A 27-year-old woman had the shock of her life when she discovered the existence of a marriage certificate claiming she had been married to an Indian national for a year already.
Evelyn Ruelan, a resident of Barangay Mabini, Cadiz City at Negros Occidental, is seeking an investigation into alleged identity theft after learning of a document claiming she was already married.
Reports said she was preparing to marry her live-in partner for two years, Reylan Escalan, this December.
However, while processing her Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Ruelan learned of an existing marriage certificate bearing her name and details like her full name, birthplace and her parents’ names.
According to records, she married Jagdev Singh on Nov. 16, 2023, in Valenzuela City.
Ruelan asserted that the signature on the document was not hers and that she had never met Singh. She has not yet traveled to Valenzuela as well.
She also said she had not lost any identification cards or personal documents and had not signed up for any applications or platforms that required her personal information.
Ruelan said the incident has caused distress to her, her partner, and their families, especially since they have already started gathering resources for their marriage such as pigs, charcoal and firewood.
She also questioned how officials could let such a situation happen without verifying the documents submitted for a marriage certificate.
“This isn’t just about me. How could something this serious happen so easily?” Ruelan was quoted as saying, referring to the supposed identity theft.
She said she would temporarily postpone the wedding until she settled the issue.
Meanwhile, John Campomanes, chief statistical specialist of the PSA in Negros Occidental, said that someone might have used her details or she failed to disclose a previous marriage.
According to a disc jockey-reporter in Cadiz, Ruelan will go to PSA Bacolod and the National Bureau of Investigation Bacolod on Wednesday, November 20 to pursue an investigation.
POGO related?
Some Filipinos who learned of Ruelan’s situation suspected it might be related to the controversial POGOs or Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
“Feeling ko POGO-related case ‘to,” a Pinoy on Reddit wrote.
Another asked if it was a case of “identity theft,” to which a different user commented, “I think so. ‘Yung mga Chinese na kinuha ‘yung mga identity ng ibang tao. Hindi imposible. Example na si Guo Hua Ping.”
The case of Alice Guo
According to the NBI, Guo Hua Ping is said to be the real identity of the dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, whose fingerprints match those of the Chinese national.
Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros also raised the possibility of Guo committing identity theft when documents from the NBI database revealed another individual — a Filipino named Alice Leal Guo from Quezon City, who applied for an NBI clearance in 2005.
But the dismissed mayor insisted on being a Filipino, saying that her name was Alice Guo. However, she admitted to being born to Guo Jian Zhong and Lin Wen Yi.
She admitted that Zhong was Chinese, while bank documents show that Yi is also Chinese.
Guo was also accused of being a Chinese spy by self-proclaimed Chinese spy She Zhijiang, who claimed that POGOs have a connection with spying by China.
The dismissed mayor denied the allegations and said that She only wanted to benefit from her “media mileage.”
Guo is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail, where she is facing charges of qualified human trafficking and graft.
She is accused of using her former position as mayor to build a POGO firm and scam hub in Bamban.
The Bureau of Immigration said there was enough evidence for her to be deported.