THE Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday said the syndicate that recruited Filipino women who ended up becoming surrogate mothers is using Thailand as a jump-off point before the women are brought to their final destinations.
A surrogate mother is one who agrees to become pregnant and give birth to a child for another person. A surrogacy arrangement us usually done when pregnancy is medically impossible or too risky for the intended mother.
DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said this was the information provided by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
“Yung report sa amin ng mga BI, ng mga IO sa BI, na ‘yung bansa na pupuntahan nila, tuwing nai-iniintercept sila, ay kadalasan sa Thailand (The report provided to us by the BI, by the immigration officers of BI, is that it is Thailand that serves as the jumping off point of many of their interceptions),”Ty told the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” media forum.
“Kadalasan maghahanap sila ng visa-free countries na pupuntahan at pagkatapos doon ay lilipat doon sa bansa kung saan nangyayari ‘yung surrogacy (They look for visa-free countries and from there, they will transfer the victim to other countries where the surrogacy takes place),” he said.
Ty, who is the undersecretary-in-charge of the DOJ-led Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, said this is also the case of the 20 Filipino women who were rescued by authorities in Cambodia last September 23.
“Doon sa kaso ng 20 Filipina sa Cambodia sila lumipat na mas malapit sa Thailand (In the case of the 20 Filipina in Cambodia, they also used Thailand),” Ty added.
Meanwhile, Ty said the IACAT is working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh to convince local authorities not to file criminal complaints against the Filipina.
Surrogacy is banned in Cambodia under its Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation law.
But Ty said the DOJ said the 20 should be considered as trafficking victims.
“Ang embahada natin sa Cambodia ay nakikiusap sa pamahalaan ng Cambodia na kung pwede hindi naman mangyari ito. Para sa atin dito sa DOJ ang surrogacy na nangyayari dito ay isang uri ng human trafficking
(Our embassy in Cambodia is talking with the Cambodian government not to file criminal charges against them. For us in the DOJ, surrogacy is considered as another form of human trafficking),” he said.
He added that these women, often driven by economic hardship, are coerced into surrogacy agreements under false pretenses and inadequate legal protection.
Last Friday, DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said surrogacy is a form of modern-day slavery and exploitation.
“We are closely investigating these incidents to determine whether these women can be classified as victims of human trafficking,” Remulla said of the 20 women rescued in Cambodia.
Under Philippine law, trafficking of persons includes the recruitment, transportation, or harboring of persons by means of force, fraud, or deception for the purpose of exploitation.
The use of vulnerable women in surrogate arrangements for financial gain, particularly when they are coerced or misled, falls squarely under this definition, Remulla added.
In a related development, Ty disclosed that immigration authorities intercepted last Friday two Filipino women who were recruited by human traffickers before they can board a flight abroad.
He said the two could probably be the latest would-be-victim of the surrogacy scheme.
“Noong Biyernes meron na naman tayong bagong nasalba na dalawang Pilipina sa airport at ‘yung kanilang trafficker, ‘yung lalaki na kasama nila ay humarap na sa inquest proceedings dito sa DOJ (Last Friday, we were able to save two Filipina in the airport while their male companion who is the trafficker already underwent inquest proceedings here at the DOJ),” he said.
The official said the information they got showed the traffickers offered from P500, 000 to P1 million to their victims.
“Ang lumalabas inalok s’ya ng kalahating milyon o isang milyong piso upang maging surrogate at ‘yung mga taong nagsubok mag traffic sa kanya ay sa kasalukuyang may hinaharap na kaso (The victim was offered from half a million to one million pesos if they accepted to become surrogate mother. The person behind the trafficking is already facing charges),” Ty added.
