Departing passengers queue before the immigration counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City on July 4, 2023. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) — The 13 pregnant Filipinas convicted in Cambodia for illegally acting as surrogate mothers have returned to the Philippines after being granted a royal pardon, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday.

The pardon was granted by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on December 26, the department also said.

"Upon the request of the Philippine Embassy and with the endorsement of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Royal Decree pardoning all 13 Filipinos paved the way for their release and immediate repatriation," the DFA said in its statement.

DSWD TO ASSIST WITH TRANSPORTATION, REINTEGRATION

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said in a separate release that the 13 arrived early Sunday morning accompanied by a Cambodian doctor and a Filipino nurse.

The DSWD said the surrogate mothers and their babies will get assistance under its Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons, which will include temporary shelter and eventual transportation to their home cities and provinces.

"Other needed intervention such as counseling services will be provided during assessment by the assigned social worker in the [Center and Residential Care Facility],” Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Elaine Fallarcuna said.

“While the surrogate mothers are in temporary shelter, the DSWD will help them communicate with their families for their reintegration," the department statement also quotes her as saying.

"The respective families of the surrogate mothers will also be assessed for the provision of the necessary services and intervention."

READ: DFA doing 'all we can' to repatriate 13 Filipina surrogates jailed in Cambodia

CONVICTION IN CAMBODIA

The Filipinas were convicted by a Cambodian court on December 2 for violating Cambodia’s law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and sentenced to four years in prison, with two years of the sentence suspended.

READ: Cambodian court jails 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates

They were among 24 foreign women whom the Cambodian police arrested in September and charged with attempted cross-border human trafficking. 

Surrogacy involves carrying a baby to term for someone else, often for a fee. It has been banned in Cambodia since 2016.

Article 16 of Cambodia's Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation had been used against surrogate mothers while a specific law penalizing surrogacy was being drafted, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Cambodia said in a 2019 report.

The DFA in its statement reminded Filipinos that "surrogacy is banned in Cambodia and any violation thereof is punishable under Cambodian laws."

The DFA in early December said the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh has been providing assistance to the Filipino surrogates, who had expected to be surrogates in Thailand but were brought to Cambodia instead.

DOJ: Babies of Filipino surrogates in Cambodia are Filipinos

"The Philippine Government thanks the Royal Government of Cambodia headed by Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Prime Minister Hun Manet for the humanitarian treatment extended to the Filipino mothers throughout the investigative and judicial processes in Cambodia," the DFA said Sunday.

"Their safe homecoming is a testament to the longstanding friendly relations between the Philippines and Cambodia and the firm commitment of both governments to combat human trafficking and other transnational crimes."

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