MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking an investigation into fake birth certificates and late registrations in the country.
This comes after allegations of irregularities surfaced regarding the birth certificates of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her family.
Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution 1053 directing the Senate to look into the alleged proliferation of fake birth certificates and abuses in the current system of late birth registration.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the birth certificate of Amelia Leal, Guo’s mother as a Filipino, does not exist.
Gatchalian mentioned that at least 308 fake birth certificates were used for Philippine passport applications from January to September 2023, with six of these belonging to foreigners who obtained genuine Philippine passports.
PSA is investigating 300 cases of fake birth certificates involving Filipinos and 65 cases involving foreigners.
Based on information from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Gatchalian identified several foreigners who pretended to be Filipinos by presenting genuine and original birth certificates from PSA, along with government-issued IDs.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian’s resolution cited data from PSA in 2022, indicating that 127,919 births were registered after the 30-day registration period.
“There may be a syndicate behind the proliferation of fake birth certificates and possible abuse of the late birth registration system,” Gatchalian said in his statement.
The senator now hopes to draft legislation or policy recommendations for PSA through the planned hearings.