PSA: Cancellation of Alice Guo's certificate of live birth endorsed to OSG

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday said it has already endorsed to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) the cancellation of suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo's certificate of live birth (COLB).

Testifying during the continuation of the Senate investigation on the raided POGO hub in Bamban where Guo is being linked, PSA Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande noted that the PSA has no power to cancel a COLB if it finds that the process of registration was "irregular."

"Related to this, we already endorsed to the Office of the Solicitor General for the cancellation of the COLB because ang PSA naman has no power to automatically cancel 'pag nakita natin na may irregular process doon sa registration," Grande said.

(Related to this, we already endorsed to the Office of the Solicitor General for the cancellation of the COLB because the PSA has no power to automatically cancel when it finds irregular process in the registration.)

According to Grande, the investigation conducted by the agency's Fraud and Management Division, in coordination with Tarlac Local Civil Registry Office, found that a negative certification from then-National Statistics Office (NSO) was the only submitted document for Guo and her sister Shiela's delayed registration of birth.

According to Bamban, Tarlac Citizen's Charter, the other requirements for late registration of COLB are:

• affidavit of two disinterested persons attesting to the facts of the birth,
• marriage certificate of parents,
• any two of these documents to prove birthdate and birthplace: baptismal certificate, school records, medical records if born in a hospital or clinic, voter's registration record, SSS Membership Record, income tax returns of parents, and barangay certification for children below seven years of age

Grande further said the negative certification from NSO was issued when the COLBs for Guo and her sister were already prepared.

If Guo's COLB is cancelled, Grande said the embattled mayor's identity will be considered "floating."

"Technically po, naka-float 'yung kaniyang identity because she is an official of the government and 'yung pagiging Filipino citizen is being in question," Grande said in response to Senator Risa Hontiveros' question.

(Technically her identity is on floating status because she is an official of the government and her being a Filipino citizen is being questioned.)

Hontiveros, for her part, said the cancellation of Guo's COLB will have a "serious implication."

"As you said, official siya ng gobyerno at dapat beyond reproach 'yon, 'yung identity kung tatakbo or kahit ma-appoint bilang official," she said.

(As you said, she is a government official and her identity should be beyond reproach.)

Guo is at the center of the Senate investigation into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac after several documents showed that she was personally involved in the processing of documents for its operations.

Her citizenship was also being questioned due to her inconsistent testimonies about her background and the supposed dubious documents regarding her Filipino citizenship.

Guo, who did not attend Wednesday's hearing, has repeatedly refuted allegations regarding her citizenship, maintaining that she is Filipino. —KBK, GMA Integrated News