Metro Manila, Philippines – A total of 1,665 Chinese nationals have falsified birth registrations, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday, Aug. 8.

In an inquiry of the House committee on public order and safety, Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande told lawmakers that the agency’s Fraud Management Division has investigated supposed fake registrations.

“In fact, ‘yung amin pong position paper, we already have submitted ‘yung mga na-block na records. Kasi meron na po kaming findings that these are falsified documents that underwent delayed registration. It’s either wala po siyang supporting documents or no proof nung delayed registration,” Grande said.

[Translation: We have submitted our position paper on blocked records because we have findings that these are falsified documents that underwent delayed registration. It’s either there is no supporting document or no proof of delayed registration.]

She added that the probe is ongoing and they are in coordination with the Office of the Solicitor General for the filing of the cancelation of falsified registrations.

Of the 1,665 falsified birth registrations, Grande said a huge portion or about 1,500 are in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.

The remaining questionable documents are from Metro Manila, Tarlac, and Bulacan among others.

“We already forwarded our recommendation sa ating local chief executives para po ma-file-an ng kaso ‘yung mga involved na personnel for the preparation hanggang du’n po sa registration process ng delayed registration ng birth,” Grande said.

[Translation: We already forwarded our recommendation to local chief executives to have the involved personnel filed for the preparation and processing of the delayed birth registration.]

She said 13 complaints have been filed against erring personnel.

NewsWatch Plus correspondent Daniza Fernandez contributed to this report.