As many as 30 OFW mothers who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock recently appeared to the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) with their children seeking help.
This was disclosed to The Filipino Times by Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes who said the number is just barely scratching the surface.
“That’s just those who went to the consulate,” he said in a whatsapp interview from Manila. “From what we have gathered,” he added, “there are hundreds more out there.”
‘From what we have gathered, there are hundreds more out there
He said the 30 unwed mothers’ age range from 30 to 40 years old. “Some are married back home in the Philippines; some have Filipino partners who have already been deported; some have foreign national partners,” the consul general said.
All 30 unwed mothers came to PCG in June. Cortes lamented that only half the number actually came back in August to be flown home. The rest did not return to the consulate for their repatriation arrangement.
“This just means that when they come to the consulate requesting for assistance, they are not 100% certain of their plans to go home. Forum shopping lang kumbaga,” he said.
By law unwed mothers must serve a jail term of up to six months and be deported afterward.
Currently, there are nine cases of unwed mothers being attended to by PCG, according to Cortes. “Many of these mothers live with their friends and relations, all of them awaiting the right time to ‘surrender’ to Immigration,” he said.
Forum
A Dubai Police official has advised that unwed pregnant mothers should turn themselves in to authorities so that they can give birth safely and for their children to be documented; in the process, availing of proper care, including vaccination, among others.
At a forum recently held between Dubai Police officials and leaders of the Filipino community, 1st Lt. Fauzia Mubarak of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said the mothers should seriously consider their children’s future and not just abandon them at the hospital or leave them at the care of friends because this will cause them to live a life in limbo.
“Go to the police or your consulate so that the baby’s status can be legalized,” said 1st Lt. Mubarak. This, she explained, will also help establish the child’s nationality.
She said the child can be turned over to a shelter once the mother is done serving her jail term and has been deported.
The forum was held on Aug. 18 at Landmark Grand Hotel, organized by PCG and attended by Cortes as well as several ranking Dubai Police officials. Other issues discussed were human trafficking, drugs and narcotics, alcohol, the new Smart Police services, social media and new traffic rules.
Abandoned children
Back in May this year, a visiting top official of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) raised concerns about what he described as “an increasing trend of abandoned children or what is called ‘love cases.’”
Social Welfare Undersecretary Camilo Gudmalin, who was in the UAE to assess conditions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the country, said most of the cases involve mothers running away after giving birth at a hospital, some of whom have returned home in the Philippines.
There were 14 abandoned Filipino children in the UAE two years ago; last year, there were seven, according to DSWD records obtained by TFT. Gudmalin said he was still updating the data.
Isabel Sy Nillas, social welfare attaché for UAE and Qatar at the time of the TFT news report, had said the actual number could be higher as it does not include babies born in the flats and villas, who have been left by their mothers to friends.
