INQUIRER.net stock images
MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking a quicker way of cancelling fraudulent birth certificates—including those applied by foreigners seeking fake Filipino identities—has been filed in the House of Representatives.
Officials and members of the House quad committee on Wednesday filed House Bill (HB) No. 11117, the proposed Fraudulent Birth Certification Cancellation Law, which suggests creating a Special Committee on the Cancellation of Birth Certificates.
Under the bill, the committee will consist of the Civil Registrar General of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as chairperson and representatives of the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Local Government, Justice, and the Office of the Solicitor General as members.
“The PSA Board Secretariat shall act as the secretariat of the Committee. The Committee Secretariat shall accept complaints involving birth certificates registered through fraudulent means by foreign nationals, assign docket numbers, schedule hearings and issue notices thereof,” the bill read.
The proposed committee will have the following powers and functions:
- Formulate rules of procedure concerning the investigation, filing and reception of complaints, conduct of hearings, and appeals involving cancellation of birth certificates registered through fraudulent means by any foreigner.
- Conduct clarificatory hearings and investigations on birth certificates registered through fraudulent means by any foreigner.
- Issue summons, subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to secure the production of all necessary evidence concerning cases of birth certificates registered through fraudulent means by foreigners such as affidavits, records, testimonies and other pertinent documents.
- Promulgate decisions, after due notice and hearing, concerning complaints of cancellation of birth certificates registered through fraudulent means by any foreigner.
- Recommend to the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Interior and Local Government, the Ombudsman, and other appropriate agencies the filing of deportation, criminal, civil and administrative cases under existing laws against foreigners, private individuals and public officers and employees who have participated in the fraudulent registration of birth certificates of a foreigner.
- Perform such other powers and functions necessary to attain its objectives.
The committee can follow up on the cancellation of birth certificates by recommending the filing of criminal and administrative cases against both the applicant and the conniving government employee.
The bill was filed by the quad committee lead presiding officer, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, co-chairpersons and other members of the four panels.
According to Barbers, the bill is still part of the proposed new laws and amendments that the quad committee will forwarded as a result of its investigation.
“The Bill 11117 was just filed as a result of the committee hearings conducted by the quad, this is the administrative cancellation of the birth certificates fraudulently acquired by foreign nationals,” he said.
“We know that for the last several years, many Chinese nationals became Filipinos. And because they became Filipinos, they were able to acquire land,” Barbers noted.
“They were also able to organize corporations which they own 100 percent. And all these things were fraudulently done, for reasons that are perhaps based on their self-interest,” the lawmaker pointed out.
“We know that this is the goal of these individuals. That’s why now, we are proposing this law that would penalize individuals and government employees who allow this scheme,” he explained.
At the first hearing of the quad committee on August 16, the PSA admitted that 1,733 foreigners’ birth records had been deemed falsified.
This scheme, where Chinese entering the country through special visas eventually register their children as Filipinos, was uncovered during the Senate and the House hearings related to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) and illegal drugs.
The Senate inquiry into the raided Pogo hub in Bamban, Pampanga led to the belief that dismissed mayor Alice Guo is a Chinese whose birth was registered late by her father.
Eventually, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that Guo and Chinese Guo Hua Ping’s fingerprints have matched.
READ: Mayor Alice Guo is also Chinese woman Guo Hua Ping, NBI confirms
At the House, lawmakers saw similarities between the case of Guo and electrical and light company Omni Philippines President Henry Bigay, as he was also raised by a Chinese father, availed of a late birth certificate registration, and held a Filipino and a Chinese passport at the same time.
At the hearing of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs last June 20, it was revealed that Bigay’s father, Yatai International Corporation founder Yang Hua Hong, was not listed as his father on his Philippine birth certificate.
Only Bigay’s mother, a certain Maria Luisa Bigay, was listed as his parent—but Bigay admitted to having been raised by his father.
READ: Sounds familiar? Chinoy businessman’s story draws comparisons to Alice Guo
Then last July 23, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission revealed that Whirlwind Corp. incorporator Katherine Cassandra Li Ong’s parents also availed of the late registration scheme.
READ: PAOCC: Woman linked to Porac Pogo may also be Chinese