baby smuggling
- From: Joekerr <joekerr3@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 08:25:14 -0700 (PDT)
The Baby Merchants
By Raissa Robles, Newsbreak | 06/03/2009 3:42 PM
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Irene Low Ai Lian, a Singaporean national who was arrested for being
in possession of nine babies in a house she was renting outside
Manila, once said she was ordained by God to save unwanted Filipino
babies.
“I do believe in the Lord Jesus. My life path has been crafted by
HIM,” she posted last year on the website of Fox Family Services
Adoption Centre, her commercial adoption agency in Singapore.
“I don't know what it is and where it leads, but as I am here as a
facilitator....to those who desperately want to adopt a child.”
“My fees are a little high but my intentions are good,” she said.
Early last year, Low seemed particularly at pains to reassure clients
she was getting her babies legally. Her highly personal 2008 New Year
message said: “I try my level best to provide the best that I can,
even by getting valid certifications from the Social Welfare to verify
that the children for adoption are not trafficked or bought.”
“They are surrendered by the mothers to the Department of Social
Welfare (and Development) as they are too poor to upkeep them,” she
said.
The reality was somewhat different. According to Maura de la Rosa,
DSWD chief of operations for Region 4A which oversees Jala Jala and
Pililla, not one of the babies was obtained from the DSWD. They all
came from a certain Maria Lourdes “Malou” M. Martinez, the social
welfare officer of Pililla municipality.
Surprisingly, De la Rosa knew Martinez. “We used to see Malou during
seminars we would conduct” and she never aroused suspicion, she said.
Atty Escutin also said Martinez was never with the DSWD. And Low never
transacted with the DSWD, only Martinez did, she said.
De la Rosa said they tried to trace the parents of the nine babies the
police recovered last December. Four could not be traced back since
they had no birth certificates. Two had genuine certificates but with
fake mothers listed on them – which is a punishable offense. Only
three had genuine certificates stating their real mothers.
“Some parents actually admitted they sold their children,” Escutin
said adding, “if you check out the birth certificates, they were
really unwanted – born out of wedlock, of adulterous relationships or
to minor mothers.”
In Low's Fox Family website, she made it clear she knew it was wrong
for mother to sell their babies: “It is illegal to receive or ask for
monetary payment in exchange for giving up your child for adoption,
unless the payment is approved by the court.”
Escutin noted that not only were babies exchanged for money, “some of
the (real) parents were also offered some kind of work abroad. They
were being offered to bring their child with them (to Singapore).” The
ploy exploited amended DSWD guidelines allowing parents to bring their
offspring abroad without prior clearance from DSWD, she explained.
This startling discovery made by the DSWD, that mothers (both genuine
and fake) were being used as mules to smuggle babies instead of drugs
abroad, is somehow confirmed by Low herself in her 2008 New Year
message posted on the Fox Family website.
She said: “Apart from doing the adoption agency, I also try to get the
guardians a job in Singapore as a domestic maid! I don't even charge
them an extra cent; I only asked to reimburse me for the airfare.”
“I have successfully placed about four guardians (in) a job in
Singapore!” she wrote.
Was Low aware she was breaking Philippine laws on adoption and child
trafficking?
In her company website she made the following assertion: “We adhere to
the law and regulations of the host country and Singapore.” Host
country referred to the Philippines where the babies she was putting
up for adoption were coming from.
In a Newsbreak interview, Low said she was “working with the DSWD”.
Curiously, if she was working with the DSWD, she might have been
apprised that Fox Family was repeatedly violating Philippine laws. A
page on her agency website displayed “babies for viewing”. Two of them
- Jethro and Agatha - were described as “newborn”, while two others -
Santy and Eric – were four months old.
“That's a violation of the Domestic Adoption Law,” De la Rosa said.
Section two of this Republic Act 8552 bars parents from putting up for
voluntary adoption babies below six months old to “safeguard the
biological parent(s) from making hurried decisions.”
One of the “Frequently asked Questions” posted on her website is, “How
do we get the babies?”
The answer: “The biological mother surrenders her child (born or
unborn) to the social welfare or hospital. The social welfare contacts
us to facilitate the adoption.”
De la Rosa, whose office covers Jala Jala, said the DSWD has never
contacted Fox Family for any adoption nor has Fox Family contacted it
on any adoption.
Besides, Newsbreak learned, a mother's consent for foreign adoption
can be obtained “only after the birth of the child,” based on The
Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in
Respect of Inter-Country Adoption, which Manila signed.
In line with the Convention, the Philippines formed in 1995 its own
Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) through Republic Act 8043. It
requires ICAB to approve all foreign adoptions and accredit all
foreign adoption agencies. Fox Family is not accredited. (Read the
Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995 here)
Low told Newsbreak “it is not necessary” for any Singapore adoption
agency to be accredited by the Philippine government through ICAB or
by any government.
But Atty. Escutin noted that under RA 8043, foreign adoptions without
ICAB approval could constitute child trafficking if done by three or
more persons and it involves two or more babies.
