Suspected 'surrogacy recruiter' nabbed

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested a woman at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for her alleged involvement in the scheme of illegally bringing Filipinas abroad to become surrogate mothers.

The woman was identified as Freezle Rose Balando, who was intercepted along with her three Filipina companions by immigration officers last October 13 Oct. at the NAIA before they could board a flight to Thailand.

The NBI said Freezle Rose Balondo was placed under arrest for trafficking in persons under RA 9208 (Republic Act 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), as amended by RA 10364 and RA 11862.

The suspect, who was taken into custody by the NBI, was presented for inquest proceedings before the Office of the City Prosecutor, Pasay City, for the violation of law.

Balondo’s three companions initially claimed during immigration inspection that “they were a group of friends going on a tour in Bangkok, Thailand, for six (6) days, and that they were supposedly employed by TTEC as Customer Service Representatives.”

The NBI said the women were referred to secondary inspection “due to several inconsistencies in their declarations of two of them, as well as their failure to establish their relationship with one another and their doubtful purpose of travel.”

It also disclosed that the two passengers admitted that they are not employees of TTEC and that they were bound for Thailand to be surrogate mothers via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in exchange for 8,000 to 10,000 USD.

“Their co-passenger, Freezle Rose Balondo y Ricanor, supplied their employment documents for their departure,” it said.

An investigation over the surrogacy scheme has been started by the Department of Justice (DoJ) after 20 Filipinas, 13 of them pregnant, were rescued in Cambodia by local authorities from a syndicate involved in bringing in foreigner women to become surrogate mothers even if surrogacy is outlawed in the country.