Sen. Risa Hontiveros (L) and suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (R) (File photos from Senate PRIB and Guo’s official Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has recommended to the Office of Solicitor General the cancellation of suspended Mayor Alice Guo’s birth certificate.
“We already endorsed to the Office of the Solicitor General for canceling the [Certificate of Live Birth] COLB,” said Marizza Grande, Assistant National Statistician of PSA’s Civil Registration Service.
“The PSA has no power to automatically cancel pag nakita natin na may irregular process doon sa registration,” she noted.
(The PSA has no power to automatically cancel even if we see an irregular process in the registration.)
Grande made the remark during the Senate panel on women’s hearing on illegal operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) in the country.
She also admitted that PSA found Guo’s late birth registration irregular.
“Nako-confirm nyo na yung birth certificate nya, nakuha fraudulently or irregularly, considering halos walang attachments ito noong i-submit, bukod sa negative certificate ng NSO [National Statistics Office],” said Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
(You have confirmed that her birth certificate was obtained fraudulently or irregularly, considering there were almost no attachments when it was submitted apart from a negative certificate from NSO.)
Hontiveros was presiding over the hearing as panel chair.
“Tapos, parang gaya nung nalaman namin nung previous hearings, parang mali-mali pa yung information sa marriage status ng mga magulang,” the senator observed.
(Also, as we have found out in the previous hearings, the information indicated was mostly erroneous.)
Floating identity
What will happen if Guo’s birth certificate is canceled?
According to Grande, the embattled local official’s identity will be considered as “floating.”
“Technically, naka-float [ang] kanyang identity because she is an official of the government and yung pagiging Filipino citizen is being [questioned],” explained Grande.
(Technically, her identity is ‘floating’ because she is a government official, and her Filipino citizenship is being questioned.)
Guo’s birth certificate has been scrutinized after senators flagged “irregularities” found on the document.
READ: Guo’s purported ‘mother’ may not exist at all, says PSA official
This is not a unique case.
To prove that there is a need to reform the country’s birth certificate system, Sen. Win Gatchalian previously emphasized that there are more than 60 cases lodged at PSA in relation to fake birth certificates being granted to foreigners.
“So, hindi ito isolated cases. Naaabuso talaga ang pagkuha ng birth certificate,” he said then.
(So, this is not an isolated case. The process of acquiring birth certificates is really getting abused.)