Penniless man steals son from hospital morgue

Manila vice mayor shoulders boy’s funeral

MANILA, Philippines - A man who did not have the money to pay for his two-year-old son’s hospitalization stole his son’s body from the morgue of a hospital in Malabon Tuesday night.

Marlon de Leon was invited for questioning by the Manila Police District after he was seen carrying his son’s body, wrapped in a red cloth, in front of the Missionaries of Charity Home of Joy in Tayuman.

De Leon admitted taking his son’s body from the morgue without clearance from the Pagamutang Bayan ng Malabon because he has no money to pay the hospital bill.

De Leon said he brought Kevin to the hospital two days ago because he had been continuously vomiting. De Leon said the doctors in Malabon informed him that Kevin was already dead upon their arrival there “due to dehydration and malnutrition.”

“I don’t have money. I’ve been trying to look for money for his injection, but I did not find anything. Upon taking my son from the hospital, I was advised by my friend to bring him to the orphanage to seek help for his burial,” De Leon told police.

Also on Tuesday night, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno was informed by a friend about De Leon’s plight. Upon talking to Moreno, De Leon agreed to bring his son’s body to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center so he could be buried at the Manila North Cemetery.

Annie Tubera, a staff of the Office of the Vice Mayor’s public information office, said the boy’s remains were set to be buried yesterday.