child-selling groups
Technology has made it easier for these perpetrators to carry out the crime on social media platforms such as Facebook Marketplace. The DSWD said in a 2024 report that it has monitored about 40 social media pages where babies are sold, while the NACC said it found at least 12 online child-selling groups with around 200,000 members.
Every day, somewhere on the dark web, a child is likely put on sale by desperate parents or relatives—whether it is to give these children a better life or to save the adults from dire situations.
The government must strengthen the monitoring and regulation of these online platforms and ensure the swift prosecution and conviction of perpetrators of child selling. The online sites selling babies must be closed down, and perpetrators identified and charged.
It should also launch a public awareness campaign on how to report cases. Should you know of any case involving the trafficking of children or any other violation of their rights, call the 1383 Makabata Helpline number or 09193541383 (Smart) and 09158022375 (Globe). Reports may also be made to the Inter-Agency Council on Anti-Trafficking Helpline 1343.
As the CHR stated: “No child should ever be bought, sold, or treated as a commodity.” Not even poverty should be made an excuse for that deplorable crime.
