Philippine government finds 308 fake birth papers used by foreigners to apply for passports

Since the Philippine Bureau of Statistics (psa) conducted an inventory of the database, the authorities have found that at least 308 fake Philippine birth certificates have been used to apply for Philippine passports.

The Bureau of Statistics revealed the news during a Senate budget hearing. The agency's proposed budget for 2024 was withdrawn by the Senate because foreigners illegally obtained Philippine passports and birth certificates.

Senator Sonny Angara (Sonny Angara) said: "According to statistics officials, in the first nine months of this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received more than 26000 requests for verification of civil registration documents, of which 308 birth certificates were found to be forged. The applicants are not limited to Filipinos, but also include many foreigners."

The birth certificates of six of the seven foreigners holding Filipino passports previously arrested by the Immigration Department were later proved to be forged.

Government officials have previously said that such forged birth certificates mostly come from local civil registration departments, which is due to corruption at the local level.

At the same time, for one of the foreigners who used a real birth certificate, the authorities found that he was using the name of a Filipino born in the province of Sanzoris (Zambales), or possibly identity theft.

The senator said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot actually detect fraud on its own without the help of the Bureau of Statistics. Therefore, the Bureau of Statistics does have to strengthen its anti-fraud mechanism. At the same time, as a dual security mechanism, if someone applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a passport, the two agencies can reach an agreement that the Bureau of Statistics will provide the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a verified birth certificate directly."

The foreign ministry said foreigners apply for a passport by "presenting a genuine Philippine birth certificate, together with a valid government-issued ID card, posing as a Filipino."

A number of government departments in the Philippines are currently investigating the matter, including the National Bureau of Investigation, the APO factory for passport printing, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Senators on Monday called on the National Intelligence Coordination Agency and the National Security Council to investigate how Philippine passports, official government identification cards and documents are issued to foreigners, saying it could endanger national security.