By Ade S. Fajardo
The Municipality of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur is proximate to Davao City.
Last week, it got featured as the source of 200 fake Filipino certificates of live birth. The certificate holders are mainly Chinese nationals.
Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa has announced that the local civil registrar has been relieved of his functions. This follows the fact-finding investigation of an emerging pattern of fakery from that region.
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The National Bureau of Investigation found that these certificates were issued in 2018 and 2019.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that the going rate for a package of fake documents, e.g., birth certificate, driver’s license and Philippine passport, is P300,000.
A couple of days ago, two women suspected to be of Chinese descent were stopped at the airport after using Philippine passports and birth certificates for their flight to Beijing.
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The women are unable to speak any Filipino language. They do not remember their childhood but vaguely recall having been homeschooled. This is a familiar yarn.
One of them admitted having secured Philippine documents from an online contact. The Philippines has become a country of fixers.
These events got special attention after the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac was exposed as having secured her birth certificate through late registration. As of press time, Mayor Alice Guo continues to evade the warrant of arrest issued by the Senate for her obstinate refusal to return as a resource person in the ongoing investigation.
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The resolution filed by some members of the House of Representatives to investigate “Pinoyhood” for sale is a welcome move.
Representative Cheeno Miguel Almario of Davao del Norte led a group of young congressmen in calling for an inquiry into the announcement of the NBI that certificates of live birth are being made available for foreigners in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
He said that “a birth certificate is more than just a document. It symbolizes a Filipino’s connection to their country. It is the first official document that every Filipino receives as their birth right, establishing their official tie to the nation.”
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Indeed, being Filipino springs from no less than the Philippine Constitution. Citizenship grants certain favors, such as the privilege to practice a profession or own shares in nationalized corporations. It can also be a requisite to local employment or the right to seek elective positions.
Aside from getting elected, Alice Guo presents another privilege — the right to own land. The sprawling POGO compound in Bamban is live testament to the power of citizenship backed by the power of money.
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Senator Risa Hontiveros has revealed that the bank accounts of Hongjiang Yang, brother of Michael Yang, widely known to be Rodrigo Duterte’s economic consultant, was among the accounts ordered frozen by the Court of Appeals upon petition by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
The reason given is that Hongjiang funded the POGO operations in Bamban. The plot thickens. Michael was identified as the financial figure behind the notorious Pharmally deal. Davao is in the middle of this storm./WDJ