(Photo from the Bureau of Immigration)
One of the arrested women, known only by the name Dianne, is recorded on her Philippine passport and birth certificate as being 61 years old. The BI found that her birth certificate was only registered in 2002 when she was already 39 years old.
"The woman gave highly inconsistent statements about her identity, and declared that she could not remember the name of the school she attended in the Philippines," said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco.
The other woman suspected to be Chinese, who goes by the alias Myla, showed a Philippine passport, a Philippine driver's license, and a Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) card used by government insurance institutions.
When questioned about her childhood and family, she could not recall any details and said she was home-schooled by her grandmother.
Both women also could not speak any Filipino language.
Myla later confessed that she obtained her documents from a contact she met online.
"This seems like another case of fraud, wherein foreign nationals are able to secure Philippine documents through illegal means," said Tansingco.
Immigration officers stopped the two women from boarding a Cathay Pacific flight bound for Beijing, China.
The two women are now detained at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City while awaiting the process for their expulsion from the Philippines.
