The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is providing livelihood and housing assistance to the family of a one-year-old child who was abducted from the streets earlier this month and later recovered.

Reports said that the child was taken 10 December in Barangay San Bartolome, Quezon City, and found safe in Navotas City on 16 December. Authorities arrested a 20-year-old suspect who admitted to kidnapping the toddler to use for begging.

Following the rescue, DSWD social workers located the family in Marikina City, where they are staying temporarily with a relative.

An assessment by the agency’s Pag-abot Program confirmed the family had been living and begging on the streets since September, after the father lost his job as a construction worker.

“Abducting a child is a grave and unacceptable act, and the Department strongly condemns any form of exploitation of children,” Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said Monday. “We remind all parents and guardians to be vigilant and never entrust their children to strangers under any circumstance.”