P300K price tag for fake birth certificate, passport and gov't IDs — Gatchalian

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday shared information from the Chinese community that the price tag for the processing of fake birth certificates, including other government IDs is at around P300,000.

The lawmaker bared this amid the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) discovery that around 200 falsified birth certificates were issued to Chinese nationals from 2018 to 2019 in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.

"Last Saturday may nakausap ako sa Chinese community. Sinabi nila sa akin na ang running price pala para makakuha ng birth certificate, kasama na passport, kasama na ang driver’s license is P300,000," Gatchalian said.

"Merong mga ganon na naglalakad. Magbibigay ka ng P300,000, bibigyan ka niya ng birth certificate, bibigyan ka nya ng passport, bibigyan ka nya ng driver’s license at iba pa. Kumbaga lalakarin na nila lahat yun," he added.

(Last Saturday I talked with members of the Chinese community. They told me thet running price to obtain a birth certificate, together with a passport and a driver’s license costs P300,000.

There are those who fix this. You give P300,000 and they will give you a birth certificate, passport, driver’s license and more. They will process all of these.) 

For Gatchalian, the NBI discovery is "very concerning" as he noted that the birth certificate is the starting point for all government IDs.

"Once may birth certificate na, madali nang kuhanin yung iba. So yun ang narinig ko sa Chinese community na umiikot ngayon dahil nga lumabas na ito. Pumutok itong issue na ito eh. So apparently, meron pala talagang ganyan na modus among gustong kumuha ng pekeng birth certificate," he said, referring to the case of suspended Mayor Alice Guo.

(Once there is a birth certificate, it is easy to get the rest. That is what I heard from the Chinese community that is going around after we got wind of this. The issue is now out. So apparently, there is really a modus for those who wish to get a fake birth certificate.)

The discovery in Davao del Sur is, in effect, 200 cases of Mayor Alice Guo, the senator said.

"It’s very concerning. Kasi biro mo, of all places sa Sta Cruz Davao del Sur ang nagbigay pa ng late registration birth certificate o fake birth certificates. It goes without saying na talagang may sindikatong umiikot o may sindikato sa loob ng PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) o may sindikato mismo don sa Santa Cruz na nag aayos ng ganitong birth certificate," he added.

("It’s very concerning. Think of it, of all places it’s Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur that issues late registration birth certificates or fake birth certificates. It goes without saying there really is a syndicate that goes around or there is a syndicate inside the(Philippine Statistics Authority) or there is a syndicate in Santa Cruz itself that fixes these kinds of birth certificates.)

In June, Gatchalian filed a resolution seeking an investigation into what he said is an "alarming" proliferation of fake birth certificates and late registration of birth in the country.

The lawmaker urged the PSA to provide solutions to the lawmakers because the process of the filing of birth certificates starts with the local civil registries.

"Meron tayong 1,700 plus na local government units. So just imagine — ang dami mong pwedeng puntahan para mag-file ka ng birth certificate. Karamihan nga raw dito sa 200, nabasa ko puro hilot eh. Talagang naaabuso itong late registration natin at talagang dapat maayos ito," he said.

(We have more than 1,700 local government units. So just imagine — there are many places you can go to file for a birth certificate. A lot of these are 200, I learned these are fixed. Late registration is being abused and we need to fix this," he said.—RF, GMA Integrated News