ZiaAe HOUSE RESOLUTION REGARDING FICTITIOUS BIRTH CERTIFICATES AND PASSPORTS 

CONG. ZIAUR-RAHMAN “ZIA” ALONTO ADIONG

1st District, Lanao del Sur 

July 17, 2024

Rep. Ziaur-Rahman Alonto Adiong of the First District of Lanao Del Sur has filed today House Resolution No. 1802, directing the House Committee on Local Government and the House Committee on Justice to conduct a thorough inquiry in aid of legislation on the alarming proliferation of allegedly fictitious and falsified certificates of live birth and passports issued to foreign nationals. The resolution comes in the wake of multiple hearings by the House Committee on Public Accounts, uncovering instances of land purchases by foreigners using falsified certificates of live birth and passports. These documents were obtained through false statements and issued by local civil registrars.

The urgency of this resolution is underscored by several specific instances of fraud. On November 17, 2023, Senate deliberations revealed 308 maliciously obtained birth certificates used for passport applications. On July 10, 2024, a Chinese national was arrested for using falsified documents to apply for a Philippine passport. The following day, July 11, 2024, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported nearly 200 allegedly fictitious birth certificates issued to mostly Chinese nationals by the civil registry in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. This alarming trend continued, with the NBI uncovering an additional 1,000 allegedly falsified birth certificates from the same registry on July 16, 2024.

Rep. Adiong emphasized the importance of this inquiry in maintaining the integrity of the nation’s identification systems and ensuring national security. "We must take immediate and decisive action to address this issue and prevent further exploitation of our systems," he stated.