1,600 spurious applications for PH birth certificates ‘blocked’ – PSA

Sen. Grace Poe Senate —PRIB

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has “blocked” the birth certificates of over 1,600 foreigners who submitted fake documents to fraudulently obtain Filipino citizenship, a senator reported during Thursday’s deliberations on the agency’s proposed P8.67-billion budget for next year.

Defending the PSA’s spending plan, Sen. Grace Poe said the statistics office discovered irregularities in the issuance of 1,627 birth certificates to foreign nationals.

“[These] were blocked by the PSA after its investigation, finding the documents to be spurious,” Poe said after Sen. Risa Hontiveros pointed out the graft-ridden civil registry system has allowed foreigners to become Filipinos practically overnight with the help of corrupt government personnel.

READ: Birth records of 1733 foreigners faked, says PSA

She cited the now well-known case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, whom authorities have identified as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.

Poe said the PSA recommended that the Solicitor General file petitions for the cancellation of 18 fraudulently acquired birth certificates, including the one issued to Guo.

Pogo inquiry

According to her, the agency forwarded the names of the foreign nationals with illegal birth certificates to the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs and National Bureau of Investigation.

Poe also said the PSA had initiated a stricter process in approving late birth registrations, such as requiring applicants to submit ID pictures and biometrics data.

She thanked Hontiveros and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian for leading the Senate inquiry into the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), which led to the discovery of several criminal activities, such as the issuance of fake birth certificates to foreigners.

Gatchalian previously disclosed that some foreigners paid as much as P300,000 to get birth certificates.

“If we didn’t really investigate the issue on Pogos, these other problems wouldn’t have come to light,” Poe said.

Undergoing audit

Since 2010, the PSA recorded nearly 15 million births that were registered belatedly, or many years after the actual birth dates of the registrants concerned, Poe said.

READ: What are the PSA requirements for late birth registration?

Of that total, 50,532 birth certificates were now undergoing the PSA’s “audit,” Poe said, adding that “This [matter] needs meticulous attention.”

While she welcomed the PSA’s initiatives to put an end to the illegal birth certificates, Hontiveros said the changes in the birth registration process should not burden ordinary Filipinos, particularly members of indigenous groups.