MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has identified a Philippine-based recruitment agency allegedly involved in trafficking Filipino women to Cambodia as surrogate mothers.
The DOJ’s probe comes as 13 Filipino women face prison time in Cambodia after being convicted of human trafficking charges this week — exposing a cross-border scheme that allegedly promised them half a million pesos to bear children for sale overseas.
A provincial court in Cambodia sentenced the Filipino women to four years in prison, with two years suspended, for human trafficking charges.
DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said Thursday, December 5, that law enforcement is currently building a case based on testimonies from seven repatriated victims who were previously detained in Cambodia. They were allowed to return to the Philippines because they were not pregnant at the time of their arrest.
“From their stories, we identified an agency, a recruiter in the Philippines, that we are now focusing on for our criminal investigation,” Ty said in mixed Filipino and English in a televised interview.
The 13 women convicted this week were among 20 Filipinas found during a September 23 raid on a house in Kandal province outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia. According to the Philippine Embassy, they were recruited online by an unidentified individual who arranged their travel to Cambodia, where commercial surrogacy has been banned since 2016.
When the Filipino women were first arrested, Ty said the Philippine embassy in Cambodia immediately secured their release and hospital treatment.
The government also deployed a team of lawyers and National Bureau of Investigation agents to meet with Cambodia’s justice department.
Ty explained that under Philippine law, the women are considered victims of human trafficking. However, the Cambodian government sees the case differently.
“We know that our country has a different view on the victims of human trafficking. We are very liberal in labeling the victims of human trafficking as Filipinos, and whenever we see them as victims, we give them a lot of assistance, including that they will not be responsible for criminal cases,” Ty said.
“But because of this incident, we can see that not only the country has that view, but other countries have their own priorities,” he added.
Cambodian authorities had found evidence that the 13 Filipinas intended to use surrogacy to create babies “with the intention of selling them to a third party in exchange for money,” according to a spokesperson of the court that convicted them.
A key issue now, Ty said, is the nationality of the babies born to the Filipino surrogate mothers.
Ty said that under Philippine law, these children are Filipino citizens.
“We want to make it clear to the people of Cambodia that our position is that these children are Filipinos. Their mother is the surrogate mother who took care of them,” Ty said.
“Under our law, it is clear that if a woman gives birth to a child, the woman is the mother of the child. The woman has an affiliation to the child,” he added.
However, Ty acknowledged possible legal complications in the mother-child relationship. “For us, let’s not forget that even if we consider the surrogate mother as our mother, their relationship might be different. Because first of all, it’s not DNA, it’s not blood. Because the egg was implanted in the fetus of the woman and it came from other people.”
Ty said the Philippine government is offering comprehensive support to repatriated victims through a rehabilitation and reintegration program, which includes livelihood assistance.
Those willing to testify against their recruiters are provided legal assistance, witness protection, and allowances for attending hearings, he added.
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