Inquirer files
DAVAO CITY, Philippines 鈥� Aside from the town of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur, other local government units (LGUs) within the Davao Region have also been monitored issuing fake birth certificates to Chinese nationals, a ranking official of the National Bureau of Investigation said.
Lawyer Archie Albao, regional director of NBI southeastern Mindanao, said they monitored other areas within the Davao Region also involved in issuing fake birth certificates, but his office was still trying to secure the documents needed to file cases before they could divulge the areas concerned.
READ: Adiong: Issuers of fake PH birth certificates part of broader network
He said this after reporters asked if the Local Civil Registry (LCR) office in Davao City had been cleared of the alleged issuance of fake birth certificates.
鈥淎s of this time, we don鈥檛 know yet,鈥� Albao said here Friday. 鈥淏ut as I鈥檝e said, we鈥檝e monitored some LGUs within the Davao Region [issuing fake birth certificates]. As soon as we are backed up with necessary documents so that we can file cases, that鈥檚 only when we can divulge the places involved,鈥� Albao told reporters.
He also said they were not sure how many fake birth certificates were involved. 鈥淲e will wait until the documents are in our hands because we already have information that this thing is happening,鈥� he said.
Albao said the NBI already filed 66 counts of cases of graft and corruption, perjury, falsification of public documents and violations of the Civil Registry Act against four employees, including the municipal civil registrar of Santa Cruz town involved in the issuance of fake birth certificates, and against six or seven Chinese nationals.
鈥淭he employees concerned were already dismissed from their jobs with the help of incumbent Mayor Nelson Sala,鈥� he added.
Albao had earlier revealed that the NBI had discovered a total of 1,500 fake birth certificates issued to Chinese nationals in the Santa Cruz LCR within the years from 2018 to 2021.
鈥淭here could be more as we鈥檝e not yet looked into the years after 2021 and the years before 2018,鈥� he said.
Freed Pogo workers
He added that NBI director Jaime Santiago already ordered all regions nationwide to be investigated, as there were reports that similar fraudulent activities were also happening in other localities in the Visayas and Luzon.
This developed as the 55 Chinese nationals earlier arrested by the NBI in a Philippine online gaming operation (Pogo) hub discovered in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, on Dec. 6 last year had been ordered released by the court and the Bureau of Immigration.
鈥淎ll Chinese nationals were ordered released by the court based on the writ of habeas corpus. The Bureau of Immigration also issued an order releasing all of them,鈥� Albao said, since, he added, the court had told them they had no basis to keep these Chinese nationals in detention.
Albao said some of the Chinese workers had no supporting documents but they were able to trace their Chinese names.
The 55 Chinese nationals were among 59 workers arrested by the NBI during the Dec. 6 raid in the warehouse in Purok 6, Barangay Manay in Panabo City. Three of the arrested workers were Malaysians and one was a Filipina.
The NBI filed cases before the Panabo court for syndicated 鈥渆stafa鈥� in relation to cyber crime against the 59 arrested workers but Albao said the case was also dismissed for lack of legal basis.
However, the NBI鈥檚 investigation on barangay and local officials who were involved continued, Albao said.