A syndicate allegedly exploiting the country’s late birth registration system to manufacture false identities for foreign nationals — most of them Chinese — is at the center of a proposed Senate investigation into the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson filed Senate Resolution 381 directing the Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate what he described as systemic corruption within the PSA, citing findings from an algorithmic audit covering late registration records between 2010 and 2023.
The audit, referenced in an internal PSA office memorandum, identified 50,532 records across 1,634 local civil registry offices nationwide as potentially fraudulent.
Among the offices flagged for priority investigation were the local civil registry offices of Pikit and Aleosan in North Cotabato. According to the resolution, both topped the list of the most problematic LCROs. “The LCROs of Pikit and Aleosan in North Cotabato were identified among those prioritized for investigation, having topped the list of the most problematic LCROs, with findings indicating weak oversight of records, as evidenced by the civil registry books of LCRO Pikit last being updated in 2015 and those of LCRO Aleosan only in January 2023,” it said.
Lacson also pointed to a joint PSA and National Bureau of Investigation inquiry that reportedly uncovered how the syndicate operated — using forged documents and falsified notarizations to push fraudulent entries through the late registration process. Similar irregularities were also cited in Davao, Puerto Princesa, and Pampanga.
The senator warned that the sheer scale of the problem carries consequences well beyond administrative failures. “The fact that there are 50,532 records flagged as potentially fraudulent registrations in our national civil registry calls into question the system’s integrity and reliability in authenticating citizenship, with far-reaching implications for passport issuance, PhilSys enrollment, electoral registration, and the administration of civil rights,” he said.
