No more Alice Guos? Philippine lawmaker seeks new law against fake citizenship
Sherwin Gatchalian says the bill is a priority for Congress to pass, but analysts warn Manila must tackle patronage politics as well
Filed by Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the bill proposes to create a new civil registration and vital statistics system that aims to prevent foreigners from acquiring Philippine citizenship through fraudulent means, such as through fake birth certificates.
The system would be designed to “accurately establish an individual’s identity for both administrative and legal purposes”.
Gatchalian identified the bill as priority legislation for the new Congress, which began this month. His proposal came just weeks after a Philippine court ruled that Alice Guo, a former mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province at the centre of the controversy surrounding the notorious Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), was a Chinese citizen.
“We want a new system so that no more Alice Guos would emerge, those pretending to be Filipinos and would infiltrate the government to deceive,” Gatchalian said in a statement on Tuesday.
The bill, filed on Monday, also proposes “higher penalties” for offences such as the forgery of civil registry documents, submission of false information during civil registration, and easing the preparation of civil registry documents that contain fraudulent information.