Holders of falsified birth certificates no longer in town where issued

The holders of the falsified birth certificates issued by the local civil registry in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur from 2018 to 2019 are no longer in the town, the regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has said.

According to Darlene Cay’s report on “24 Oras,” the investigation also showed that the Filipino-sounding names in the birth certificates issued to 200 foreigners, mostly Chinese citizens, were also fake. 

"Iniisa-isa natin, sobrang hirap po kasi ang mga nakalagay dito. Filipino name, ang mga may-ari Chinese. Mahirap matunton, mostly in Luzon, not here in Davao,” said NBI Region 11 director Arcelito Albao. 

(We are looking at them one by one. It’s tough for us because these are Filipino names but the owners are Chinese. So it’s hard to locate them. They're mostly in Luzon and not here in Davao.)

The municipality of Santa Cruz has already suspended its civil registrar who signed the birth certificates. 

The NBI is also preparing to file complaints against the registrar. 

GMA Regional TV One Mindanao went to the barangays that have been declared as the residences of two Chinese citizens with fake birth certificates. No one in the said barangays knew the two foreigners. 

The NBI also suspects that there are other cases of forgeries.

The agency said that such a case could be a threat to national security. 

“Nawawala ang foreign national sa purview ng Immigration kung sya po ay nagpanggap na Pilipino. Yung mga dokumento na ito ay maaaring magamit sa ibat ibang uri ng panloloko,” said BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval. 

(The foreign national is removed from the purview of Immigration if one pretends to be Filipino. These documents can be used in various types of fraud.) 

Meanwhile, the investigation by the Philippine Statistics Authority could last up to two months. —Vince Ferreras/NB, GMA Integrated News