A one-month-old baby sold for P90,000 via Facebook was rescued in an entrapment and rescue operation this week by the Luzon Field Unit of the Philippine National Police - Women and Children Protection Center (PNP WCPC).

National Authority for Child Care (NACC) Undersecretary Janella Ejercito Estrada, who joined the covert operation on Thursday, 3 July 2025, in Pasay City, condemned the continuing sale of babies despite earlier government warnings.

“To sell a child for monetary relief is an immoral, irresponsible and selfish act. A parent who thinks s/he is incapable of raising a child may easily seek support from the barangay women’s desk, or the Local Social Welfare and Development Office. Huwag na po sanang pagkakitaan at ilagay sa panganib ang bata,” lamented NACC Usec. Estrada.

Estrada said that to date, the PNP WCPC has successfully rescued 11 children, arrested 16 perpetrators, and secured the conviction of one respondent.

As of 16 June, at least 12 Facebook groups have been actively facilitating “online baby selling,” with a combined following of over 200,000 users.

“I appeal to Meta PH to help us stop the proliferation of Facebook groups facilitating “online baby selling” and other forms of illegal adoption.” This is no longer a matter of technicality, but a moral obligation expected from a social networking platform operating in the Philippines,” stressed Usec. Estrada.

Meanwhile, the NACC convened its Inter-Agency on Adoption and Alternative Child Care on Friday, 4 July, to “forge a coordinated, legal, and systemic response against illicit practices of illegal adoption including ‘online baby selling’.”

In a statement, NACC Usec. Estrada urged member-agencies to “confront one of the most disturbing and fast-evolving threats to child welfare.”

“Children are being commodified on social media platforms. What was once hidden is now disturbingly” compromising a child’s rights to identity, safety, and a family,” she said.

NACC Assistant Secretary for Operations and Services Rowena M. Macalintal has requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) for access to biological parents who have been incarcerated, allowing the agency to initiate the process of finding the best and most suitable alternative child care for rescued children.

Participating agencies include the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), PNP WCPC, PNP Women and Children Cybercrime Protection Unit (WCCPU), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Information and Communications Technology – Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (DICT-CICC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).