CEBU, Philippines — The mother of the 10-year-old boy found dead inside a firefighter’s car in Balamban town last Saturday afternoon will be subjected to investigation.
Police said they will coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the probe to see if the mother committed lapses.
Investigation revealed this was the second time the mother lost a child.
On Saturday, the 10-year-old boy was found lifeless inside the vehicle owned by a firefighter.
According to Police Major Christian Torres, chief of Balamban police, the mother already signified that she was not interested in pursuing a case against the firefighter.
She also did not want the body to be subjected to autopsy.
“Wala ra siya mo-file og reklamo sa bombero... Di na pud siya pursigido mogukod sa tag-iya sa sakyanan (She did not file a case. She is not determined to pursue a case against the owner of the vehicle),” Torres said.
Torres said the boy was always seen roaming around the public market and other areas of the town everyday, according to the people there.
This raised suspicions that the mother had neglected her children, which, according to Torres, may lead to possible liabilities.
Torres suspected that the mother may have been giving less attention to her children, considering that the boy who died was still in Grade 1 even when he was already 10 years old.
He said that each time investigators visited the mother’s house, she was not always around. In fact, her other children were having fever but she was not allegedly present.
After the firefighter gave financial assistance to the mother, she failed to show up again to coordinate with the investigation. This led the police to visit her house and saw her other two children with fever, without the mother around.
Torres revealed that the boy who was found dead inside the firefighter’s car died of suffocation, according to the doctor.
Moreover, no foul play was evident on the boy’s body. The firefighter’s car was designed to have an automatic lock.
Because it takes several seconds before it actually locks, authorities suspect that the boy may have entered the vehicle and failed to go out because he did not know how.
However, Torres said they are yet to determine why the firefighter didn’t notice when the boy got into his car, considering that it only takes seconds before the car automatically locks.
“Wa sad siya kadungog og naa bay nilamba nga pultahan (He did not hear any sound),” Torres said.
He added that there were no signs that would show that the boy tried to go out of the car.
“Murag natulog ra gyud siya didto. Hangtud nawad-an og oxygen (It’s like he had fallen asleep inside and lost oxygen),” Torres said.
There were signs that the child vomited while inside the car but the doctor this is a common sign of death due to suffocation. (FREEMAN)