nusaone @ sakun23 Ledakjitu Cambodian king pardons 13 Pinoy surrogate moms
CAMBODIAN King Norodom Sihamoni has pardoned the 13 Filipino surrogate mothers who were convicted in Cambodia for violating the human trafficking law.
The Department of Foreign Affairs thanked King Norodom for issuing the royal pardon on December 26 as it paved the way for the release of the Filipino mothers.
Ten of the women are pregnant, while three have already given birth in Cambodia.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) facilitated the repatriation of the 13 surrogates and the three babies. They arrived in Manila Sunday.
There were initially 20 Filipino women who were arrested in Cambodia last September 23.
Surrogacy is banned in Cambodia and the Filipinos were not aware that they could be jailed for agreeing to be inseminated and become surrogates of overseas couple clients.
Of the 20 arrested Filipinos, 13 were successful pregnancies. Seven other Filipinos were released immediately as they were not pregnant.
Last December 2, a local Cambodian court found 13 Filipino women guilty of violating the 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. The court sentenced them to four years in jail, and this was further reduced to two years “due to mitigating circumstances.”
Since then, they were detained at a medical facility under police supervision.
The DFA thanked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and the Cambodian government “for the humanitarian treatment extended to the Filipino mothers throughout investigative and judicial processes.”
“Their safe homecoming is a testament to the longstanding friendly relations between the Philippines and Cambodia and the firm commitment of both governments to combat human trafficking and other transnational crimes,” the DFA said in a statement.
The DFA once more reminded Filipinos that surrogacy is banned in Cambodia and any violation thereof is punishable under Cambodian laws.
