2 surrogacy trafficking victims intercepted at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) recently stopped two alleged illegal surrogacy trafficking victims from traveling to Georgia.

In a statement yesterday, Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said BI personnel prevented the women from boarding their flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1.

The victims initially claimed to be acquaintances and professionals traveling on a self-funded leisure trip to Tbilisi, Georgia.

During secondary inspection, authorities discovered that their travel documents were fraudulent.

The victims admitted that they were recruited by an online recruiter who offered them to become surrogate mothers for an unidentified person, with a monthly salary of P700,000 each.

The recruiter instructed them to undergo medical examination before traveling to Georgia.

The victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation.

Thirteen pregnant Filipino women have been sentenced by a Cambodian court to four years in prison for being surrogate mothers.