Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros has sought a legislative inquiry into the reported human trafficking case that victimized over a dozen Filipino women who were forced to become surrogates mothers in Cambodia.

Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution No. 1211 to authorize her committee to conduct the investigation into the case of 20 Filipino women who were allegedly forced to act as surrogate mothers in an infant trafficking scheme in Cambodia.

Cambodian authorities rescued the 20 victims and discovered that 13 of them are already pregnant.

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac described the case as “highly peculiar” as becoming surrogate mothers is not a common path that trafficked Filipinos are taken.

In SR No. 1211, Hontiveros underscored the importance of digging deep into the truth behind the human trafficking scheme in order to pinpoint responsibility and determine legislative measures that may be initiated to stop the practice.

An investigation into the new scheme of human trafficking is cruticial in helping Congress identify gaps in existing laws of the country, including but not limited to, the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

“Out of the 20 Filipino women who were trafficked, 13 of them are pregnant through artificial means and have been indicted with human trafficking-related charges by the Cambodian Kandal Provincial Court, while the remaining seven women were found to be immigration offenders and were expelled from Cambodia,” said Hontiveros.

She disclosed that the Filipino women were recruited online and most were made aware of what they must expect from their employment in Cambodia.

“The outbound human trafficking of these 20 women was facilitated by a Philippine agency, making it of utmost importance to identify lapses in law enforcement to effectively crack down on human trafficking schemes,” she explained.