MANILA, Philippines — The number of children who have disappeared or were kidnapped in the country has reached alarming proportions, a police official said yesterday.
“There have been reports in the past few months that children are being snatched near their homes or in public places or they simply disappeared,” the official said, but did not cite figures.
He said people are “not alarmed, maybe because they think these are isolated cases but we believe they are not.”
The official said they are checking reports that a Chinese syndicate trafficking in human organs is behind the kidnappings.
He said most of those who were arrested did not divulge who ordered them to kidnap children “because the syndicate has a network of shadowy people who would do everything to avoid leading the authorities to its leaders.”
The official said relatives of missing children visit different television and radio stations nationwide each day.
“If you make a record of these reported disappearances, you will notice there is a pattern,” he said.
The official noted that the children who were taken were either sleeping with their parents on the sidewalk or public places, playing on the street or walking to and from school.
“These are not mere coincidences. There is a syndicate behind the disappearance of children and that’s what we are going to expose,” said the source, who is connected with the Philippine National Police’s intelligence unit.
He also cited that the kidnappers are brazen – there were instances when the children were taken in front of their parents.
“Clearly there is a reason and there are people behind this,” he said.
Several weeks ago, a six-year-old girl was snatched while sleeping beside her father on a sidewalk in Pasay City.
On Dec. 14, 2017, a 41-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a six-month-old baby in Rizal Park.