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PSA: Alice Guo’s birth certificate still valid
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PSA: Alice Guo’s birth certificate still valid

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The birth certificate of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, has not yet been canceled, almost 10 months since it was found to be fraudulent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

During the hearing on Tuesday conducted by the Senate committee on justice and human rights on several bills strengthening the Philippine civil registration and vital statistics system, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian asked the PSA about the status of Guo’s birth certificate.

“Until now, correct me if I’m not mistaken, the birth certificate of Guo Hua Ping is still valid. It’s not yet canceled, correct?” he asked.

“It’s still undergoing legal process,” responded Clemente Manaog, the PSA deputy national statistician in an officer in charge capacity.

“But when we discover[ed] this irregular birth certificate it was around April of last year. We’re talking about 10 months already, since last year. It’s very obvious her birth certificate was filled with fake information given by her alleged father who was also carrying [a] fake birth certificate,” Gatchalian said.

He added: “In other words, it takes time. We all know that it’s [a] fake birth certificate, but it takes time to cancel it. So kung magpipilosopo siya (if she were to be flippant about it), she can still run for mayor using her fake birth certificate, right?”

Voiding power

Authorities believe Guo had illegally acquired Filipino citizenship through the late birth registration scheme.

In July last year, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra petitioned the Regional Trial Court of Tarlac to have Guo’s birth certificate canceled, on the basis of her failure to file the required supporting documents for the late registration of her birth.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian —SENATE PRIB

Citing the need to provide a more comprehensive and responsive civil registration system, Gatchalian filed Senate Bill No. 2914, which would give PSA the power to investigate and immediately cancel birth certificates that were obviously fake.

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“My objective in filing this bill stemmed from our experience from the Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operators) problem that we investigated exhaustively here in the Senate. One of the biggest gaps, probably the biggest gap of all in that investigation, was the discovery of fake birth certificates,” he said.

Plugging the gaps

Gatchalian cited the issuance of more than a thousand spurious birth certificates in a town in Davao del Sur, as disclosed in one of the Senate’s hearings last year on the Pogo industry.

“This is only one municipality. We’re talking about many local governments that can issue late-registered birth certificates. So we need to identify the gaps in our processes, making sure that those gaps are plugged, and at the same time responses [should be] fast,” Gatchalian said.

“Another objective of this bill is to be responsive. Once we have robust evidence that the birth certificate is already fake, if we can cancel it administratively and as quick[ly] as possible, let’s do it so that they will not use their fake birth certificate to do other criminal activities—like buy properties, set up businesses, run for public office,” he said.


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