BI intercepts 4 Filipinas hired to be surrogate mothers in Cambodia

FOUR Filipino women bound for Cambodia to become surrogate mothers were intercepted by Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 on New Year’s Day.

The victims were allegedly hired by foreign clients in exchange for a fee close to P500,000.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the four victims and their female recruiter were not allowed by the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit personnel from boarding a Thai Airways flight at the Naia 1 terminal last Sunday.

During interrogation, the women admitted that after arriving in Bangkok, Thailand, they would proceed to Phnom Penh where they will be fetched by a Cambodian who arranged the deal with the foreigners who were supposed to father the babies they would bear.

“This is a new modus operandi of a human trafficking syndicate that preys on our Filipino women who are enticed to bear children of strangers for a fee because of their poverty. We cannot allow this to happen,” said Morente in a statement.

The victims claimed that they were each promised the amount of US$8,700, US$200 of which will be paid after the first injection of the foreigner’s sperm into their uterus and US$500 will be added upon confirmation of the unborn child’s heartbeat.

The rest of the money will be paid in monthly installments during their pregnancy and until the baby is delivered and sent to the country of the paternal parent.

The women added that their babies will be fathered by a German, a Nigerian, an Australian, and a Chinese.

The offloaded passengers also bared that another batch of would-be surrogate mothers were scheduled to depart at the Naia at an undisclosed date, hence the alert order.

A surrogate mother is defined as one who bears a child on behalf of another woman, either from her own egg fertilized by the other woman's partner, or from the implantation in her uterus of a fertilized egg from the other woman.

With this, the BI chief directed personnel at the Naia to be vigilant in screening Filipino tourists departing for Thailand and Cambodia.

He also commended the immigration officers who foiled the human trafficking operation. (FP/Sunnex)