The same law stipulates that foreign adoption should be the last
resort after domestic adoption efforts are exhausted.
One of ICAB's mandates is to “prevent improper financial or other gain
in connection with an adoption.” Its website lists the expenses for
each adoption to cost at least US$3,200.
Fox Family charges the equivalent of US$12,500 to facilitate one
adoption. Its website states: “There are many fees for professional
services to complete any adoption. They include the legal fees,
medical checkup, immigration paperwork, travel and the care of the
baby. We do all we can to keep our fee as low as possible....You can
pay by installment.”
“My fees are a little high but my intentions are good,” Low wrote in
the website.
“All fees are paid to assist social welfare in the Philippines and
elsewhere and in covering our overheads in Singapore,” the website
said. The statement was a definite acknowledgment of a link between
her adoption agency and the Philippine orphanage in Pililla called
Home for the Homeless Angels.
In fact this orphanage was also known by another name – Fox Children's
Home, according to Low herself. Low told the New Paper of Singapore
that “it was just a coincidence that her adoption agency (in
Singapore) and the Home shared the same name.” (See the story here)
Low also told New Paper that her involvement with the Philippine
orphanage only began in January 2008 - “I have donated about 8,800
Singapore dollars (P300,000) so far this year and visited it around
five times.”
She said she did it for humanitarian reasons, being herself a mother
of two adopted children ages two and five.
The tale of Agatha
Low indirectly confirmed with Newsbreak that she was getting babies
from Pililla, Rizal.
So did three adoptive parents in the website singaporemotherhood.com
which contains a lively forum among successful and would-be adoptive
parents. Discussions became heated early last year over one particular
subject - Irene Low and her Fox Family adoption agency.
In the forum, members Tracey Escalante and Chelah Ann castigated
another member named Chris for “badmouthing” Low over his failed
adoption of a baby named Agatha. Low's agency had trouble getting
Agatha past immigration authorities when Chris had already prepaid for
the baby and flown to the Philippines to hold Agatha in his arms.
But Chelah Ann defended Low saying “I know Irene personally...she is
an adopted child herself.”
“She started a home in Philippines and take(s) in abandoned children,
with caregivers to look after them 7 days a week 24 hours a
day...Every cent comes from her pocket. She does not take a salary,”
she said.
She said she witnessed this when she went with Low to the Philippines.
“I saw the caregivers and the children in the home. I followed her as
she traveled hours deep into the remote villages to meet the
biological parents. There are many good works she had done quietly
behind the scene.”
Low is also very particular about her clients and rejects those who
“are not able to provide the children a loving secured environment,”
she said.
Tracey Escalante also defended Low and called Chris an “idiot”. She
said she and her husband had adopted three children through Fox
Family. “And I believe the little girl we received must be the one
Chris (Crany) decided not to adopt.”
She asked other members to understand how difficult it was for Low to
process adoptions from the Philippines. “The Philippines is an
extremely poor country, especially in the mountains which is where the
babies were coming from. I have had to have patience, as everyone does
when adoption is occurring. But I can personally say, the Philippines
do not work like most countries. They process at their own pace and no
one can demand more of them.”
But Chris said, “You obviously have no idea what my wife and I went
through...I cut short my trip from the US and my wife and I flew to
the Philippines.” They visited the Home where Agatha was. “We spent a
considerable amount of time with Agatha...we went to the home at least
2 or 3 times. We bought stuffs for the home, clothes, diapers and a
fan cos they were really really lacking. We saw everything.”
“She (Low) promised to bring our baby down on 15 Feb 2007 in time for
CNY (Chinese New Year) but lo and behold, they realized that the
"foster mother does not have the required documents and this resulted
in delays!!” Chris said.
The adoption fell through. Although he eventually got a baby from
another agency, Chris complained commercial adoption agencies “seemed
to be increasing their cost for no particular reason.”
He also accused the women of hawking babies on Low's behalf. This
unusual use of a multi-level marketing scheme, in this case using
adoptive parents to look for potential business, was also mentioned by
Low in the Fox Family website.
(Read the heated exchange here)
Newsbreak asked Low if she once had a client named Chris who went to
Pililla to try to adopt a baby named Agatha through her agency.
She confirmed that “he went to my agency and he went on his own as
well, I think. I'm not sure.”
“All I know is that he tried and then I think it was not approved,”
she said.
Irene Low's local partner
In the same forum, Tracey Escalante spoke of personally meeting and
working with a social worker in the Philippines.
The only social worker involved in Low's operations was Maria Lourdes
“Malou” Martinez, social welfare officer hired by Pililla town hall.
After Low was arrested, she claimed she was deceived by Martinez, her
co-accused. Low told The Straits Times, “I was misguided. I trusted a
lot of people and I won't be so gullible again,” but refused to
elaborate.
Low refused to discuss Martinez with Newsbreak.
Low's first lawyer Hercules Cabug-Os even told TV Patrol: "My client
has been coordinating with the DSWD for a long time. She was made to
believe that everything is in order.”
