National Bureau of Investigation 11 (NBI 11) Director lawyer Arcelito Albao bared on Tuesday that his office will summon the lawyers involved in the falsification of documents in the Local Civil Registry (LCR) of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
In the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas, Albao said that there are six to seven lawyers from Davao City and Davao del Sur involved in the falsification of over 1,500 spurious birth certificates issued by the LCR of the LGU of Sta. Cruz.
“We are planning to issue a subpoena to them. Ipapatawag pa namin kung sino ang isa-subpopena namin. Around 6 to 7 lawyers based sa mga documents na nakuha namin,” Albao said.
Albao explained that NBI 11 is prioritizing the cases to be filed against LCR employees for issuing spurious documents.
“Inuuna lang namin itong mga kaso for LCR kasi nung nag attend kami ng senate hearing doon sa senado about this 1,500 spurious or fake brith certificates ang gusto kasi nila meron munang makulong na taga gobyerno kaya ang ginagawa namin this time ay kasuhan ang LCR personnel na involved sa LGU ng Sta. Cruz. Ito yung inuna namin,” Albao said.
He said that the NBI 11 has filed complaints against the former LCR chief and the clerks for violation of Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act, falsification of public documents, violation of the civil registry act, and other related cases before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao.
“Yung na filan na ng case apat na, yung pinaka chief nila before, si Mario Tizon, nakasuhan na. Itong nagre-receive at nag-prepare ng mga spurious birth certificates itong mga clerks,” Albao said.
Albao said Tizon has been suspended by the LGU Sta. Cruz and the contracts of the clerks were not renewed.
In July this year, NBI 11 found around 200 fake birth certificates issued to Chinese nationals from 2018 to 2019 by the LCR in Sta. Cruz.
This was discovered after a Chinese national was apprehended when he presented a fraudulent birth certificate while applying for a Philippine passport in Davao City.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on fake documents conducted in August this year, officials of LGU of Sta. Cruz bared 1,501 certificates of live birth were issued to foreigners from 2016 to 2023.
