Police rescue 8-month-old twins in Pampanga after being sold twice

MABALACAT CITY — Police officers from Taguig City rescued on Sunday eight-month-old twin boys who were sold for P71,000 to a couple in the Pampanga town of Candaba. 

The mother of the twins sold her babies for P30,000 sometime last August to a woman who was supposed to adopt them as her own children, Police Captain Ibralen D.A. Jain, chief of Taguig City police’s Women and Children Protection Desk, told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Monday.

Jain said the person supposedly adopting the children was actually a “middle person” or broker who resold the twins to a live-in couple in Candaba town for P71,000.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Online baby-selling cases in 2026 now at 9, surpassing 2025 record – PNP

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

The police captain said the 32-year-old woman who initially bought the twins was arrested at her residence in San Luis, Aurora, on October 19. Police tracked down the suspect through online transactions and conversations she had with the twins’ mother.

The police have charged the woman for violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.

Jain said her team spent two days in Candaba locating the twins with help from the Candaba police.

At past 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 25, the police officers saved the twins and arrested the couple – both females – who bought them. 

Article continues after this advertisement

“The couple, who own a business establishment in Candaba, claimed to be victims. But this is not for us to determine. That should be proven in court,” Jain said, adding that charges were being prepared against the couple for alleged violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.

She said the twins’ mother had met the first trafficking suspect through a social media child adoption group chat before deciding to let the woman adopt her infant children in consideration of P30,000.

Article continues after this advertisement

“Initially, P27,000 was sent via GCash to the suspect (middle person). Then an additional P3,000 was sent to the mother,” the police captain said.

The twins are currently being taken care of by the Taguig City Social Welfare and Development Office.

Lt. Col. Jan Carl Gopez, officer-in-charge of the Candaba municipal police, told the Inquirer in a separate phone interview that the live-in couple who bought the twins are residents of Barangay Sto. Rosario.

He said the Candaba police assisted Captain Jain’s team in the rescue of the trafficked twins.

Jain said the twins’ mother will not be arrested for alleged trafficking in persons due to her reported mental health condition.

“The mother will be subjected to regular filing of legal charges, as the alleged sale of her sons happened last August and the period for warrantless arrest has already lapsed. This is also a consideration for her condition as recommended by the city social welfare and development office,” she said.

READ: PNP vows crackdown amid ‘alarming’ rise in online baby-selling cases

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Regular filing means the accused was not arrested when the case was initiated. /coa