Martinez “knew enough to know how to manipulate the system,” according
to Amihan Abueva, national coordinator of Asia Acts, an anti-child
trafficking NGO.
Newsbreak was shown one of the copies of a “Certification” which
Martinez signed. Dated August 7, 2008, it stated that a certain baby
was “voluntarily surrendered” by the mother. It said that while the
baby awaited a fostering license that was “in process” at the DSWD,
“the baby is under the shelter of Hope for the Homeless Angels, that
is under my supervision in coordination with DSWD Field office.”
The certification was a masterpiece of double talk. It stated that
“the baby is ready for adoption upon passing all the requirements in
the Philippine Law.” The statement was true but it also insinuated
that the baby could already be adopted.
Such certifications were probably used to fool Singapore authorities
into thinking the baby had passed Philippine legal processes, Escutin
said.
DSWD found that Martinez had filed at least two requests with the DSWD
for travel clearances, which are required whenever a child is not
accompanied by either parent. “She's also one of the people who
constantly travel to Singapore. She's part of this scheme,” Escutin
claimed.
Abueva noted that “she knew it was possible to get travel clearances
from other regions even if you don't belong to that region.”
Double-cross gives game away
Another co-accused in the case surprisingly backed Escutin's
assertions. Gellido, the Jala Jala house owner, told Newsbreak that
Martinez herself told him she arranged foreign adoptions for Low. He
said he was eating at a Jollibee outlet in Tanay, Rizal sometime in
November 2008 when he spotted his friend, Martinez. “I saw Malou. She
bragged to me that she goes to various countries interviewing foster
parents.”
Then Malou introduced him to Low who he said was looking to lease
1,000 hectares in Jala Jala to plant to jatropha.
Being in the realty business, Gellido showed Low around and brought
her to lunch in his house in Jala Jala. When she learned he no longer
lived there, she asked to rent it as a welfare home. She complained to
him that the welfare home in Pililla which she was supporting was “in
a dinky place”, a squatter area, he said.
He said he agreed because he expected her to lease in turn the
jatropha plantation through him. He was also looking forward to
meeting Low's husband, Australian national Robert Fox, who wanted to
find a local buyer for his supply of cheap imported crude oil.
“I called Malou and told her Irene was intending to rent my home,”
Gellido said. He showed Newsbreak the five-year lease on his 6,000
square meter home that Low signed at P10,000 pesos a month starting
December 1, 2008 or two weeks before the raid.
He stipulated in the contract that it would be used “strictly for the
purpose of placing and caring for surrendered babies from the various
DSWDs in the Philippines and other directly incidental activities.”
He claimed it was only days later he discovered that the Pililla
orphanage run by Martinez and Low was unregistered with the DSWD and
therefore illegal. He also discovered that Martinez had been
overcharging Low, making her pay P10,000 per birth certificate and
passport when these should cost only P140 and under 1,000 pesos,
respectively. Because of what he told Low, she started auditing
Martinez's expenses.
And when Martinez told Low that the municipal government of Pililla
was demanding a one million peso bond for the Pililla orphanage,
Gellido exposed the lie. “There's no such thing,” he told Low.
He also claimed he tried to help Low correct the situation by
registering for her on December 3, 2008 – or 12 days before the raid -
a new charitable foundation with the Securities and Exchange
Commission called the Jala Jala Home for the Needy Angels, Inc.
“I said to Irene, I'm not in the orphanage business, so you will still
manage that,” Gellido said.
Newsbreak found its registration papers at the SEC. Low heads the list
of incorporators; Gellido's name follows and he is named treasurer.
But Martinez's name is nowhere to be found. Gellido's raided house in
Jala Jala is the corporate address.
Among its functions is to match abandoned children with adoptive
parents. Its starting capital is P2,500 but it can solicit donations.
Stapled to the papers is a directive from DSWD director Alicia Bonoan
informing the SEC that the Home should not operate unless “it shall
first have registered with the DSWD.”
Because of Gellido's revelations about Martinez, Low flew to Manila on
December 12. “She was surprised to learn. Why like that? For two years
she thought she was talking to honorable people in the Philippines,”
he said.
He believes Martinez tipped off the police about the babies in his
house because his one-million-peso bouncing checks case had long been
resolved. “I suspect it was Malou because she lost her milking cow.”
Martinez remains at large and could not be contacted.
Surprisingly, Low has chosen to cast even Gellido aside. She told The
New Paper it was all Gellido's idea: “About three months ago (in
September 2008 and not November as Gellido claimed), the Philippines
Department of Social Welfare and Development introduced me to Mr.
Gellido, who is a former mayor of Jala Jala. He said he wanted to
build a home for babies who had been given up for adoption. He asked
me to help finance the project and I agreed.
“That's wrong,” Gellido told Newsbreak. It was other way around. “I'm
not in the orphanage business.” Gellido said he was willing to testify
and tell the truth on the matter.-with research assistance by Anna
Bueno
.
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