JV Ejercito: Foreign nationals using identities of dead persons to avail gov’t IDs
September 15, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on
Thursday revealed that foreign nationals have been using the identities of dead
persons to secure government-issued identification cards in the Philippines.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on
Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on the recent spate of kidnappings and
disappearances across the country, Ejercito urged the Philippine National
Policy (PNP) to ramp up its operations against these criminal activities.
“PNP, please take note of that. We will
confirm pero alam ko na nangyayari ‘to. Marami nang mga foreign nationals, in
particular, mga mainland Chinese na pumasok dito, who are using identities of
dead persons so that they can avail of rights and be considered as Filipino
citizens,” he said.
Fortunato Manahan Jr., OIC deputy commissioner
at the Bureau of Immigration, confirmed that they have deported a number of
foreign nationals for using fraudulent passports, birth certificates, and
marriage certificates.
“May mga cases and incidents po kaming
naiintercept sa airports and sa community. Napapadeport po namin ang mga ‘yon,”
he said.
Ejercito had earlier filed Proposed Senate
Resolution No. 194, which seeks to direct the Senate Committee on Public Order
and Dangerous Drugs to conduct a probe on these “alarming” cases of kidnapping,
abduction, and disappearances, especially those against women, Philippine
Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) workers, and Filipino-Chinese individuals.
The said resolution highlighted the alleged
kidnapping of a Chinese national in broad daylight along the Skyway elevated
highway and the documented torture of a male victim whose ear was cut off.
“Definitely, peace and order situation is the
biggest factor in having a climate conducive for business to grow for us to be
able to rebuild the economy after the pandemic. Kailangan po maganda ang peace
and order situation. Ngayon pa lang tayo nakakabuwelo after the two years of
lockdown in the pandemic,” he said.
“We have to verify the authenticity of these videos so
that we can attack the problems already head on and not cause panic sa ating
mamamayan at business sector,” he added.
