NBI-Davao Sees Birth Certificate Syndicate – Fixers and Notaries Tagged. It has been discovered that Chinese nationals have been issued spurious birth certificates by the city’s health department in Sta. Domingo in the province of Davao. NBI regional office in Davao del Sur announced on Wednesday that the suspect had been arrested in Cruz town.
The National Bureau of Investigation says that at least two reported “fixers” have been identified and between five and seven notaries public have been identified in connection with the ongoing investigation.
According to Director Arcelito Albao of the National Bureau of Investigation-Davao, about 1,200 questionable documents have been found in the archives of the local civil registrar (LCR) of Sta. During the period of 2016-2021, there were seven releases by Cruz. A preliminary estimate of 200 cases has been put forward by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), covering the period from 2018 to 2019.
During an interview with Albao, he stated that the certificates were all issued to Chinese nationals who had improperly registered their births as Filipinos. “There is money involved. It appears that this is a syndicate working behind the scenes, and we are tracing the fixers and their addresses,” he stated in a press conference.
Read:200 false birth certificates’ discovered by NBI Davao
There are currently one or two (fixers) we have identified, and there is a possibility that some of the LCR officers, employees, or officials from that municipality are involved with this as well. Manila, Luzon, and other areas have fixers. The company has a contact in Sta. He further added, “Cruz.”. During the investigation, a number of notaries public are being examined for the possibility of being involved with the scheme.
Probe by local government
According to Sta. According to a report that surfaced recently, it has been reported that Cruz Mayor Jose Nelson Sala Sr. has long since relieved the municipal civil registrar of his post and reassigned him to a different administrative post within the city.
Sala said the “concerned person”-whom he did not identify given until yesterday to explain because of the controversy that arose just last week.
An investigation, which is being conducted in parallel by the local government, according to the mayor, has found that there have been over 1,400 late birth registrations in the town during the period that the NBI probe covered. Currently, the documents are being validated for fraudulent entries. During Sala administration, such illegal transactions would not be tolerated.
Albao mentioned that the NBI plans to request the cancellation of the birth certificates. Additionally, he stated that the bureau has requested further documentation from the Sta. Cruz LCR, specifically those issued prior to 2016 and after 2021.
Application for passport
Last week, charges were brought against Qui Hen Lin, a 21-year-old Chinese national, for allegedly violating passport laws and falsifying public documents. Lin is accused of assuming the Filipino identity of Hengson Limosnero using a falsified birth certificate acquired from Sta. Cruz in 2013.
According to Albao, Lin’s identity as a Chinese national was confirmed based on records obtained from the Bureau of Immigration.
He stated that “But it was only now that there has been a direct exposure to this issue since there is a maritime dispute between the Philippines and China as well as the investigation into the offshore gaming operators in the Philippines.” “The worst scenario” is for them to consider themselves Filipino after getting their birth certificates, which would allow them to buy properties, obtain a driver license, and obtain a national ID.
Conclusion
The NBI-Davao investigation has exposed a birth certificate syndicate involving fixers and notaries, with Chinese nationals improperly obtaining Filipino documents. With around 1,200 questionable records uncovered, the probe continues into the fraudulent activities linked to the local civil registrar and notaries.
