Poe: Over 1,600 birth certificates blocked by PSA due to false documents

The Philippine Statistics Authority has blocked more than 1,600 birth certificates of foreign nationals due to the false documents that were submitted, Senator Grace Poe said Thursday.

“(At least) 1,627 birth certificates of foreign nationals were blocked by PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) after its investigation, finding the documents to be spurious,” Poe said during the interpellation for the 2025 proposed budget of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The PSA is among the attached agencies of NEDA.

Poe, who sponsors the NEDA budget, added that the names of the foreigners were shared with the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, and National Bureau of Investigation.

“Out of those numbers, 18 were endorsed to the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) for cancelation. Kasama na dito yung kay (including the birth certificate of) Guo Hua Ping,” Poe said.

The OSG has filed a petition seeking to cancel the birth certificate of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping. In its petition, the OSG said the legal requirements for late registration were not complied with, citing the absence of supporting documents.

The PSA also logged 14.89 million late birth certificate registrants for 14 years from 2010 to 2014, Poe said.

She added that there is a need to beef up the PSA’s evaluation of late registration of birth certificates. The agency was able to audit only 50,532 or 0.34% of late registrants.

In September, the PSA reported that 15 local registrants engaged in the improper issuance of birth certificates to foreigners. — BAP, GMA Integrated News