An official of the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday disclosed that the national government is negotiating with the Cambodian government on what to do with the 14 children of the Filipina surrogate mothers after giving birth.

In a statement, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty stressed that the Philippine government wanted to make sure the children are safe.

“That is what we want and were talking to Cambodia about the matter and if they agree one of the things, what we will do is to process the children’s birth certificate at our embassy in that country,” Ty said.

He added that the question now is what will happen to the children once they were born, as under Philippine laws, the Filipina’s will be their mother but their nationality will be uncertain.

He explained that the children’s nationality is different to the Filipina surrogate mothers who were paid P500,000 each, thus the government wanted to make sure that the children are safe and if they will be brought to the Philippines, they will be referred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for possible adoption.

But there are reports that the Filipina surrogates has somewhat developed attachment to the babies because they carry it for several months in their bellies.

“We are not closing all possibilities but the important thing is our eyes should be opened to the dangers of the relationship,” he added.

Ty said the Philippine Embassy in Cambodia has released a statement that the 13 Filipina surrogates have been convicted for violation ng human trafficking law by the Kandal Provincial Court for their involvement in a surrogacy scheme.

They were initially meted with four years of imprisonment but was reduced to two years due to mitigating circumstances in a law that could have sentenced them for up to 20 years behind bars.

The Filipinos, who faced charges for violation of the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, have been detained since 23 September at a designated medical facility under police protection while awaiting judicial process for their case.

The Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh, on the other hand, said it will continue to provide legal and consular assistance to convicted Filipinos during their stay in Cambodia, it will also help Khmer authorities in the fight against transnational crimes.

Earlier, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) said that it is deeply saddened by the two-year imprisonment sentence imposed on the 13 women.

“Nevertheless, we are grateful to the Cambodian government for significantly reducing their sentences from the original 15–20 years to just two years. We extend our deepest appreciation to the Philippine Embassy in Cambodia, led by Ambassador Flerida Ann Camille Mayo, for their steadfast support of the Filipino women, and to the Department of Justice team that traveled to Cambodia to advocate on their behalf,” said the IACAT in a statement.