Senator Francis Escudero is not ruling out the possibility that corruption or the intentional failure of a government official to carry out his mandate enabled controversial Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo to obtain a fake birth certificate.
In a statement on Sunday, Escudero said the next logical step is for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to conduct its own internal investigation on the matter, noting that such false document served as the basis for the issuance of a fake passport secured by the mayor as well.
“The question was how [did that happen] several times? Was it the first time? Was this unique or quite different or were there thousands and this is was just a normal happening? Where did they (PSA) go wrong?” asked the Senate chief.
Guo’s defense team cite the issuance of her birth certificate and passport as proof of her Filipino identity, despite recent confirmation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that her fingerprints matched that of Chinese citizen Guo Huaping.
The Bamban town mayor is the subject of several investigations over her alleged connections to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) in the municipality, among other accusations.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra earlier filed a petition to cancel Guo’s birth certificate “on the ground, among others, of (her) failure to comply with the legal requirements for late registration.”
These include other supporting requirements such as barangay certification as proof of residency, documentary evidence showing the identity of her parents—like Certificates of Live Birth—government-issued IDs, among others.
Guo applied for the registration of her birth certificate on Nov. 22, 2005, when she was already a teenager.
