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MANILA, Philippines?Human organ traders are preying on impoverished women in Cotabato, buying up their kidneys for P200,000 each, a lawmaker said Sunday.
Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza urged the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to crack down on human organ traders after receiving reports that in M?lang town alone, at least a dozen women were convinced to sell their kidneys.
?No effort should be spared in apprehending these predatory traffickers and their go-betweens. Their nefarious activities should be nipped in the bud before they victimize more women in Cotabato and other provinces in Mindanao,? Taliño-Mendoza said in a statement.
The congresswoman said the medical practitioners who illegally removed the kidneys of the women ?should likewise be held to account for their contemptible acts.?
?Sadly, the women who were tempted into giving up a kidney are just as poverty-stricken as before, only they are now potentially unhealthier. This is definitely one of the most horrible forms of exploitation of women,? she said.
Taliño-Mendoza said the new implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act ?categorically prohibits the buying and selling of human organs.?
Under the law, those found guilty of engaging in the trading of human organs face 20 years in prison and a fine of up to P2 million, she said.
