Senate probe on fake birth certificates pushed in Manila

Source: The Star

MANILA: A parallel investigation into the proliferation of fake birth certificates and abuse of the late birth registration system in the country has been sought in the Senate.

The probe is proposed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian (pic) through Senate Resolution No 1053 he filed early this week.

"Syndicates may be behind the proliferation of fake birth certificates, as well as the apparent abuse of the late birth registration system, which allows unscrupulous persons and foreign nationals to secure government- issued IDs, evade existing immigration laws, as well as perpetrate illicit activities including money laundering and human trafficking," Gatchalian said in the resolution.

The same subject matter is currently being investigated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Gatchalian's resolution cited PSA's findings of discrepancies in the birth certificate of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, specifically the absence of government records proving the existence of her alleged mother, Amelia Leal.

Guo is being investigated by the Senate committee on women for her alleged involvement in the illegal offshore gaming operations in the country.

"The fact-finding investigation conducted by the PSA revealed that Amelia Leal does not have any birth, marriage, or death certificate," the resolution pointed out.

It also noted that despite Guo's assertion that her father, Angelito Guo, is Chinese and a Chinese passport holder, her birth certificate and two other siblings' indicated that he is a Filipino citizen.

Citing PSA data, the resolution noted an average of 972,830 delayed birth registrations recorded annually from 2013 to 2022.

"Out of the 111 million Filipinos in 2020, roughly 3.7 million did not have birth certificates or were not registered," it further noted. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN