THE House Committee on Population and Family Relations yesterday approved a bill seeking to establish an administrative process that would expedite the cancellation of birth certificates fraudulently acquired by foreigners, particularly those who are involved in illegal drugs and offshore gaming operations tied to various criminal activities.
The panel chaired by Isabela Rep. Ian Paul Dy adopted House Bill (HB) No. 11117, or the proposed “Fraudulent Birth Certificate Cancellation Law,” which was filed by the chairmen of the House quad committee which is looking into the criminal activities associated with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
The joint panel led by overall chair Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers filed the bill after lawmakers found out that many Chinese citizens have illegally acquired birth certificates to make it appear that they are Filipino citizens to acquire passports and other official records.
Manila Bienvenido Abante Jr., one of the chairmen of the quad committee, said the bill is meant to address fraudulent schemes which enable foreigners to enjoy opportunities reserved for Filipino citizens and facilitate their involvement in illegal activities.
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 bill’s authors noted 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 and which, they said, allows foreigners to engage in crimes such as illegal drugs, money laundering and human trafficking using fraudulently acquired birth certificates.
HBN 11117 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 the 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.
It 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.
In the Senate, Senate president pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada filed
Senate Bill No. 2885, or the proposed Philippine Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System, which aims to expand the powers of the PSA to act on questionable civil registrations to prevent the abuse of the late registration program which have been taken advantage by foreigners.
“The proposed bill will not only allow the government to reach more Filipinos, make them counted and enable them to fully enjoy their rights and benefits as Filipino citizens. It will also prevent fraudulent documents and activities that are perpetrated to commit more serious and large-scale crimes. Ultimately, it will preserve the sanctity and integrity of the identity, vital information and documents of our citizens,” Estrada said.
He said it is also timely that the PSA’s mandate be strengthened since it is patterned after RA 3753, or the law on Registry of Civil Status that was approved on November 26, 1930.
RA 3753, he noted, has been supplemented by several laws and executive issuances but is still plagued with loopholes.
He said the proposed measure seeks to repeal the outdated law and “enact one that is relevant and responsive to the current situation and dynamics of the country and of the international community.”
The proposal seeks to provide rules and procedures for delayed registration of a “vital event,” multiple registration of birth, marriage, and death, and will require the registration of solemnizing officers.
Civil registrars, consul generals, consuls, vice consuls, Shari’a District, and circuit registrars will be required to under mandatory continuing education and training programs to capacitate frontline officers.
The bill also proposes the creation of the Civil Registration Inter-Agency Cooperation Committee and the digitalization of the system to ensure effective coordination among concerned agencies, data sharing, and seamless interoperability of systems.
“To enable the Philippine Statistics Authority to become more proactive than just being a mere repository of documents, the bill proposes to grant PSA the power to block the civil registry documents in the civil registry database, grant the National Statistician and Civil Registrar General (NSCRG) the power to cancel the registration of civil registry documents, and to create a Special Committee on Cancellation of Civil Registry Documents,” Estrada said. – With Raymond Africa
