Harsh punishment sought for faking birth records
By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
SENATOR Jose “Jinggoy” P. Estrada filed on Tuesday a bill that seeks to impose a fine of as much as P250,000 and imprisonment of up to 12 years on individuals who register their birth certificates with fake information.
The harsh penalties contained in Senate Bill No. 2703 are partly aimed at deterring foreigners from securing fake government documents and identities.
Under the proposed measure, public officials who are involved in issuing birth certificates with fake information would be dismissed from service and permanently barred from holding public office.
“Through this measure, the procedure for the delayed registration of birth will be more effective and will ensure that the birth certificates are genuine and truthful representations of the identity of the person,” Mr. Estrada stated in the bill’s explanatory note.
Citing 2020 data from the local statistics agency, he said about 3.7 million Filipinos did not have birth certificates due to high costs, lack of time, and unawareness of the need to register birth.
Under the bill, individuals with delayed registrations, or registered 30 days after a person’s birth, would have to register the birth as delayed at a local civil registry office for review.
“There are a lot of syndicates now,” the senator, speaking in Filipino, told a media forum at the Senate. “There might be syndicates in the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), those who issue passports to Chinese nationals that aren’t really Filipino, and in the civil registry with a lot of fake (documents) being issued.”
