The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Wednesday that 20 Filipina women were rescued in Cambodia, where they were brought by an unspecified “Philippine agency” to serve as surrogate mothers.
DFA Undersecretary for Migration Eduardo Jose de Vega said in a televised press conference that 13 of the women are already in various stages of pregnancy.
He said they are currently being sheltered at a local hospital but are being visited and given the necessary assistance.
De Vega said seven of the rescued Filipinas are already scheduled to be flown home.
It was revealed that the women were recruited online by persons whose identities, or even their nationalities, are still unknown to authorities.
The Philippine Embassy in Cambodia issued a separate statement saying the women were rescued by the Cambodian National Police (CNP) in Kandal Province last September 23.
The local authorities conducted the rescue operation in line with Cambodia’s Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
Meanwhile, De Vega expressed alarm over the new human trafficking scheme that lures Filipinas to Cambodia to serve as surrogate mothers for other couples.
The DFA official said it is possible that some of those Filipinas may have been enticed to travel to the Southeast Asian country under false pretenses.
“We believe most knew what they were getting into. But it is also likely that some of them thought they were going there to do something else,” De Vega said in a mixture of Filipino and English.
He said there have been cases when prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were duped into going to Southeast Asian countries with promises that they would be hired to do computer work or be employed in the tourism sector.
“Throughout the past year, we [the DFA] have repatriated many [Filipino nationals] from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, but this is the first time we have heard about this surrogacy scheme, and it’s possible it’s happening in other countries too,” he pointed out.
“All throughout Southeast Asia there are plenty of scammers… now its about surrogacy. Please, before you fly off to neighboring countries, drop by the Department of Migrant Workers or Philippine Overseas Employment Administration first,” De Vega warned Filipinos seeking jobs abroad.
