đˇ PhilNews
UNLESS somebody takes the cudgel of filing a case, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) can not possibly cancel the birth certificate of the âFirst Chinese Mayorâ in the Philippines.
“Anyone can file a case against you or the state can file a case against any person dahil ang estado ay may interes sa identity ng bawat isa sa atin,” PSA director for legal services Eliezer Ambatali said in reference to the inconsistencies in the government records of embattled Mayor Alice Guo.
According to Ambatali, only the court has the authority to cancel Guo’s birth certificate, âand if that happens, she would revert to a floating status,â citing no records of her supposed parents Antonio Guo and Amelia Leal, for which the PSA chief suspects that the names listed as parents of the Bamban mayor could be âfictitious.â
“So ang ibig sabihin nito ay maaaring hindi totoo na merong Amelia Leal or Angelito Guo. Maaari rin na hindi lang nakapagparehistro,” he added.
On the other hand, Ambatali noted that Guo may also try filing a petition to correct âerroneous recordsâ in her birth certificate â “Pwede rin na hindi cancellation ang isampa na petisyon. Pwede rin kasi na may mali sa mga nakasaad sa kanyang birth certificate.”
Relatedly, the PSA chief also admits around three million Filipinos have yet to register.
“Sa huling tala meron pa ring around 3 million na hindi nakarehistro, pero kabilang sila sa vulnerable groups,” added Ambatali who went on to aver that 17 local civil registries are under investigation due to “unusual” number of late registrations. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
