Couple ‘tried selling their 12-day-old daughter to fund street food business’

A couple is facing 20 years in prison after trying to sell their baby to fund their street food business in the Philippines.

The mother and father, 22 and 19, reportedly put the 12-day-old infant for sale online before they were caught in a sting operation at a busy shopping mall on February 2.

Undercover agents posed as customers and arranged a meeting to purchase the infant for £345.

After seeing the pair eating at a local fast food chain, officers from the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Protection Centre swooped in, arresting themon suspicion of human trafficking and child abuse.

The mother was said to have burst into tears as she confirmed the illegal sale before police put her in handcuffs.

If convicted for trafficking, they could face 20 years in prison – or a life sentence.

Janella Ejercito Estrada, Undersecretary of the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), said: ‘They are facing charges of qualified trafficking, child abuse, and illegal adoption.

‘For the qualified trafficking case, it is non-bailable, and they may be sentenced to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment.’

Investigators said the parents planned to use the money as start-up capital for a street food cart, selling popular snacks like deep-fried quail eggs and fish balls.

The rescued baby was given a check-up and transferred to an accredited child care agency, officials said.

The NACC said in a statement: ‘The life of a child is invaluable and must never be used as a commodity, and certainly not be exchanged for any amount, regardless of the circumstances.

The Women and Children Protection Centre (WCPC) of the national police said five babies have already been rescued from being sold this year, more than half the total recorded in 2025.

The WCPC said information drives about legal adoption were underway in communities due to ‘rampant’ baby selling in the country.

Baby abandonment remains common in the Philippines, where widespread poverty, poor family planning and inadequate sex education lead to high cases of unwanted pregnancies.

Access to contraception and reproductive healthcare is also limited in the deeply Catholic country.

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