A mother has accused the Gentle Hands Inc. (GHI) orphanage in Quezon City of allegedly denying her custody of her child, according to JP Soriano’s “24 Oras” report on Friday.
After four months, the mother and her child reunited since the orphanage allegedly refused to give back the child.
She temporarily left her child at the orphanage since she was a single mother, pregnant, and needed to work during that time.
The orphanage said it did not commit any violation.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) earlier issued a cease and desist order against the orphanage for various reasons, including overcapacity and hygiene concerns.
“I was in a probationary period kaya po napilitan ako ilagay [at] ipakiusap si baby sa Gentle Hands hanggang ma-approve yung maternity leave ko,” she said.
(I was on probation at that time. That is why I was forced to put my baby in Gentle Hands until my maternity leave was approved.)
She said she was allowed by the orphanage to visit her child. However, towards the latter part, she was prohibited from seeing her baby.
“That was the first time that I break down kasi talagang nagmamakaawa po ako tapos hindi pinakita si baby,” she said.
(That was the first time that I broke down because I was really begging and then the baby was not shown to me.)
The mother reported the incident to the police and showed documents that she only temporarily left her child at the orphanage.
She, however, admitted that she was still processing her parent capability assessment report (PCAR), which was a requirement to prove that she is capable of taking care of her child that she left in a temporary shelter.
This was later given to her by the local government unit. However, she still failed to get custody of the baby.
“They were asking a psychological evaluation and then ang dami po kasing nilang pinangako sa akin pero nadelay po nang nadelay hanggang four months,” she said.
(They were asking for a psychological evaluation and they promised many things, which got delayed until it reached four months.)
She then wrote a letter to the Office of the President and the DSWD.
Meanwhile, the DSWD said it will not yet file a complaint against the orphanage due to the incident.
“Sabi nga natin ‘justice delayed, justice denied.’ Ganun din dito sa mga bata na hindi narerelease kaagad but then kasama na po ngayon sa tinitignan natin yan bukod doon sa mga violations nila bakit ganito hindi sila makapagcomply,” DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said.
(We say ‘justice delayed, justice denied.’ The same situation for the children who are not released immediately, but then we are now looking at that, apart from their violations, why are they unable to comply.)
The Gentle Hands, however, said it did not commit any violation.
“Yung refusal, there is no refusal. But it was also imperative that they determine the capacity of the mother to take care of the child,” Atty. Ma. Cristina Joy Balajadia, legal counsel of Gentle Hands, said.
It said that the mother should undergo a psychological evaluation, which it communicated to the DSWD.
The orphanage also said the mother should show proof of PCAR from Quezon City LGU, not from the province in which she filed.
GMA News sought comment from the mother and the DSWD regarding the matter.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA Integrated News
