BI: Foreigners able to set up firms after faking PH citizenship

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday that it had uncovered a scheme in which foreign nationals assume fake Filipino identities to establish businesses and even employ illegal workers in Mindanao.

This followed the BI’s arrest of five Chinese nationals in two separate operations: one involving an illegal alien “actively managing” a hardware store registered under an allegedly nonexistent Filipino citizen in Davao del Sur and another involving four individuals working illegally at a North Cotabato chemical plant registered under a Filipino, though the actual owner is reportedly a Chinese man based in Manila.

Describing the scheme as a “disturbing trend,” Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado warned that fraudulent documentation could also be exploited for espionage.

“These documents and new identities may be used by foreigners with [malicious] intent and could be exploited by possible spies embedding themselves in society by pretending to be Filipinos,” he said in a statement.

READ: Adiong: Issuers of fake PH birth certificates part of broader network

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Nonexistent owner

On March 20, the BI, in coordination with the Philippine Army and local law enforcement, arrested Bangdie Pan, also known as Ditdit, a 50-year-old Chinese national, in Digos City, Davao del Sur.

Pan was apprehended for violating Philippine immigration laws in an operation supported by the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion, the 1002nd Brigade, the 10th Infantry Division, the Philippine National Police, and government intelligence operatives in Region 11.

According to the BI, the foreign national was actively managing a hardware store registered under a supposed Filipino citizen, whose identity is now under investigation.

“Records revealed that Pan possessed a work visa issued under a company in Pasig City, but she was found working in an unauthorized capacity in Davao del Sur,” the bureau said.

Employees of the hardware store reportedly admitted that the supposed Filipino owner did not exist and that the store’s permits had been obtained using forged documents.

Four days later, BI intelligence operatives, in coordination with various government agencies, arrested four Chinese nationals at a chemical manufacturing plant in M’lang, North Cotabato.

The individuals were identified as Zhongyi Tang, 62; Tianpei Wu, 51; Dezhen Liu, 62; and Wang Lianxu, 53.

The BI noted that it obtained birth certificates and documents showing that Liu had misrepresented himself as a Filipino.

The agency’s investigation also found that the company was registered under a Filipina, but plant employees claimed they had never seen her since the business opened.

“Plant employees admitted that the owner is actually a Chinese man based in Manila,” the BI said.

All five Chinese nationals now face deportation charges.

Widespread problem

Viado has called for stricter regulations in issuing Filipino documents and identification cards to prevent further exploitation by illegal aliens, a problem that surfaced last year during congressional inquiries into the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

In July 2024, the NBI in Davao reported uncovering “close to 200 falsified birth certificates” issued to Chinese nationals between 2018 and 2019 by the civil registry of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago later disclosed that up to 1,200 Chinese nationals had been granted birth certificates by the Santa Cruz local civil registry since 2016, six times higher than the bureau’s initial findings.

These fraudulent documents reportedly enabled foreign nationals to engage in activities exclusively for Filipinos, including purchasing land, starting businesses and even running for public office, as in the case of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who is believed to be a Chinese citizen and is now detained for crimes related to illegal Pogo operations.

Suspected spies

The government had earlier expressed concern about the reports on the presence of Chinese spies in the country.

In January, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested five suspected Chinese spies who were allegedly monitoring the activities of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy in Palawan, including the resupply of troops in the West Philippine Sea.

The following month, two more Chinese nationals, along with three Filipinos, were arrested by the NBI for espionage.

The NBI said its cybercrime division and special task force were alerted about suspicious vehicles carrying message-intercepting gadgets frequenting the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, as well as Malacañang and other government facilities in Metro Manila. I

(2025/03/28-05:50)