The boy who had been missing for 6 years suddenly called his mother at midnight. “Hello… Mom… Do you still remember me?”
A young, broken voice rang out on the phone at 2am. Aling Teresa was stunned, her hands trembling, her heart stopped beating. That voice… she had never forgotten in the past 6 years.

Six years ago, on a hot July afternoon, little Marco, then 5 years old, followed his father to the village market in Batangas to help carry vegetables. In just a split second, his father turned around to pay the customer, when he turned back, Marco had disappeared.

The whole family rushed to look for him. The people in the barangay, the market, the bus station, the riverbank, the bushes… were all searched. But all traces led to… nothing. Pulísya got involved, a search notice was issued, but little Marco seemed to have disappeared from the world.

From that day on, Aling Teresa seemed to have lost her soul. Every meal, she still served an extra plate for her child. Every time she heard the children laughing outside, she ran out, then came back in disappointed. People advised her to accept the truth, but her mother’s heart did not give up.

Tonight, the phone rang. The screen showed an unfamiliar number. She intended to ignore it, but her intuition urged her to pick up the phone.

– “Hello… mama…”

– “…Marco? Ikaw ba iyan, Marco?”

Silence. Then heavy breathing.

– “I… it’s Marco. I miss you so much. I’m in Maynila. There’s an uncle who lent me his phone… he told me to call…”

The phone hung up. She didn’t have time to ask anything more.

Aling Teresa was almost crazy. She didn’t sleep all night. The next morning, she and her husband, Mang Ruben, went to the pulísya headquarters. They traced the call and discovered a junk SIM number, calling from a public charging station near the EDSA bus station, Quezon City.

Without hesitation, they took a bus to Maynila. The photo of Marco when he was 5 years old was enlarged, printed into hundreds of copies, and posted everywhere: at the bus station, under the bridge, the simbahan gate, the charity restaurant…

The story of “The mother looking for her son from a midnight call” spread like wildfire on social media.

A week later…there was a call from a volunteer at an organization supporting street children. This person reported that in District 8, Maynila, there was an 11-year-old boy named Marco, whose face was exactly like the one in the photo.

The family and pulísya went to – a makeshift house on the canal bank, which was home to nearly ten homeless children.

The boy stood there, skinny, dark, with wary eyes. When his eyes met his mother’s, Teresa’s heart broke.

– “Marco… anak ko, ikaw ba yan?”

The boy was silent. Then he slowly walked over, reaching out to touch her cheek.

– “Mama… mama…”

The two hugged each other tightly, sobbing. The witness shed tears. But the joy was not complete, behind Marco appeared a thin woman, her eyes confused:

– “Are you Marco’s biological mother? I… need to talk to you.”

It turned out that Marco had been sold. The day he disappeared, he was lured by a strange woman to give him candy, then handed over to a child trafficking ring. Marco was put on a bus to a remote countryside in the Central region. A man “bought” him to raise, but in reality forced him to work: herding buffalo, carrying loads, and not allowing him to go to school. For 3 years, he was locked in the house, not allowed to step out of the gate.

One rainy night, Marco escaped. He wandered through many provinces, living on the kindness of strangers, begging, and collecting scrap metal. Once he was arrested for stealing bread, but was fortunately released. After that, he met Ate Hilda – a woman who took care of street children. Hilda used to be a street child, now she runs a shelter for children like herself.

Hilda teaches Marco to read and cook, and gives him an old phone:

“If you remember my number, call me.”

Marco doesn’t remember the number, but he remembers the address. Asking Ate Hilda to help him find it, he calls… and it’s the fateful 2am call

Pulísya advised the family to do a DNA test to verify their parentage before reissuing their birth certificate. During that time, Marco was allowed to stay with his parents but remained under local supervision.

In the early days, Marco spoke very little, often startled at night, afraid of the dark, afraid of shouting. He did not want to go to school. Whenever he heard people screaming, he hid under the bed.

Aling Teresa patiently told him stories, took him for walks, and practiced writing from the beginning. One day, Marco asked softly:

“Mama, kung hindi ko na maalala lahat… magagalit ka ba sa akin?”

She hugged her son, choking:

“You are still alive, you still call me mom, that is enough.”

The DNA results confirmed that Marco was Teresa and Ruben’s biological son. The good news was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. But there was still a long way to go to heal his emotional wounds.

Every week, Teresa took her son to a psychological counseling center in Pasig. Thanks to therapy, drawing, and singing, Marco gradually smiled again.

The first picture Marco drew was a house with three people: father, mother, and a boy holding a kite. In the corner, he scribbled:

“Gusto ko nang umuwi. I really want to go home.”

Thanks to Marco’s testimony, the pulísya found out who had “raised” him – in fact, a child trafficker. He was arrested in a central province while preparing to “deliver” two other children. The case caused a stir, the press spoke up, and became a wake-up call for thousands of families.

A year after the reunion, Marco went back to school. He was not at his real age but in grade 3, which was appropriate for his level. But he was not discouraged. On the first day of school, he held his mother’s hand tightly and whispered:

“Mama, magsisikap ako… para hindi ka na malungkot.”

Teresa stroked her son’s head, smiling through her tears:
“No, you just need to live happily, I’m happy.”

A year later, on the anniversary of Marco’s return, Aling Teresa held a small mass, called “the day to say goodbye to the life of losing your child”. She placed on the altar a family photo taken on the day Marco was reissued his birth certificate: the boy stood in the middle, hugging his parents tightly, smiling brightly.

Teresa said in front of everyone:
“I don’t blame those who took my child away. I pity them, because they are also victims of poverty and despair. But I hope that, from this pain, society will learn how to protect children better.”

Many years later, Marco chose to study social work. He often returned to Ate Hilda’s center, teaching reading, telling stories, helping street children regain their faith.

Once, when someone asked why he chose that major, Marco just smiled and said:

“Dahil may mga taong hindi ako iniwan noon, kaya gusto ko ngayong gawin din ang pareho cho iba.”