The Senate has found irregularities in the birth certificate of Tony Yang, the elder brother of former Presidential Economic Adviser Michael Yang.
During a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, led by Senator Risa Hontiveros, presented Tony Yang's late-registered live birth certificate, issued on September 6, 2004.
According to Yang, he arrived in the country in either 1998 or 1999. This contradicts the 2004 date of his late-registered birth certificate, which states he was 34 years old at the time.
"It looks to me, Mr. Yang, that the birth certificate is fake. Remember you are answering under oath," said Hontiveros.
Yang claimed that his grandfather helped him obtain the Filipino birth certificate for his "convenience" to establish a business in the country.
"During that time, it was my grandfather who helped me process this birth certificate. I am not aware of this maybe he was thinking that it was for my convenience so that I can build a business here," said Yang.
Further investigations revealed that Yang used different names in various Philippine documents. His Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) application lists his name as Yang Jianxin, his LTO driver's license application as Antonio Maestrado Lim, and his Tax Identification Number (TIN) as Antonio Lim.
"Hindi totoo na iisang pangalan lang ang ginagamit niyo. Iniiba-iba ninyo, and you have profited from changing your name and nationality sa iba't ibang submissions niyo," Hontiveros noted.
When asked by Hontiveros where he was born, Yang said he was born in Fujian, China, prompting Senator Jinggoy Estrada to ask, "Why do you have a live birth certificate when you were born in China?"
Yang responded, "It was my maternal mother who helped me process my birth certificate during the third or fourth year since I came here to the Philippines."
Estrada then inquired about his grandparents, to which Yang replied that his grandfather passed away 10 years ago.
According to Yang's birth certificate, he was born in Misamis Oriental.
"Mr. Yang, klaro po sa komite namin na peke 'yung birth certificate niyo, peke 'yung pagka-Pilipino ninyo. Inaamin mo na nagpapanggap ka lamang na Pilipino para magkapera dito sa Pilipinas," Hontiveros asserted.
"You've been deceiving this country for the last 26 years," she added.
The Senate hearing is part of a broader investigation into the issues surrounding Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). Over the years, POGOs have been a contentious topic in the Philippines due to their alleged ties to criminal activities, including money laundering, human trafficking, and illegal immigration.
On September 20, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) arrested Yang at NAIA Terminal 3 for being an "undesirable alien."
