The Senate recalled the plenary approval of the proposed budget of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for next year after the issue of the alleged issuance of authentic birth certificates to foreign nationals was raised during the Senate’s plenary deliberations on the proposed budget for next year.

This occurred on Thursday night (November 9), during the Senate plenary deliberations on the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, who sponsored the DFA’s budget for 2024, cited the official statement of the DFA which found out that the foreign nationals posed as Filipinos by presenting authentic PSA issued birth certificates and valid government-issued ID cards that are accepted in passport applications.

This was after Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa raised the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) information about the 10 foreigners who are Chinese and were intercepted by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Legarda said the DFA is investigating the issue and pursuing the filing of cases against the said foreigners together with the PSA, BI, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Dela Rosa said the information from the DOJ is a cause for alarm because it involves national security.

“We just might find out later that our passports already proliferated among these Chinese-speaking individuals who are not really Filipinos,” he said during the budget deliberations.

"And before we know it, we are already being surrounded by operatives from maybe the People’s Liberation Army or whatever, whoever those people are. We are in a dangerous situation if we neglect to address this),” the former PNP chief said.