The Bureau of Immigration has given Sonny Alvarado until Tuesday to present his defense, proving why he should not be deported for submitting fraudulent documents to back his claim for Philippine citizenship.
Acting BI commissioner Linda Hornilla yesterday said that the main issue in Alvarado's case now is not his Filipino lineage but the charge of falsification of documents which, if proven, can lead to the Tanduay player's deportation for being an undesirable alien.
Hornilla said there's no need for Alvarado to prove his citizenship as the bureau has sufficient documents to make a decision on the player's case.
This developed as the Manila City Civil Registrar disowned the two birth certificates submitted by Alvarado to BI to back his claim that his mother, Ana Marie dela Cruz-Alvarado, is a Filipino.
Rogelio Gevero Jr., chief of the BI's task force on Fil-Am players, presented at yesterday's hearing a certification from the Manila civil registrar stating that the birth certificates both under the name of Ana Marie dela Cruz Alvarado and submitted by Alvarado to the bureau were not authentic.
The certification, signed by lawyer Ma. JovitaFe Alano, assistant Manila civil registrar, said the Manila civil registrar did not issue the two birth certificates allegedly issued by the office on Jan. 21, 2000 and Dec. 13, 1999.
It stated that the Jan. 21 and Dec. 13 certificates, purportedly signed by registration officers Leticia Vila and Rosario Dionisio, respectively, "are not authentic" and that the Manila civil registrar "did not issue" the documents.
The Jan. 21 certificate shows that Mrs. Alvarado was born in Manila on Sept. 5, 1948, while the Dec. 13 certificate states that she was born on Sept. 5, 1946.
Gevero said Alano issued the certification after he personally verified from registration officers Leticia Vila and Rosario Dionisio if they were the ones who issued and signed the birth certificates submitted by Alvarado . The two officers denied issuing the documents. -