THREE job order (JO) clerks and an official from the Local Civil Registrar of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur (LCR-Sta.Cruz) are set to face legal charges over the falsification of birth certificates.
According to the National Bureau of Investigation-Southeastern Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-Semro), they filed four cases before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao for violations of the Law on Registry of Civil Status, Falsification of Public Documents, Perjury, and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act on August 19, September 10, and September 18, 2024, against the four individuals.
“We have filed a total of four cases, including one against their chief, with 44 counts involving different violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Falsification of Public Documents, and the Law on Registry of Civil Status,” NBI-Semro Director lawyer Archie Albao said during the Kapehan sa Bagong Pilipinas media forum on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
Albao said the cases are filed because the government employees are involved in the illegal act of issuing birth certificates without proper procedures.
He also disclosed that the first case was filed in the last week of August, with two additional cases filed in September.
“And hopefully this week, we can file another case, depending on what we uncover and who is involved in the issuance of spurious birth certificates. One thing is certain: those who registered under the name Mario Tizon, as well as the clerks who received and prepared these certificates, are documented,” he further explained.
Tizon is currently suspended by the Sta. Cruz local government and was reassigned to another department while the contracts of the affected clerks were not extended.
Meanwhile, based on the investigation conducted by NBI-Semro around 102 Chinese nationals received birth certificates from the Local Civil Registrar of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, through delayed or late registrations in 2018, 2019, and 2021.
“Based on our investigation of the initial 102 birth certificates, we segregated them by year and discovered that in 2021 there were 24 birth certificates. We have recommended filing cases against the LCR of Sta. Cruz and its clerks,” Albao said.
In 2019, the NBI-Semro found 20 spurious birth certificates and recommended filing 24 counts against the LCR of Sta. Cruz.
On the other hand last 2018, the agency discovered 56 spurious birth certificates. DEF
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