By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV
DAVAO CITY – Mayor Jose Nelson Z. Sala Sr. of Santa Cruz municipality in Davao del Sur province vowed to cooperate with the investigation on the controversy regarding the spurious birth certificates issued by its Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO).
In a statement, Sala said that the local government unit (LGU) of Santa Cruz does not tolerate illegal transactions as he vowed to deal with the individuals involved in the issuances of birth certificates.
He said they welcome the investigation of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Davao as it would also help its own probe in the hopes of preventing the occurrence of similar illegal transactions.
Last Tuesday, personnel of NBI-Davao arrested a 21-year-old Chinese national who used a falsified birth certificate issued by the LCR of Santa Cruz to apply for a Philippine passport.
Sala added that initial actions have been taken against personnel involved in the controversy and that a fact-finding investigation is currently ongoing.
“We welcome the investigation made by the NBI and other related national government agencies as this will also help our own investigation in curbing the proliferation of spurious birth certificates in our municipality,” the local chief executive said.
He assured the public that the LGU is doing its best to ensure that its personnel observe appropriate regulations and standards in the performance of their functions.
“Those who will be found involved with these illegal transactions will certainly be subjected to appropriate administrative actions,” he added.
NBI-Davao Region Director Arcelito Albao said that the Chinese national, who was using a Filipino name Hengson Jabilles Limosnero, used an address in Barangay Inawayan, Santa Cruz to obtain a falsified birth certificate from the LCR of the town.
The Chinese was born in Fujian province, China and was brought to Davao City when he was 10. He and his family own hardware in the city, according to Albao.
He said the alien presented birth certificate, driver’s license, and national identification from the Philippine Statistics Authority as requirements in applying for a passport.
He said that his birth certificate was used to secure other government-issued documents and IDs.
Albao added that the Chinese national is a first-year accountancy student at the Ateneo de Davao University and finished high school at the Philippine Academy of Sakya Davao.
The Chinese national will face charges for violation of New Philippine Passport Act and Revised Penal Code, penalizing falsification of public documents, perjury, and using fictitious name and concealing true name, Albao said.