November 8, 2024 | 5:48pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has blocked at least 1,627 birth certificates belonging to foreign nationals, Sen. Grace Poe said.
Poe provided the update while being interpellated by opposition Sen. Risa Honitveros during the 2025 budget hearing. All of the discovered birth certificates belonged to people who were over 18 years old.
“Update on the birth certificates, Mr. President. 1,627 birth certificates of foreign nationals were blocked by the PSA after its investigation, finding the documents to be spurious,” Poe said.
The names of the foreign nationals have been turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Poe said that 18 of these birth certificates have been endorsed for cancellation.
“This includes that of Guo Hua Ping,” Poe said.
Guo Hua Ping is the alleged real identity of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo. The former official was discovered to apparently fake her identity as a Filipino citizen in a bid to facilitate a slew of criminal activities, including money laundering and human trafficking.
Authorities believe that Guo likely used the government’s late birth registration program, which targeted to give people from rural areas a chance to get birth certificates.
Poe said the program yielded 14.89 million late registrations submitted from 2010 to 2024.
Reviewing all of the birth certificates will be difficult for the PSA.
“50,532 birth certificates or 0.34% are being audited by PSA personnel,” Poe said.
Hontiveros acknowledged the logistical challenge, saying it pointed to the need to digitize government records.
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