NEWSFLASH

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UNDERGROUND SALE OF ORGANS STILL RAMPANT

Metro Manila, April 30, 2001 - (STAR by Jose Aravilla) More than a year after the Philippines gained worldwide attention with the lucrative selling of kidneys to foreign and local buyers, which was exposed in Manila’s Baseco Compound, the selling seems not to have tapered off and instead, appears to offer more poor people from elsewhere a new source of income.

In the last four months alone, at least six persons are said to have sold one of their kidneys for P100,000 to affluent patients suffering from kidney ailments — and they were not from the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila.

STAR sources in Baseco Compound said persons from various parts of the country desperate for cash have come to the poor Tondo community seeking the new "kidney agent" residing in the compound. One of those who recently sold his kidney reportedly came from far away Pangasinan.

"They (sellers) are not from here, perhaps they just know somebody from around here," said the reliable STAR informant who is a neighbor of the new agent. "They went back to their provinces after their operation was completed and they were released from the hospital."

The former kidney agent identified only as "Cara" is said to have suffered from a heart attack and is now reportedly paralyzed.

The new kidney agent reportedly has also sold a kidney himself.

The STAR tried to meet with the new kidney agent but the informant said this was not possible.

"His doctor does not want him to be talkative, they don’t want him talking to people about it (kidney selling)," said the source.

Last year, at least a dozen were found to have sold their kidneys, creating a black market that became so well known that foreigners, including Japanese, needing kidney transplants reportedly came to the Philippines.

Most of kidney transplant operations are done at the National Kidney Institute.