Foreign nationals seeking to illegally obtain Filipino identities are paying syndicates as much as P5 million per birth certificate, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag said Thursday.

In a television interview, Matibag revealed that the high-priced scheme involves large-scale operations by syndicates specializing in fraudulent civil registry documents.

The transactions were uncovered through investigations into Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.

Matibag said organized groups profit heavily from the illegal activity, often utilizing local contacts to process falsified records for foreign nationals, particularly Chinese citizens.

Despite the millions of pesos changing hands, Matibag cited a stark disparity in how the money is distributed.

Government personnel implicated in the scheme often receive only “meal money” ranging from P300 to P3,000, while the syndicates pocket the bulk of the earnings.

The NBI has already filed complaints against several private individuals and civil registry officials allegedly involved in issuing fraudulent certificates through questionable late registration processes.

Matibag warned that the scheme poses a significant threat to national security by allowing foreign nationals to assume Filipino status under false pretenses.

He added that the illegal acquisition of these documents could have far-reaching implications, including potential impacts on the electoral process.

In response, the NBI is proposing legislative reforms to tighten safeguards against the abuse of late birth registration.

The bureau’s legal and legislative units are currently drafting a bill to strengthen documentation requirements and centralize the processing of late registrations to reduce opportunities for fraud.

“We will tighten it further and make the process more efficient,” Matibag said.

While the proposal has yet to be formally discussed with congressional leaders, Matibag said he has raised the concept with a member of the House of Representatives for potential sponsorship.

The NBI chief also proposed the creation of an inter-agency task force — including the Philippine Statistics Authority, Bureau of Immigration, and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency — to address the issue.

The country’s civil registry system is currently governed by the Civil Registry Law of 1930.

Matibag said investigations are ongoing to identify more individuals involved and to determine the full scale of the fraudulent operations.