The Escape of Regina Magundayao Valdez
On September 3rd, 2024, the international abduction of 2 minors took place by their mother, Regina Magundayao Valdez, a Filipino national. They are her children Gerard Bou, 6 years old, and Laia Bou, 4 years old, born in Barcelona (Spain).
Regina Magundayao's marriage had been broken for three years. Externally they were still a couple but internally each lived their own life. By mutual agreement they had decided to divorce in 2022, but they waited for Regina to definitively process her Spanish nationality.
Last summer, Regina proposed to her husband to go on vacation to the Philippines for two months, with the excuse that little Laia had been born during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, and the family from the Philippines had not yet been able to meet her in person. The father accepted and the whole family prepared to spend a long vacation in the Philippines.
They left Spain on June 26th, 2024 and, at the beginning of July, everything began to get complicated.
Regina, in the first place, proposed to her husband to delay her return to Spain and stay in the Philippines on October. She then proposed to her husband to start with joint custody. In this way, she asked her to remain alone with the children throughout the month of August, to compensate for the fact that the husband would be alone with Gerard and Laia during the month of September in Spain.
Two empty seats on the return plane
On the day the father returned to Spain, Regina Magundayao Valdez did not allow the children to say goodbye to him and prevented the children from taking the flight back home on September 3rd, 2024, being illegally detained in the Philippines since then.
Gerard and Laia have four sisters, one of them also a minor. They were all a big family that never thought they would live the cruel separation of the little ones in the house.
A family in shock
The Magundayao Case shows a problem that is going to be repeated, unfortunately, for other families. However, this is the first case of child abduction to test the application of the Hague Convention between Spain and the Philippines, since the Southeast Asian country completed its accession to the international treaty in 2022.
Consequently, the activation of the protocol for the return of minors stolen from their countries of origin and, in particular, The Magundayao Case represents an unprecedented challenge for both countries. Is the Philippines on a par with civilized countries? Does the Spanish State have the diplomatic capacity and perseverance necessary to get the children home?
Everything that happens in this case will set a precedent for child abduction between Spain and the Philippines.
From the magundayao.com website we collaborate with different profiles of people who are aware of the case, such as journalists, psychologists, jurists, human rights activists...
We have woven a network of support for the family and we join our efforts so that Laia and Gerard can return home. We promise not to stop until we achieve it.