Filipino Foreign Trade in Unborn Babies for "Adoption"

“Two brother-lawmakers have called on authorities to hunt members of syndicates luring Filipino pregnant women to engage in the trafficking of their unborn babies to foreign countries in exchange for huge amount of money.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Abante Mindanao party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. said that the recruitment of pregnant women by these syndicates to perpetuate their illegal activities should be stopped. In filing House Resolution 2251, they urged the House committees on social services and welfare of children to look into the matter.

“They travel overseas legally as tourists then sell their newborns to waiting adoptive parents abroad,” the Cagayan de Oro solons said. They said that the syndicates give them necessary travel documents, plane tickets and pocket money with the intent of having the child adopted as a form of a pre-arranged plan. He said that a case happened in Austria two years ago and in Malta last year.

“There is no reason for immigration agents to be suspicious about why a pregnant woman is going overseas.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that there are 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines involved in human trafficking. The International Labor Organization estimated 100,000 Filipino children who are victims of human trafficking.

The Washington’s 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report showed that the Philippines is overcoming its status as being included in the Tier 2 Watch List of United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). “Things may soon turn for the worse again if a new form of human trafficking racket is not addressed, trafficking in unborn babies. There is a need to stop this new form of trafficking from proliferating and instead convince would-be-parents who wish to place their children up for adoption to comply with the legal process and go through the Inter-Country Adoption Board.”

Solons: Hunt Suspects In Trafficking
[Manila Bulletin 3/25/12 by Charissa M. Luci]

“Last year a Maltese man was charged before a local court for allegedly making a false declaration to immigration authorities when sponsoring a Filippino woman who requested and obtained a Visa, but who in fact was pregnant.

The police, department for Social Welfare Standards and Aġenzija Appoġġ investigated the case – which was triggered by reports of unborn child trafficking from the Philippines to Malta – and came to light during the 11th Global Consultation on Child Welfare Services held in Makati City, Philippines.

It transpired that although the woman had travelled to Malta legally as a tourist, investigations led to a Maltese man to be charged in court for not mentioning that the woman was expecting a child when he applied for her visa to come to Malta.

In August last year, the Philippines undersecretary for social affairs Alicia Bala expressed her concern that pregnant Filipino women were being recruited to travel overseas legally as tourists, then sell their newborns to waiting adoptive parents.

Alicia Bala was categoric that in the specific case of Malta “the mother who’s pregnant [was] sponsored to go to that place with the intent of having the child adopted.”

“This is a form of trafficking… Our attention was called by Malta authorities,” she told had reporters.

The mother has since returned to the Philippines, but her child is now undergoing procedure for adoptive parents to keep the baby in custody.

“This is just one instance but, who knows, there may be other cases that are not brought to our attention. It is a prearranged plan of giving birth there, then they give the baby up. They don’t keep the baby because there is already that intention to have the baby adopted abroad,” Bala said.

As the mothers are able to exit the country legally, such cases are hard to detect unless reported by the receiving country, she said.

“You can’t stop anyone from travelling. There’s no reason for immigration agents to be suspicious about why a pregnant woman is going overseas. Maybe there’s a facilitator here,” Bala said.
Malta raises alarm over Filipino trade in unborn babies
[Malta Today  3/28/12]

We covered the Makati conference about international adoption trafficking in August 2011. See that post here.

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