Senators want 1,200 ‘Alice Guos’ probed

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo

MANILA, Philippines — Senators on Tuesday called on appropriate state agencies to go after about 1,200 “Alice Guos,” or Chinese nationals, who allegedly obtained Filipino citizenship by securing spurious birth certificates in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur province.

“It goes to show that the policy on the late registration of birth has really been abused,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian told reporters. “This should be investigated. This is very alarming … It’s a serious problem,” he said.

He noted that the incident was similar to the case of Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, whose citizenship has become the main focus of an ongoing Senate inquiry on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

READ: NBI Davao uncovers ‘200 falsified birth certificates’ issued to Chinese

Guo has been in hiding since she was ordered arrested by the Senate last week. She had denied allegations that her real identity was Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national believed to have illegally acquired Filipino citizenship through the late registration of birth scheme.

Pricey papers

Gatchalian earlier revealed that foreigners were paying as much as P300,000 for manufactured birth certificates and other government-issued identification cards.

Senate President Francis Escudero said the National Bureau of Investigation should conduct a deeper probe and identify those responsible for fabricating the birth documents.

This was after NBI Director Jaime Santiago disclosed that up to 1,200 Chinese nationals had been given birth certificates by the local civil registry of Santa Cruz since 2016.

The number was six times bigger than the NBI’s initial information that some 200 Chinese citizens had become Filipinos practically in an instant.

“I think that is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ so to speak,” Escudero said. “I believe Guo is not the first and will certainly not be the last to fake a birth certificate.”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the chair of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality which is investigating Guo, said the Santa Cruz civil registry office personnel should be held liable, reiterating that Filipino citizenship should not be treated as a commodity.

“We must crack down on Filipinos who have made this possible,” she said in a statement.

Clear security threat

“Uncovering thousands of fake identities is a clear threat to public order and national security. Our recent legislative inquiries into Pogos have already revealed that criminal groups use fake Filipino citizenship to carry out their illicit activities,” she added.

For Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, the local government of Santa Cruz should help law enforcement agencies carry out a “comprehensive investigation.”

According to Gatchalian, he had received information that there were similar cases of Chinese nationals getting birth certificates in Lanao provinces.

He urged the Bureau of Immigration and Department of Foreign Affairs to be on the lookout for individuals who had applied for Philippine passports by presenting birth certificates that were registered belatedly.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court en banc has required Hontiveros’ committee to reply to Guo’s petition within 10 days.

“The Court further required the Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc to personally serve the Court’s resolution on the respondent, which shall likewise personally file and serve its comment,” Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting told reporters on Tuesday.

On July 10, Guo’s camp filed a petition for certiorari before the court, seeking to stop the Senate committee from inviting her to its hearings.

She also sought a temporary restraining order against Hontiveros for grave abuse of discretion after she supposedly subjected Guo to “public prosecution and humiliation” during the hearings. —with a report from Jane Bautista