Skinning a cat

Leave it to hard-core politicos to skirt election laws, particularly regarding the strict Commission on Election rules on early campaigning.

At this early, officials of a big Metro Manila city are making their presence felt in preparation for the coming 2025 elections.

Last month’s school graduations, for instance, saw district congressmen and councilors gatecrashing the events, as they made it look that they were there to congratulate parents and graduates.

During the vacation period, a huge jump in activities mainly circumcision sessions with the names of the elected officials emblazoned in tarps has become too frequent.

Cash payouts or aid distribution of national agencies also draw these characters like flies to honey.

Another favorite haunt of the desperados are funerals which are visited usually at night when the wake is full of grievers.

Easy pickings

Human trafficking is a lucrative racket proven by the surge in cases of Chinese forging their identities through belated birth certificates which the state record keepers allow.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Jaime Santiago Philippine authorities have uncovered another 1,000 cases of Chinese nationals who secured local birth certificates

Even the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) allows the late registration scheme which those seeking instant Filipino citizenship find as a convenient backdoor since it’s easy and has a legal seal.

Thus, some local governments welcome the practice since it is a source of a side hustle without any legal complication.

A registry office in a local government can look the other way for some considerations regarding documents presented to them during the late registration process.

A favored local government for late registration of birth certificates is Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur which reported 1,200 cases of late registration since 2016

The NBI suspects that other districts have been processing the identity papers and are now checking on Pampanga and Tarlac, known to host illegal offshore gaming operations (Pogos) linked to Chinese groups including in some accounts, through the criminal Triad gangs.

Worse, the impostors could be sleeper agents of a foreign government such as what happened to other countries.

They opened their doors, made friends, and asked for financial help. Before they knew it, their country is no longer theirs as it is already controlled by a foreign entity. And that’s not even firing a gun. This is a patented grey-zone tactic, a regional analyst said.