NBI finds 1,200 fake birth certificates in Davao del Sur

MANILA, Philippines — Not just 200, but up to 1,200 foreigners believed to be Chinese nationals obtained Philippine birth certificates through late birth registration in the Davao del Sur town of Sta. Cruz since 2016.

This information was received by the National Bureau of Investigation from the acting civil registrar of Sta. Cruz. The NBI is also verifying reports that several of the 1,200 have criminal records.

Last week, initial NBI findings showed that at least 102 cases of questionable late birth registration were recorded in Sta. Cruz town in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

“The actual number has grown to 1,200,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago told The STAR yesterday.

He said the NBI will also expand its probe on late birth registration to other areas in the country such as Pampanga and Tarlac, where illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs were raided in the past weeks.

Mario Tizon, who served as Sta. Cruz civil registrar since December 1994, has been suspended, Santiago said.

Amid reports that Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac had used late birth registration to claim Philippine citizenship and run for mayor in 2022, the NBI in Davao del Sur had initiated a probe beginning in April into reports of numerous such cases involving Chinese nationals in the province. Tizon was reassigned in April.

The NBI regional office said the spurious late birth registration posed a potential national security threat.

Last week, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said he would file a resolution seeking a Senate probe into reports that the falsified birth certificates were obtained from Sta. Cruz for an average fee of P300,000 each, saying “this could be 200 Alice Guos, which is very concerning.”

He said there could be a syndicate in the Philippine Statistics Authority engaged in the fraudulent activity. The PSA supervises civil registrar’s offices nationwide.

“Last Saturday I talked to someone in the Chinese community, that the running price to get a birth certificate with a passport and driver’s license is P300,000. Someone is facilitating. In exchange for P300,000, you can get a birth certificate, a passport and a driver’s license. The source of all that is their birth certificate. That’s what I heard. Apparently, there is a modus operandi,” Gatchalian said.

A Chinese national who obtained a falsified Philippine birth certificate in Sta. Cruz was arrested by the NBI during operations conducted in Davao del Sur from July 9 to 12.

The Chinese, Qui Halin, was arrested following a report from the Department of Foreign Affairs that the 21-year-old provided contradictory statements while applying for a passport to travel to the US, according to NBI Region 11 head Arcelito Albao.

Apart from Qui’s inconsistent answers, DFA personnel became suspicious because he could only speak English but not Visayan or Tagalog.

Qui, a first year accounting student at the Ateneo de Davao University, used the name Hengson Jabilles Limonsero when he applied for a passport, Albao said. The Chinese presented a Philippine birth certificate, a PSA national identification card and driver’s license.

The NBI said Qui has admitted having a Chinese passport.

Albao said Qui was born in China’s southern province of Fujian and brought to Davao City when he was 10 years old. He obtained his birth certificate in Sta. Cruz in 2013. His family owns a hardware store in the city’s Chinatown along Ramon Magsaysay Avenue.

Albao said Qui’s father is in Fujian while his mother, with the Filipino name Felisa, is in Barangay Inawayan in Sta. Cruz. The NBI is investigating if Felisa, who also could not speak Visayan or Tagalog when Albao talked to her on the phone, is also using a Philippine passport.

The family is not engaged in POGOs, the NBI said.

Charges are being readied against Qui for violations of the New Philippine Passport Act, falsification of public documents, forgery, using a fictitious name and concealing his real name.

BI coordinating with NBI, PSA

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is coordinating with the NBI and the PSA as part of its investigation on the reported 200 falsified birth certificates issued in Davao del Sur.

In a statement, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he has requested the NBI for the names and other details associated with the 200 falsified birth certificates issued by the Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur local civil registry.

The BI has also requested information from the PSA on all Filipinos who availed themselves of late registration to get their birth certificates.

He added that they would cross-check the data to verify if these individuals were issued or had used Philippine passports.

The BI has been raising concerns about the presence of “fake Filipinos” since holding at least 10 foreign nationals pretending to be Filipinos and possessing fraudulently acquired Philippine documents last year.

Last week alone, the BI said it intercepted four cases of fraudulently acquired Philippine citizenship.

“Once they present themselves as a Filipino, they are already removed from the purview of the BI which monitors foreigners. Apart from this, they are able to present layers and layers of Philippine documents, all original, pushing for their claim,” Tansingco said.

He said that foreigners were able to acquire numerous Philippine documents after illegally acquiring foundational documents such as birth certificates.

He added that such documents can be used by foreign nationals involved in terrorism, heinous crimes or fraud.

It would also imply that illegal aliens may end up being able to vote, or assimilate themselves in the society while conducting their illegal activities. — Diana Lhyd Suelto, Cecille Suerte Felipe