THE chairmen of the quad committee of the House of Representatives, along with other leaders of the lower chamber, yesterday filed a bill seeking to establish an administrative process to expedite the cancellation of birth certificates fraudulently acquired by foreigners, particularly those who are involved in illegal drugs and offshore gaming operations that are tied to various criminal activities.
“A birth certificate is the most basic document a Filipino citizen must have. It is a document which provides the imprimatur of the State that an individual is a Filipino and opens to the individual vast opportunities unavailable to foreigners, such as practicing a profession, pursuit of certain businesses, or even to run for public office,” the authors said in House Bill (HB) No. 11117, or the proposed Fraudulent Birth Certificate Cancellation Act.
The bill is the third one that resulted from the quad committee’s investigation into the criminal activities associated with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) where lawmakers found out that many Chinese citizens have illegally acquired birth certificates to make it appear that they are Filipino citizens.
Lawmakers noted that in Davao del Sur alone, more than 1,200 falsified birth certificates were issued by the local civil registrar as of July 2024.
“These foreigners must have gotten aid from public officers from local civil registry offices to secure such falsified birth certificates for consideration,” the bill’s authors said.
The authors of the bill are Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga, Deputy Speaker David Suarez of Quezon, and Reps. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila, Dan Fernandez of Sta. Rosa City, Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod), and joint panel vice chair Rep. Romeo Acop of Antipolo City.
Other authors are Reps. Johnny Ty Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, Gerville Luistro of Batangas, Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider), Francisco Paolo Ortega V of La Union, Jefferson Khonghun of Zambales, Jonathan Keith Flores of Bukidnon, Raul Angelo Bongalon (PL, Ako Bicol), Margarita Nograles (PL, PBA), Ernesto Dionisio Jr. of Nueva Ecija, Joel Chua of Manila, Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur, Lordan Suan of Cagayan De Oro City, and Cheeno Miguel Almario of Davao Oriental.
The bill’s authors said that even with sufficient evidence of fraud, the current legal procedures require a judicial order to cancel a birth certificate, a process which can take years. This is what allows foreigners to engage in crimes such as illegal drugs, money laundering and human trafficking using fraudulently acquired birth certificates,” they said.
The bill creates a special committee on cancellation of fraudulent birth certificates chaired by the registrar general of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), with members from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Justice and Office of the Solicitor General.
It seeks to empower the committee to investigate complaints, subpoena evidence, and issue decisions on fraudulent birth certificates within 30 days of receiving evidence.
It also seeks to penalize public officials and private individuals involved in facilitating fraudulent registrations.
The bill provides that complaints can be filed by any citizen or law enforcement agency and must include specific evidence, such as the name of the foreign national, the fraudulent birth certificate’s details and the circumstances of its acquisition.
The foreign national would have 15 days to respond to the complaint, after which the committee would conduct hearings and decide based on substantial evidence.
While the decisions on the cases are immediately executory, an appeal could still be filed before the Office of the President, which must resolve the appeal within 30 days.
“It is time to put an end to these unlawful activities,” the authors declared. “Being a Filipino citizen should not be so easily acquired or given away by unscrupulous and selfish individuals who only wish to attain Filipino citizenship to fuel their self-interests. Being a Filipino is something that we should always honor and zealously protect.”
Last month, the same set of lawmakers filed House Bill No. 11043 which seeks to authorize the government to seize unlawfully acquired real estate properties by foreigners, particularly Chinese citizens who are running illegal POGOs.
The proposed “Civil Forfeiture Act,” aims to plug loopholes in the law being exploited by criminals in POGO industry, who are also into human trafficking and illegal drugs.
The bill pointed out that many violators are connected to POGOs, which multiplied under the Duterte administration and was eventually banned by President Marcos Jr. because of involvement in criminal activities.
In October, congressmen filed HB 10987, or the “Anti-Offshore Gaming Operations Act,” which was approved by the House Committee on Games and Amusement last Monday.
The bill, which seeks to reinforce the President’s directive to stop POGO operations to protect the public and national security, was filed as the quad committee continues to investigate the links of POGOs to illegal drug trade, land-grabbing by certain Chinese citizens and extrajudicial killings (EKJs) tied to the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.
