Systemic vulnerabilities within the national late-registration process have drawn urgent institutional scrutiny as state law enforcement agencies push for inter-agency countermeasures and asset forfeiture mechanisms to safeguard civil registries and economic security.
National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag on Thursday said the government must exercise its sovereign right to “exclude” in its system all individuals who have without a doubt fraudulently registered their birth records.
During the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights hearing on the issue, Matibag said that the NBI has initially discovered that around 50,000 foreign nationals have deliberately exploited the late registration system so they can become Philippine citizens.
“The question is bakit sila mag-avail ng Filipino citizenship? …Because of the opportunity, yung business diba, unang-una yun and puwede rin natin sabihin dahil may Alice Guo, bakit pumasok sa politika? So, it goes with our economy and the national security,” Matibag said.
Matibag also said this was the reason why he issued NBI Memorandum Order No. 22 dated October 22, 2026, which instructs all of their regional directors and concerned units to investigate “fraudulently procured Philippine citizenship documents, related identity fraud, and the unlawful acquisition or control of property by foreign nationals.”
Matibag also said he will also recommend to Executive Secretary Ralph Recto “to have an inter-agency collaboration” to address the issue of acquisition of fake Philippine citizenship “because we have to address this problem immediately.”
“So baka dapat po we exercise a sovereign right to exclude yung mga tao na iyan…There should be a process, probably the Office of the Solicitor General can file a case na parang immediately somebody like the PSA probably or the Immigration or kung sino man, will immediately cancel the birth certificate and cancel everything and whatever na connected na property or anything. We perpetrate in favor of the government and exclude that citizen…ibalik na lanng natin sa lugar nila kung saan sila galing,” Matibag also said.
Once this is done, Matibag also said the assets of those individuals must also be frozen so they will not have the means to get money to hire good lawyers.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a member of the committee who presided over the hearing, said the NBI’s recommendation will be considered when they come up with the committee report.