QUEZON CITY (PIA) — The Philippine government is asking Cambodia to spare from prosecution 13 Filipina ‘surrogacy’ victims, who were forced to become surrogate mothers in the Southeast Asian host nation.
Justice Undersecretary Nicolas Felix Ty, in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview aired on PTV 4 on Monday, Oct. 14, said that the Filipino expatriates don’t deserve to be prosecuted for surrogacy.
“Hindi nila dapat pananagutan itong mga krimen na ito at ‘yun ang yung ipaglalaban natin sa Cambodia,” Ty said.
He added the Philippine government has insisted that the Filipino expatriates are victims of human trafficking, noting that surrogacy is illegal in Cambodia.
“Sana itong principle na ito, or the non-criminality principle, ay i-apply sa kanila,” Ty said.
(We appeal that Cambodia will also consider the Filipinas as human trafficking victims, and apply the principle of non-punishment or non-criminality to them.)
Last week, the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh said that the Cambodian National Police rescued 20 Filipino women who were trafficked into being surrogate mothers in Kandal Province on Sept. 23.
On Thursday, Oct. 10, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it’s building a case against the people behind the alleged trafficking of 20 Filipino women in Cambodia, who were being exploited as surrogate mothers.
Of the 20 victims, 13 are in “various stages of pregnancy,” it added.
DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano also said the DOJ is building a case against local perpetrators behind the trafficking incident, noting that there are indications some Cambodians have accomplices in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Ty said that the seven victims may be repatriated soon while the 13 pregnant women will remain in Cambodia, adding that financial aid and other benefits will be given to the victims.
They are entitled to receive various types of aid from the government as trafficking victims, including financial aid, and various efforts for their reintegration into society. (PIA DMD)
