ZAMBOANGA CITY, 14 March 2005 — The case of an eight-month old fetus believed to have been the victim of abortionists and left to be eaten by stray dogs has shocked the southern city of Kidapawan.
Police said they are looking for a woman who may have aborted the unwanted male fetus in her womb and abandoned it outside the residence of Catholic Bishop Romulo Valles in the village of Balindog.
“Residents found the fetus with its head was almost severed and both its left leg and hands missing, probably eaten by dogs,” said local police investigator Renato Ispiritu.
“It was a very gruesome sight... Ants were all over its flesh,” Ispiritu told Arab News.
Kidapawan police chief Supt. Danny Lau Reyes said he has ordered an investigation and a search for those responsible.
“We are looking for the mother of the baby, the abortionist who is responsible for this terrible act,” he said.
The baby was buried on Friday after no relatives or family claimed it at the local funeral house Villa Jusa, its manager Jeoffrey Jusa said.
“Many people are shocked to hear the news because it is an uncommon crime here. People here are religious and we cannot think why a mother would do such a terrible thing to her own child. May his soul rest in peace,” Jusa said by phone from Kidapawan.
He said the baby was buried at the private cemetery intended for priests inside the sprawling compound of the Bishop’s Palace called Guadalupe Center. “The bishop was also saddened by the news and he ordered that the baby be buried inside the Guadalupe Center,” Jusa said.
He said the local folks contributed money to buy wood to make coffin for the child.
A seven-month old fetus, left at a baggage counter of a shopping mall in Cagayan de Oro City, was also discovered on Saturday. A mall security guard found the fetus after noticing a foul smell from a bag unclaimed at the baggage counter of the OroRama Super Center, police said.
Police said also found in the bag was assorted t-shirts and a piece of paper with the name Rochell Murala scribled on it. It said the baby had bruises on the head.
Although the practice of abortion is illegal in the Philippines, it is estimated that one out of four pregnancies end up in abortions.
Many women undergo induced abortion due to unwanted pregnancies and most of them resort to various methods ranging from taking drugs or herbal preparations and use of hilots or abortionists.
Last month, a 23-year old woman in Cebu province died after using a dangerous abortion drug RU 486, which according to website of the New York State Right to Life Committee, has been responsible for numerous deaths around the world.
Relatives found the woman’s body in a pool of blood and her dead unborn was not completely expelled from her womb.
Doctors said the woman lost too much blood to survive the failed abortion and doctors told the police that the woman used drugs commonly prescribed to treat ulcers.
The Human Life International, the largest international pro-life organization in the world, said that about 200,000 abortions are performed annually in the Philippines and about 98 percent of them involved abortion drugs.
