BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – His parents thought he was dead when he was born around 5am Sunday, 21 August 2022.
He might have not known a mother’s warm embrace for as soon as he was born, he was treated like dead, shoved into one of the concrete graves in the public cemetery of Pulupandan town.
He died 8am today, around 24 hours later in a hospital in the nearby town of Valladolid.
Baby Boy X spent his first few hours inside a grave, his last few hours inside a hospital.
Based on accounts pieced together by police, the infant was immediately brought to the Pulupandan Public Cemetery after his mother gave birth to him in one of the villages in the town around 8am.
The parents were reportedly unassisted in giving birth to the baby.
The father was aged 23, the mother, 22.
Town police chief Ryan Villasario said the young parents kept the woman’s pregnancy from her their parents and their neighbors.
Villasario, a police captain, said the baby was born early in the morning of Sunday, 21 August, and was buried around 6:30am after his parents thought he was stillborn.
However, more than three hours after the child was buried, the caretaker heard cries from the grave, and forced it open to discover that the child was not dead after all.
The caretaker then rushed the baby to the nearest clinic in the town but it was brought to the government hospital in Valladolid town where it died.
Police say it could be a case of unwanted pregnancy which could explain why his parents hid the pregnancy, did not take him to hospital after he was born, and buried him alive.
They are currently gathering evidence to determine if they should file a case against the parents.
