Shocked residents rescued an abandoned baby that was found crying on wasteland in the Philippines.

Mark Sarmiento and other locals searched the area when they heard strange crying sounds coming from the overgrown land in Bacoor City, Cavite province, on July 18.

They pushed their way through the tall grass and followed the incessant wailing to a patch of thick bushes and shrubs.

When they parted the undergrowth covering the source of the sound, they were shocked to see a newborn girl inside an eco bag and lying face down in the dirt.

The child was naked and wounded, with worms crawling all over her and a large red mark on her face. The residents picked up the child and hurried to the police station to report the discovery.

Mark said: 'The reason her face looked like that is because she was lying face down in the dirt. When I picked up the eco bag, her position shifted and she was able to cry properly.'

Authorities rushed the baby girl to the Southern Tagalog Regional Hospital, where she was treated and is now in a stable condition.

Local officials said they have identified the newborn's parents, adding it was not the first time the mum had tried to abandon one of her children.

Emily Teguihaon, team leader of the Molino Peace and Order Unit, said the couple were living together in the city, and that the abandoned baby was their eighth child.

She said: 'The mother tried to sell her seventh child. And this time, she dumped her baby in the vacant lot. We asked the father if they were having marital problems, but he denied it.'

Meanwhile, the baby's dad, whom officials have not named, claimed his partner had hidden her pregnancy from him. He said he was furious when he came home from work on July 16 and found that the woman had already given birth in the house.

Speaking through tears, he said: 'That's when I became mad at her. There was blood everywhere. I was so angry that I slapped her. I had no choice but to accept it. I'm upset that this is what happened.'

The mum was said to have fled the house after abandoning the baby.

Her distraught partner pleaded: 'Wherever she is, please just call us. The children are already looking for her.'

The baby is now under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Authorities said they were investigating the case.