De Lima, chair of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, said she was alarmed over continuing reports of “babies-for-sale” trade as this endangers babies’ safety and makes them susceptible to exploitation and abuse.
“Poverty remains to be one of the main drivers in the prevalence of such atrocious illegal activity, and the continued proliferation of appalling activities relating to the exploitation, trafficking and abuse of babies,” she added. De Lima recalled that last Sept. 4, an American citizen named Jennifer Talbot was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after she attempted to smuggle a six-day-old baby out of the country.
“Assessments from experts point out that one of the problem areas that exacerbate the baby-for-sale trade is the adoption system in the Philippines. The current system is described to be tedious, multilayered, and highly bureaucratic, and even takes years to process,” she noted.
SenLeiladeLima probe your drug allegations first!