Aside from Alice Guo, 17 others face birth certificate cancelation

Metro Manila, Philippines – Over a thousand birth certificates are on hold after the Philippine Statistics Authority found these were issued to foreign nationals based on "spurious" documents, including that of former Mayor Alice Guo and 17 others that were referred to the Office of the Solicitor General for cancelation.

The PSA disclosed this information on Thursday, Nov. 7, during the Senate deliberation of the agency’s proposed P8.5-billion budget for next year.

“1,627 birth certificates of foreign nationals were blocked by the PSA after its investigation, finding the documents to be spurious,” Senate committee on finance chairperson Grace Poe said, speaking on behalf of the PSA.

She said the names of the foreign nationals have been shared with the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the National Bureau of Investigation for further action.

“Out of those numbers… 18 were endorsed to the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) for cancelation… Kasama na dito yung kay Guo Hua Ping,” Poe added, referring to the supposed Chinese name of the former Bamban, Tarlac mayor.

In July, the OSG, the top government lawyer, filed a petition with the Tarlac Regional Trial Court to cancel Guo’s birth certificate. The status of the other 17 cases is unclear.

Poe’s statements were in response to Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros’ inquiry about whether the PSA had investigated the "fake" birth certificates following the marathon hearings on Guo.

Guo, a key figure in the probe on illegal offshore gaming operations, obtained a birth certificate through late registration. However, her fingerprints matched those of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, which became a ground for disqualifying her from holding public office.

“Paano naman po pananagutin yung mga opisyal na kasabwat sa pamemeke ng birth certificate (How will the officials involved in the falsification of the birth certificate be held accountable)?” Hontiveros asked.

“The names of those government workers were submitted to the mayor of that town, but alongside with it, simultaneously, there's also an investigation by the NBI,” Poe replied.

The lady senators both agreed that while the PSA should prevent foreign nationals from abusing the late registration process, Filipinos should not be burdened by overly cumbersome procedures. The PSA has processed 14.89 million late registrations since 2010.