By Wilnard Bacelonia
MANILA – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has been able to block 1,627 late birth registrations of foreign nationals that it found “spurious” during its investigation.
This was reported by Senator Grace Poe as she defended the proposed 2025 budget of the PSA in a plenary session.
Poe said the names of these foreign nationals were already given to the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“But from what I know, out of those numbers, 18 were endorsed to the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) for cancellation,” Poe said, citing dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, as one of them.
She also noted that the concerned local government units were notified of the names of government officers who might be involved in the registration of these foreign nationals.
Poe said the NBI is also conducting an investigation to file appropriate charges.
Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, who raised the concern to Poe, inquired if the PSA is already implementing reforms in its system to prevent the scheme from happening again.
“Alam po nating mahalaga ang late registration at kailangan ito ng mga kababayan nating nakatira sa malayong lugar o hirap ang access sa mga opisina ng PSA. Pero ayaw rin naman natin na ganun lang kadaling gamitin ito para manloko (We know that late registration is important and necessary for our countrymen who live in remote places or have difficulty accessing PSA offices. But we don’t want it to be easily used for fraud),” Hontiveros said.
Poe replied that the PSA already issued a memorandum circular adding ID pictures and biometrics as requirements for the national ID.
After a review using data analytics, she said, the PSA recorded 14.89 million late registrations submitted from 2010 to 2024.
She added that 50,532 birth certificates, or 0.34 percent, are being audited. (PNA)
