Was it motherly instinct, a natural desire to help, or simple compassion at the sight of a 4-month-old baby girl crying for food?
Whatever the reason, Patrolwoman Princess Lutgarda Marimon of the Maasin City Police Station offered the most basic sustenance: breastfeeding.
Marimon didn’t anticipate that her routine duty on Monday, April 7, 2025, would involve comforting and nursing an abandoned infant.
Resident Seeks Help
It began when Corporal Charito Caminoc, assistant desk officer at the Women and Children Protection Desk, received a call from a resident in Barangay Ibarra, a coastal village about seven kilometers east of the city proper.
The caller explained that a friend, apparently the baby girl’s mother, had left the 4-month-old in her care but never returned and provided no financial support.
Eventually, the guardian could no longer afford to care for the child and, unable to get help from the biological mother, decided to turn the baby over to police authorities, who would then transfer her to the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).
Hunger cries
Before the official handover to the CSWDO, Marimon, a lactating mother, volunteered to feed and comfort the crying, hungry baby with her own breast milk.
“I couldn’t bear to see the baby crying in hunger,” Marimon said.
A photo of Marimon cradling the infant, who was suckling, quickly gained admiration online.
The image captured a selfless act, one that went beyond the call of duty, portraying police officers not only as maintainers of peace and order but also as individuals capable of genuine love and compassion in critical moments.
Medical personnel from the City Health Unit checked the baby’s vital signs to ensure her well-being before she was entrusted to the temporary custody of the CSWDO.
Since then, many individuals have donated milk, diapers and money to support the child, hoping that responsible parents will eventually come forward to adopt and love her.
For Marimon, it was simply part of her duty. (MMP, with reports from Dahlia Abiera Orit, Radyo Pilipinas Sogod)
