Manila. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked Cambodia’s king on Tuesday for granting a royal pardon last year to 13 Filipino women who were convicted of illegally serving as surrogate mothers in the Southeast Asian kingdom.

Marcos expressed his gratitude in a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, who was visiting Manila for talks on expanding trade, agricultural, tourism, cultural and security relations.

The Philippines and Cambodia both belong to the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional bloc that promotes economic integration but is divided on other issues, including countries whose security alignments are with the United States or China.

Marcos has strengthened his country’s treaty alliance with the United States to boost the Philippines’ external defense as it confronts China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea. Cambodia has long been known as a key backer of China in the region.

The 13 Filipino women were convicted in December in Cambodia on human trafficking-related charges for acting as surrogates for a criminal syndicate selling babies to foreigners for cash.

The women, who were in various stages of pregnancy, were each sentenced to four years in prison by a Cambodian court, but they avoided imprisonment and were instead flown back to the Philippines under a royal pardon granted by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.

"We will never forget this act of magnanimity from His Majesty, a testament to the strong relations between our two countries,” Marcos said before a closed-door meeting with the Cambodian premier and his delegation in Manila.

"We will continue to stand with you in the fight against transnational crimes and their adverse effects on our peoples and on our communities,” Marcos said.

The Filipino women were charged for violating a Cambodian law against human trafficking and sexual exploitation which was updated in 2016 to ban commercial surrogacy. Cambodia has become a popular destination for foreigners seeking women to give birth to their children.

It has a bad reputation for human trafficking, especially in connection with online scams that illegally recruit foreigners to work under conditions of virtual slavery and help perpetrate online criminal fraud that victimizes citizens in other countries.

Several agreements were signed after Hun Manet’s meeting with Marcos, mostly aimed at boosting trade, investment, tourism and agricultural engagements. One agreement aims to prevent looting and illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.

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