A COMMITTEE of the House of Representatives on Monday sent to the Solicitor General documents detailing how a Chinese man falsely obtained Philippine citizenship in order to own property and establish businesses in the Philippines.
“These activities clearly violate our laws and require immediate action,” the House committees on dangerous drugs, public order, human rights and public accounts said in a joint letter to Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra.
They called on the top government attorney to speed up the review of the documents and initiate legal action including confiscation measures “given the serious implications for national security and the clear violation of legal procedures.”
“Several Chinese people” bought “thousands of hectares of land,” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace S. Barbers, chairman of the dangerous drugs committee, told a separate news conference.
Some of the documents sent to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) include fake birth certificates, tax declarations, company records and land sales documents tied to a Chinese national.
Attorneys for the government will review the documents sent by the House of Representatives, Assistant Solicitor General Hermes L. Ocampo told the same forum.
He said they can initiate legal actions such as confiscation cases using the Anti-Money Laundering Council, the return of illegally acquired houses. The Philippine Constitution of 1987 prohibits foreigners from owning land.
Properties transferred to Filipino docks could still be prosecuted, he said, noting that they could open administrative and criminal charges against Filipinos.
“We don’t have the final figure, but if we base it on the number of titles received, whether they are transferred on behalf of the Chinese nation or his registered company, it is about 300 to 400 titles,” he said in Filipino.
“We must speed up all the problems related to the properties of Chinese people posing as Filipinos,” Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan S. Fernandez told the same forum in mixed English and Filipino.
Mr Barbers said his committee could draft a bill that would make the process of obtaining a birth certificate more difficult. “The requirements for issuing a live birth certificate must be tightened, especially for those applying under the late registration policy.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said that more than 5,000 people employed by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and Internet Gaming Licensees (IGL) have yet to downgrade their visas to comply with President Ferdinand R. Marcos’s total ban order. .
“There are many people who have not voluntarily canceled their visas,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla told reporters. “This gives us a problem because it shows that most of them don’t really want to leave the country.”
A visa waiver allows foreigners to revert their work visa status to a temporary visitor visa. In comparison, more than 12,000 POGO foreign workers have been terminated and have filed for demotion, the Bureau of Immigration said earlier.
They now hold temporary tourist visas for 59 days, allowing them to stay in the country while they sort out their affairs, it added. The deadline for voluntary visa waivers was October 15.
Mr. Remulla said they are automatically canceling the visas of more than 5,000 illegal workers.
The Immigration Bureau noted that if a Chinese person employed by an online gaming licensee fails to apply for a visa waiver, he will have an “Order To Leave” stamp on his passport, meaning he must leave the country immediately.
A foreigner will have a hard time returning to the Philippines.
Vice President of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) Catalino B. Alano, Jr. BusinessWorld with Viber that 38 out of 41 internet gaming licensees were still shutting down their operations.
Mr Marcos in his state of the nation address to Congress in July ordered the closure of POGOs and IGLs, which he said were linked to crimes including fraud and human trafficking. – Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio again Chloe Mari A. Hufana
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