13 PINAYS FROM CAMBODIA TO BE HOUSED TEMPORARILY

BAGUIO CITY (December 29, 2024) – The 13 Filipino women who became surrogate mothers in Cambodia and deported back to the Philippines Sunday morning, the social welfare department said, will be temporarily housed and properly processed until their full reintegration.

Social welfare chief Rex Gatchalian has directed the DSWD Field Office-National Capital Region to render all the needed assistance under the Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (RRPTP) to the 13 surrogate mothers and three of their babies who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), said DSWD spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said.

According to Dumlao, the social welfare department as the Co-Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) treats the 13 surrogate mothers as victims of trafficking and all forms of assistance should be given to them including the provision of transportation and temporary shelter in one of the Department’s center and residential care facilities (CRCFs).

Lawyer Elaine Fallarcuna, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, Attached and Supervised Agencies, representing the DSWD in the IACAT, reported to Sec. Gatchalian on that a CRCF is already being prepared as temporary shelter for the 13 mothers and three babies.

“While the surrogate mothers are in temporary shelter, the DSWD will help them communicate with their families for their reintegration. The respective families of the surrogate mothers will also be assessed for the provision of the necessary services and intervention,” Fallarcuna reported.

They were already brought to the CRCF for proper intervention, confirmed Dumlao.

While transportation assistance back to their respective cities and provinces will also be provided. Other needed intervention such as counseling services will be provided during assessment by the assigned social worker in the CRCF, Fallarcuna said.

The 13 surrogate mothers with three babies arrived at the NAIA Terminal 1 on Sunday at 4:50 a.m. via the Philippine Airlines.  They were accompanied by a Cambodian doctor and a Filipino nurse.

The 13 Filipina mothers were among the 24 women from different countries caught in Kandal province in September, charged with attempted cross-border human trafficking and convicted of to four years in Cambodian jail for human trafficking.

They were later given Royal pardon based on the request by the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh and with the endorsement of the Royal Government of Cambodia.

According to the Philippine government, the Filipinas involved in a surrogacy scheme in Cambodia were trafficking victims, though there is no law on surrogacy in the Philippines, prompting a legal gray area that is prone to abuse.