Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the agency is attending well to the needs of three Filipina surrogate mothers from Cambodia who opted to stay in DSWD’s residential facilities instead of being reintegrated into their respective families.
“I believe three women are staying with us and we will make sure that they get all the necessary psychosocial interventions before they are reintegrated back into their families or communities,” the DSWD chief said.
Gatchalian said that DSWD social workers and case managers are on top of the situation to assist the three surrogate mothers so that before they are reintegrated back to their families and communities, they are mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared.
“Reintegration is a very tricky process. You don’t just simply match them together physically, but there’s that emotional or mental preparation that has to take place. Remember what they went through is no simple feat. It’s a horrific event that should happen to no one,” the DSWD chief pointed out.
When asked about the possibility that the babies of the surrogate mothers would be up for adoption, Secretary Gatchalian was firm that the best interest of children would still prevail.
“We always hope that we don’t have to separate a mother from a child, so that’s the ultimate goal,” Gatchalian said.
“Our social workers are mending the emotional wounds and the psychosocial wounds brought about by this traumatic experience that these women went through with the ultimate hope that all of them will be capable to become mothers that we can reintegrate back to their families,” the DSWD chief added.
Gatchalian said the social workers who are acting as individual case managers are armed and trained to look at the fitness of the individuals to become parents.
The 13 surrogate mothers were among 24 foreign women arrested by the Cambodian police in Kandal province in September 2024 on charges of attempted cross-border human trafficking.
On December 29, the 13 surrogate mothers arrived in the Philippines after receiving a Royal Pardon following an appeal by the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh, supported by the Royal Government of Cambodia.
