SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday said it only costs P300,000 for Chinese nationals to illegally obtain a valid Philippine birth certificate, passport, and driver’s license.
Gatchalian, citing his sources within the Chinese community, said “Sinabi nila sa akin na ang running price pala para makakuha ng birth certificate — kasama na [ang] passport, kasama na ang driver’s license is P300,000,”.
“So merong mga ganon na naglalakad. Magbibigay ka ng P300,000, bibigyan ka nya ng birth certificate, bibigyan ka niya ng passport, bibigyan ka niya ng driver’s license at iba pa. Kumbaga lalakarin [na] lang nila lahat yun,” he said.
Gatchalian’s revelation came after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) disclosed that it uncovered “close to 200 falsified birth certificates issued to Chinese nationals from 2018 to 2019 in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.
According to the senator, NBI’s disclosure in itself is “very concerning,” which may indicate that there is a syndicate actively working for the issuance of valid Philippine documents to Chinese nationals.
Gatchalian said there’s a possibility that these erring individuals are within the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) itself or within the local government of Santa Cruz.
“Once may birth certificate na, madali nang kunin yung iba. So yun ang narinig ko sa Chinese community na umiikot ngayon dahil nga lumabas na ito. Pumutok itong issue na ito eh, so apparently, meron pala talagang ganyan na modus [kung] gustong kumuha ng pekeng birth certificate,” said Gatchalian.
In the same presser, Gatchalian admitted to thinking that NBI’s revelation may be just another case similar to embattled Bamban Mayor Alice Guo who has been under scrutiny after senators raised questions about her citizenship.
The PSA earlier admitted that Guo’s birth certificate is “irregular,” adding that it has officially endorsed to the Office of Solicitor General the cancellation of the suspended mayor’s birth document.
“Ito in effect 200 Alice Guo ito eh. I remember na pumutok ito because merong isang Chinese na gustong kumuha ng passport. Noong iniinterview na ng DFA [ay] hindi na nya masago-sagot at hindi rin siya marunong magtagalog,” said Gatchalian.
