Sen. Risa Hontiveros (Photo from Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros wants a probe into reported cases of Filipino women being trafficked abroad to become surrogates as part of an infant-trafficking scheme.
Hontiveros, who heads the Senate panel on women, signified such intent in her Senate Resolution No. 1211 filed on Thursday.
In her measure, the senator said a Philippine agency was found to have trafficked Filipinos into Cambodia to become surrogates for an infant trafficking syndicate.
“Twenty Filipino women who were trafficked into Cambodia to be used as surrogate mothers were rescued by Cambodian Police,” Hontiveros revealed in her resolution.
“Out of the 20 Filipino women who were trafficked, 13 of them are pregnant through artificial means and have been indicted with human trafficking-related charges by the Cambodian Kandal Provincial Court, while the remaining seven women were found to be immigration offenders and were expelled from Cambodia,” she said.
According to her, Filipino women were recruited online, and most were aware of the “expectations of their labor abroad.”
“The outbound human trafficking of these 20 women was facilitated by a Philippine agency, making it of utmost importance to identify lapses in law enforcement to effectively crack down on human trafficking schemes,” the senator emphasized.
She then noted that an investigation into this scheme is crucial to identify gaps in the country’s existing legislation, including, but not limited to, reproductive labor and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed such cases.
For his part, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the Philippine government is in coordination with relevant agencies to combat future surrogacy cases or human trafficking cases involving Filipinos.