MANILA: Singaporean Irene Low Ai Lian will spend the weekend in police custody in the Philippines after she and 12 others, all Filipinos, were arrested on Monday for allegedly operating a children's home without a licence.

A senior state prosecutor on the case told The Straits Times yesterday that there was a 'difference of opinion' among a panel of prosecutors over the police's complaint against the suspects. He would not elaborate.

'But we have to come up with a resolution by Monday as time is now of the essence. We cannot hold these people in custody indefinitely,' he said.

Ms Low, 50, who runs an adoption agency in Singapore, and the other suspects were arrested during a raid on a house in the town of Jalajala, 75km south of Manila.

Police, while working on a different case, found nine babies, aged between six months and one year there. The local social services department said the house was not authorised to operate as a children's home.

Ms Low has denied any involvement in running the Jalajala Home for the Needy.

The period that suspects can be held in detention without being charged depends on the gravity of the offence under Philippine law. The prosecutor said he would look into why the police filed their complaint only on Thursday.

On paper at least, Ms Low faces three outcomes to her case. First, there are no charges. Second, charges are brought in court. A third option is that she could be temporarily released while prosecutors conduct a further investigation into the police's complaint.