The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Wednesday that the children born to the 13 Filipina surrogate mothers in Cambodia are to be considered Filipino nationals.
The trafficked women, who have been confined at a health facility in Cambodia since late September, are at various stages of pregnancy. One has already given birth, another is pregnant with twins, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty told the press.
“Most likely, magkakaron tayo ng 14 na sanggol. Ang mga bata na to, pinag-uusapan pa natin ang magiging kapalaran nila ngunit nasabi na natin sa Cambodia ang posisyon ng pamahalaan natin na para sa atin, ang mga batang ito ay mga Pilipino, dahil base sa batas natin, ang babae na nagsilang ng isang bata, siya ang ituturing na nanay ng bata,” Ty said.
(Most likely, we will have 14 babies. These children, we are presently discussing their fate, although we have informed Cambodia the position of our government, that for us, these children are Filipino, because based on our laws, the woman who bears a child, she is considered its mother.)
The justice undersecretary acknowledged that Philippine law is simplistic in this regard, and that such assertions will pose some difficulties as the mothers and babies do not share DNA.
“Pero ang mga batas natin sa ngayon ay di pa talaga nafa-factor in yung ganitong mga technology, yung surrogacy technology. Kaya sa batas natin, simple lang. Kung sinong babae nagsilang sa bata, siya ang nanay ng bata. Susundin ang nationality niya,” Ty stated.
(But our laws for now was unable to factor in technology like this, surrogacy technology. That’s why, according to our law, it’s simple. Whichever woman gives birth to the child, she is the child’s mother. We will follow her nationality.)
He added that the two-year sentence the women were levied was the best compromise the Philippines and Cambodia could have reached, given the penalty for violating the surrogacy ban may be imprisonment extended to 15, even 20 years.
On December 2, they were convicted for violating Cambodia’s 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation by the Kandal Provincial Court, for taking part in a surrogacy scheme.
The Philippine embassy in Phnom Penh said it would provide the detainees support as needed, which includes legal and consular assistance while they remain in Cambodia.
The women were recruited online by an unidentified individual, and were initially set to go to another Southeast Asian country before eventually being sent to Cambodia.
