Pardoned Filipina surrogates from Cambodia to stay at DSWD shelters

FILE PHOTO: DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian. – The 13 Filipina surrogates who were pardoned and returned to the Philippines from Cambodia will remain at temporary shelters provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). PHOTO FROM SENATE PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — The 13 Filipina surrogates who were pardoned and returned to the Philippines from Cambodia will remain at temporary shelters provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said Sunday that the surrogates and three of their babies will be given the assistance they need by the DSWD Field Office-National Capital Region under the Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Programs.

“The DSWD as the Co-Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) treats the 13 surrogate mothers as victims of trafficking and all forms of assistance should be given to them including the provision of transportation and temporary shelter in one of the Department’s centers and residential care facilities (CRCFs),” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“While the surrogate mothers are in temporary shelter, the DSWD will help them communicate with their families for their reintegration. The respective families of the surrogate mothers will also be assessed for the provision of the necessary services and intervention,” he added.

READ: 13 Filipino women surrogates convicted in Cambodia return to PH

The preparation for CRCF was already underway, according to Atty. Elaine Fallarcuna, DSWD Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, Attached and Supervised Agencies and a DSWD representative in the IACAT.

She also said that the women will be provided transportation assistance when they go back to their respective provinces.

“Other needed intervention such as counseling services will be provided during assessment by the assigned social worker in the CRCF,” Fallarcuna added in the same statement.

READ: 13 Filipinas get 2-yr sentence in Cambodia for violating surrogacy ban

The Filipina surrogates were detained on September 23 in Cambodia and eventually convicted of violating that country’s surrogacy ban by the Kandal Provincial Court on December 2.

Close coordination between the Cambodian government, the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh and IACAT made the repatriation of the Filipinas possible, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The 13 women were granted a Royal pardon by His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni on December 26.