A nine-month old baby boy was abducted by his grandparents’ kasambahay on Thursday April 28. Jane Payoyo, 20, allegedly took the baby out of the parent’s home in Pilar Village, Las Piñas City at around 4:30pm.
“She was then seen through the village CCTV, getting into a white Hyundai Accent,” says PSSupt Jemar D Modequillo, Las Piñas CPS Chief in an exclusive interview with theAsianparent.
Prior to the kidnapping, the kasambahay allegedly was communicating online with a man named Nikko whom she met only through Facebook.
“According to Payoyo it was this man who convinced her to take the baby. At first he asked her to take and send photos of the baby. Eventually he started asking for videos. Until finally [after days of communicating online] he asked to see the baby,” shares Chief Modequillo who questioned the suspect.
He along with another suspect Erika Mercado, 22, sent an Uber vehicle to pick up the kasambahay and the baby.
Las Piñas police then tracked the vehicle’s plate number and traced it to a driver whom they called in for questioning the following day. According to the driver, the kasambahay was dropped off in SM Pampanga.
Find out how the suspects were caught on the next page.
“We then found the suspects through the mall’s CCTV,” ads Modequillo. Members of the Anti-Kidnapping group lead by PSSupt Roberto Fajardo was then able to trace the baby and the suspects to a house located in Brgy. Concepcion in Tarlac on Apil 30.
Las Piñas police arrested the kasambahay along with Mercado and Mercado's grandfather, Ernesto Pare, 74. ‘Nikko’ on the other hand, remains a person of interest and is still at large.
The three suspects are currently detained in Las Piñas City Jail.
PSSupt Roberto Fajardo Director, Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) in a phone interview with theAsianparent advices parents to “make sure you know the kasambahays you hire very well”.
Read: 5 Questions you must ask in a yaya interview
“Double check the background of the yaya, make sure you know her , where she’s really from, where her family and relatives live so when something untoward happens, you’ll know where to find her,” adds Fajardo.
“If this happens to you, the first thing you should do is to report to the authorities,” he says. “There are some cases when parents don’t report. But we won’t be able to help if you don’t report. Lakasan ang loob. You have to fight back by reporting to authorities para maaksyonan agad,” he admonishes.
What other precautionary measures can you think of to prevent this from happening to other parents? Share your advice in the comments section below!
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