Aside from dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, the Senate has uncovered several irregularities in the birth certificate of Cassandra Li Ong, the alleged owner of Whirlwind company and incorporator of Lucky South 99, the POGO hub raided in Porac, Pampanga.
During a joint committee hearing on Tuesday, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, a former mayor of San Juan, questioned Ong about her place of birth.
Citing Ong's certificate of live birth, Estrada pointed out that Ong was allegedly born through "hilot" by a certain Rosario Mendez at 345 P. Mendoza St., San Juan.
However, according to an investigation by Estrada's staff, the address 345 P. Mendoza St. did not exist at that time, and no one named Rosario Mendez was known in the area as a midwife.
"Inusisa at pinagtanong ng aking mga staff sa mga barangay at sa mismong mga residente na kinasasakupan noong sinasabi mong address na 345 P. Mendoza, iyon ay nasa Barangay Ermitanio kung may ganoong address na nag-eexist noon pa man," Estrada explained.
"Ngayon, wala na daw ganyang house no. maski noon pa. Ngayon kasi naging two digits na lang yung house number pero ginagamit pa rin ng mga residente ang lumang three digits number sa P. Mendoza Street at wala rin nakakakilala na sinasabing manghihilot na nagngangalang Rosario Mendez," he added.
Estrada further noted that during his term as mayor, childbirth services at hospitals were free, and traditional midwives or "manghihilot" were not used.
"At isa pa, noong Mayor ako ng San Juan, libre panganganak doon. Hindi kami gumagamit ng manghihilot don. Libre panganganak doon sa mga health center noong Mayor ako at libre libing doon pag namamatay mga tao roon," Estrada added.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) confirmed irregularities in Ong's birth certificate, noting that her parents have no recorded births in the Philippines.
"Because the mother is a Chinese, so hindi siya pinanganak dito talaga sa Pilipinas. The father allegedly was born as Chinese pero parang may pinapakita in Congress that the father was naturalized kaya yun yung nakalagay sa COLB ni Ms. Cassy Li Ong," a PSA representative explained.
Estrada remarked that this case appears to be another instance of a questionable late-registered birth certificate, similar to the situation with Alice Guo, whose birth certificate was revealed to be falsified during previous Senate hearings.
The PSA assured the Senate that it is conducting a fact-finding investigation with the Local Civil Registrar Offices in San Juan, and Ong's birth certificate is currently under review.
"This is another questionable birth certificate issued through a late registration and there is no basis for the issuance of Cassy Li Ong's birth certificate," Estrada concluded.
