A five-year-old girl is missing in the jungle in the Philippines after her father left her there as punishment for embarrassing him in front of his friends.
Felipe Eranzo admitted knocking his daughter out by hitting her on the back of the neck before leaving her unconscious in the forest at Famy, 60 miles east of Manila, to teach her a lesson.
But when he returned to the same spot, the schoolgirl, Mariafe, was nowhere to be seen and he called police for help, sparking a major search operation.
A five-year-old girl (pictured) is missing in the jungle in the Philippines after her father left her there as punishment for embarrassing him in front of his friends
Felipe Eranzo (in the black shirt) admitted knocking his daughter out by hitting her on the neck before leaving her unconscious in the forest at Famy, 60 miles east of Manila, to teach her a lesson
Eranzo told police that he had been drinking before he struck his daughter and that he had taken the youngster to the forest.
Officers then arrested him and he will face child abuse charges, GMA News reports.
Footage shows Eranzo being led around a forest in handcuffs accompanied by officials.
Last year, a seven-year-old Japanese boy was found alive nearly a week after his parents left him in a bear-inhabited forest as punishment for misbehaving.
Yamato Tanooka was found by soldiers hungry but unharmed in a hut on a military base having walked some 3.4 miles from the spot where he was abandoned.
During his ordeal, in rugged terrain on the northern island of Hokkaido, he drank from a tap near the corrugated-iron hut, and was immediately given food when he was found.
Footage shows Eranzo being led around a forest in handcuffs accompanied by officials
Yamato’s parents were severely criticised by the Japanese public for forcing him out of their car on a mountain road to teach him a lesson for throwing stones at cars and people.
After the emotional discovery, the contrite father appeared before the media outside the hospital where the boy was taken for a check-up, bowing as he apologised for his ‘excessive’ actions.
The parents originally told police that their son got lost while they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables along with their daughter, but later admitted they had become angry with him for throwing the stones.
They ordered him onto the road, bounded on both sides by thick mountain forests, and quickly returned only to find him missing. Days of frantic searching found no trace of the child.
The boy told police that he walked to the military base, finding shelter in the hut located in the complex.