April 13, 2026
MANILA – A woman suspected of being a victim of an illegal surrogacy scheme abroad was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
According to the BI, the 31-year-old woman was set to depart for Hong Kong when she was stopped by immigration officers on March 30.
The woman initially claimed she was traveling to work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, but officers later found that she was actually bound for Beijing and then Tbilisi, Georgia, where she was allegedly to serve as a gestational surrogate.
BI also noted that among the travel documents submitted by the victim was a letter from a Georgian-German surrogacy facility, where she was scheduled to undergo advanced use of in vitro fertilization or IVF.
The victim eventually admitted that a female recruiter on Facebook had contacted her and offered a payment of P490,000 after childbirth.
Consistent with existing anti-trafficking measures, the BI referred the victim to Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for appropriate intervention and case development.
With this, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado, warned the public against traffickers who are again resorting to illegal surrogacy schemes to lure and exploit victims.
“Our officers manning the counters are strongly committed to intercepting suspicious departures linked to trafficking schemes,” said Viado.
“We remain in close coordination with IACAT and other partner agencies to protect Filipinos and ensure that traffickers are held accountable,” he added. /dl