CLO to investigate birth certificate issued to Chinese

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD CITY — The City Legal Office (CLO) is preparing to launch an official investigation into the alleged involvement of two job order casual workers in the issuance of a birth certificate to a Chinese national, pending a formal letter from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) national office.

City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. reported that the investigation follows an incident in 2019, when the Chinese national, who had acquired property in Cebu City, applied for a Philippine passport and was denied because he did not know any local dialects in the Philippines.

The PSA became aware of the issue after receiving an email about the alleged anomaly, prompting notification of the local government.

“The city will proceed with the investigation once the PSA submits their initial findings. This could be a case of corruption or falsification of public documents,” Ting said.

Additionally, Ting noted that this issue gained attention due to a Senate inquiry concerning another Chinese national in Cagayan.

The two government employees implicated in the alleged issuance have been removed from the Civil Registrar’s Office.