Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero questioned the reliability of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records in establishing the identities of supposed confidential fund recipients during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Monday.
Escudero said the PSA’s Civil Registry System (CRS) is not a universal database and that an exact name match does not necessarily prove that the person in the record is the same individual named in an acknowledgment receipt.
During the hearing, Escudero asked Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande whether the CRS was “hindi talaga universal” or not universal.
“Yes po, sir,” Grande replied.
Escudero clarified that not all living Filipinos, deceased persons or married individuals necessarily appear in the PSA database. Grande agreed that this was a fair characterization.
He also questioned the significance of a “single match” in the PSA database, asking whether an exact corresponding name meant that the person listed was the same individual identified in the questioned receipt.
Grande said it did not necessarily establish the person’s identity.
“Pero hindi rin nangangahulugan na siya nga yun,” Escudero said.
“Yes, possible po (it’s possible), Your Honor,” Grande replied when asked if the match could refer to another person.
The exchange followed discussions on the 63% no record rate cited during the trial. Escudero established that the figure was based only on names submitted by the prosecution for PSA verification, not all names appearing in the acknowledgment receipts.
Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia said some receipts were excluded because the names were unreadable or contained signatures without corresponding names.
Divinagracia also acknowledged that the 63% figure could change if all names in the receipts had been available for verification.
Escudero further pointed out that Congress has allowed corrections to civil registry records without court proceedings, which he said recognizes that errors can exist in the database.
“Ang CRS ay hindi perfectong database. Kaya nga po binuksan ng Kongreso ang puwang para ma-amiendahan o mabago yun,” he said.
Grande said corrections made under Republic Acts 9048 and 10172 are reflected through annotations in civil registry documents.
She also said the PSA is developing an electronic civil registration and vital statistics system that would eventually connect birth registration with the National ID system.
Grande said a more comprehensive database could potentially be achieved within three to five years.
Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net
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