Philippines sounds alarm over ‘worrisome’ rise in sale of children ads online amid exploitation fears

“While the ‘buyers’ are often childless couples who may want to start a family and [are] frustrated with the adoption policies, children are also subject to being sexually exploited by syndicates who groom children for paedophiles,” Amihan Abueva, regional executive director of Child Rights Coalition Asia and the co-founder of anti-child trafficking organisation ECPAT, told This Week in Asia.

The Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) disclosed the “worrisome trend” earlier this month, saying that it had found a number of Facebook pages filled with advertisements of children for sale in the country, with some being peddled by their parents themselves.

The agency, through its sub-department, the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), has been tracking about two dozen Facebook accounts involved in the sale of children since last year and turned over their findings to the Philippine National Police to apprehend the perpetrators.

One case involved an eight-day-old baby who was intercepted in an undercover entrapment operation by police, where the infant’s mother attempted to sell off the child for 50,000 Philippine pesos (US$859). She enlisted the help of an agent, whose asking price was 90,000 pesos.

“This trend is worrisome because one, it’s becoming more commonplace. Two, this is a cruel form of child exploitation and human trafficking,” DSWD secretary Rex Gatchalian said at a press briefing on May 20.

According to Gatchalian, unauthorised adoptions or child laundering are covered under the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which was last amended in 2022.

“Any form of adoption being conducted outside the National Authority for Child Care guidelines and rules is considered a form of human