Chairperson on Senate Committee on Ways and Means Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed alarm over reports of 1,200 foreign late registrants in the country on Tuesday.
According to Gatchalian, such actions by local civil registries are alarming. An example cited was the Chinese national arrested for late registration at the age of 32.
Gatchalian emphasized that this reveals how the late registration process has been thoroughly abused. They thought it wouldn't be discovered because it was done in remote areas like Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, where 200 late registrants were discovered.
The senator added that suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's case has been instrumental in uncovering many cases of late registration.
Gatchalian vowed to coordinate with the Phillippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to identify which other local civil registries across the country have numerous cases of late registration.
