A recruitment agency in the Philippines is under investigation for its alleged involvement in illegally recruiting Filipinas to become surrogate mothers in Cambodia, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Thursday, Dec. 5.

During an interview on PTV's Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, DOJ Undersecretry Nicholas Felix L. Ty said the identity of the recruitment agency was based on the statements of seven Flipinas who became its victims but managed to get repatriated back to the Philippines.

“Mula sa kanilang mga kwento ay may na-identify kaming isang agency, isang recruiter dito sa Pilipinas na tinututukan na natin ngayon ng kriminal na imbestigasyon (From their statements we were able to identify an agency, a recruiter here in the Philippines, that is now the focus of the criminal investigation),” Ty said.

The seven were among the 20 Filipinas caught in Cambodia by local authorities for being involved in surrogacy despite prohibitions in that country.

The 13 other Filipinas, all of whom got pregnant, were sentenced to two-year imprisonment after being found guilty last Dec. 2 of violating Cambodia’s 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

Ty said the seven Filipinas, all of whom did not get pregnant, “maaari din silang humarap ng kasong kriminal (they could have been charged in Cambodia).”

“Pero pinaubaya na sa atin ng Cambodia kung ano ang gagawin sa kanila at inuwi naman natin sila (But Combodia allowed us do what we want done with them and they were eventually sent home),” he also said.

In the Philippines, the undersecretary said the Filipinas are considered victims under the country’s laws.

“Pero dahil nga sa insidente na ‘to makikita natin na hindi lahat ng bansa ganoon ang pananaw (But, because of the incident in Cambodia, we can see that other countries do not have the same stance),” he said.

Thus, Ty appealed to the public not to accept offers to illegally become surrogate mothers.

“Sana ‘wag n’yo gawin ‘to dahil maaari mangyari sa inyo ang mga nangyari dito sa mga kawawang kababayan natin (I hope you don’t do this because you will suffer the same fate as our fellow citizens),” he warned.

Ty also reminded that the babies who will be born from these surrogate mothers will also suffer.

“Kita n’yo naman ‘di ba namomoblema tayo ngayon kung ano ang gagawin natin sa mga batang ‘to once maiuwi natin dito sa Pilipinas (You can see we are having problems on what to do with the babies of the convicted Filipinas once the infants arrive in the Philippines),” he said.

He had revealed plans to get the babies legally adopted in the Philippines.