Sen. Gatchalian seeks probe into proliferation of fake birth certificates and late birth registration

June 20, 2024 , 03:43 PM

By Lace Anne Ebuña

(June 20, 2024) – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution 1053 on Friday directing the appropriate Senate committee to investigate the alleged proliferation of fake birth certificates and abuse of the late birth registration system. This follows recent findings of discrepancies in the birth certificate of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her alleged family.

Gatchalian aims to investigate the increase in fake birth certificates that allow individuals, including foreign nationals, to obtain government-issued IDs, evade immigration laws, and commit crimes.

“Syndicates may be behind the proliferation of fake birth certificates as well as the apparent abuse of the late birth registration system,” he said.

The resolution was prompted by inconsistencies found in Mayor Guo’s birth certificate, raising questions about the existence of Amelia Leal, the name listed as Guo’s mother in the document. A Senate fact-finding investigation revealed that no government records exist for an Amelia Leal and that she does not have any birth or marriage certificate.

Mayor Guo has been linked to a POGO hub in Bamban, recently targeted in raids by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for violations including human trafficking and illegal detention.

Sen. Gatchalian cited 2024 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), revealing that 308 fake birth certificates were used in passport applications from January to September last year, including six belonging to foreign nationals who were issued Philippine passports.

Further, he disclosed that the PSA is currently investigating the ongoing proliferation of fake birth certificates, including around 300 incidents involving Filipinos and 65 cases involving foreigners.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), on the other hand, has prevented over a hundred such attempts and referred numerous cases to law enforcement agencies.

(PB)

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