MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Tuesday that it had stopped two Filipinas from leaving the country after it was discovered they had been recruited as surrogate mothers in Georgia, Europe.
The two women attempted to depart from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on November 27. Initially, they claimed to be acquaintances and professionals on a self-funded leisure trip to Tbilisi, Georgia.
However, their story was debunked when a secondary inspection revealed that their documents were fraudulent.
They eventually admitted they had been recruited through Facebook by an online recruiter to serve as surrogate mothers for an unnamed individual, with a monthly salary of P700,000.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado labeled the surrogacy arrangement as “illegal surrogacy,” which he stated falls under “trafficking activity.”
Surrogacy, according to Yale Medicine, involves a woman carrying and delivering a child for a couple or individual.
In the Philippines, there is no specific law that either prohibits or permits surrogacy, creating a legal gray area vulnerable to exploitation.
The two women were handed over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation.
In a related incident, 13 pregnant Filipinas were recently sentenced to four years in prison in Cambodia for illegally participating in surrogacy.
They were among 24 foreign women detained in September on charges of attempted human trafficking.
Senator Risa Hontiveros has called for a Senate investigation into the alleged surrogacy operation.