The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday welcomed a local court decision that declared void the certificate of live birth of former town mayor Alice Leal Guo, following allegations that she is not a genuine Filipino citizen.
The Tarlac City Regional Trial Court Branch 111’s decision on Sept. 24 directed the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Tarlac City to cancel the civil registry document. Guo, a former mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, was accused of falsifying her documents and for her alleged involvement in illegal gambling.
PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa said the court’s ruling sends a “strong message” that falsifying or misrepresenting information in civil registry documents “carries serious consequences.”
He said such actions “are an attack on our individual and collective identity, as they undermine the country’s civil registry system.”
The PSA said it has “aggressively implemented stricter measures” to protect the integrity of the system, including requiring individuals to appear personally at the local civil registrar’s office for delayed birth registrations and requiring the National ID for added security, Mapa said.
In June 2024, the PSA released Memorandum Circular 2024-17, “Additional Guidelines for Delayed Registration of Birth,” to further strengthen the issuance of civil registry documents and prevent the abuse of concealing the true identity of registrants.
The PSA said it is also conducting continuous and regular audits among local civil registry offices, led by its Fraud Management Division, and encourages anyone with information on similar fraudulent activities to report them immediately.
