The cancellation of 1,500 fraudulent birth certificates issued to foreigners may cost the government up to P75 million, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Friday.
“If we go through the usual judicial process which includes publication in many instances, the total cost for 1,500 cancellation cases may run to at least P75 million,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters.
However, should Congress enact a law authorizing the administrative cancellation of fraudulently issued birth certificates, Guevarra said the cost may be reduced by half.
Leaders of the House of Representatives Quad Committee have filed a bill seeking to cancel birth certificates fraudulently obtained by foreign nationals, including those involved in illicit drug operations and other criminal activities related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
Guevarra previously said his office will seek to cancel all birth certificates that were fraudulently acquired by foreigners in the country amid the ban on POGOs.
He said the Office of the Solicitor General is also targeting to forfeit illegally acquired real properties and other assets of foreigners.
Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will look into whether local government units have implicit participation in the issuance of fraudulent birth certificates.
“Then we will go after them,” Remulla said in a separate ambush interview.
However, he said that they are currently not investigating any LGU officials.
“Because it’s been isolated sa Porac at saka sa Bamban… Pero sa iba, wala pa. Sa Makati kasi sarado na lahat, sa Cavite sarado na, sa Manila sarado na, sa Pasay sarado na, sa Parañaque sarado na,” Remulla said.
(Because it has been isolated in Porac and Bamban… But in other areas, not yet. In Makati, all POGOs have been closed, the same with Cavite, Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News
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