A BILL seeking to provide the Philippine government the authority to seize real estate properties fraudulently acquired by foreigners has been filed at the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The filing of House Bill (HB) No. 11043 comes amid a House quad committee’s investigation into illegal online casinos.
The committee last month submitted to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) documents showing how a Chinese national allegedly connected to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators acquired a Filipino citizenship fraudulently, allowing him to own land and set up businesses in the country.
The committee urged the OSG to start building a legal case against the implicated Chinese national, citing national security concerns and violations of Philippine laws.
“The bill seeks to provide for a civil forfeiture in favor of the State any unlawfully acquired real estate properties by any foreign national,” according to the explanatory note of HB No. 11043, which were filed by several lawmakers led by Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio D. Gonzales, Jr.
Foreigners are not allowed to own Philippine lands, according to the 1987 Constitution.
Foreigners were able to skirt the land ownership restriction through their acquisition of falsified Philippine documentation, such as birth certificates, passports and driver’s licenses through “corrupt public officers,” according to the bill.
Properties allegedly obtained by any foreign national are presumed to be illegally acquired, unless proven otherwise by authorities, under the proposed law.
HB No. 11043 noted that any taxpayer could file a complaint before their city or provincial prosecutor, who will be responsible for conducting a preliminary investigation to determine its merit.
It could then be elevated for OSG action should local prosecutors find “reasonable ground” that properties in question were illegally acquired.
“The respondent foreign national shall have a period of 15 days to answer the complaint… from the receipt thereof from the city or provincial or prosecutor or the regional trial court,” Sec. 7 of the measure stated.
Properties forfeited in favor of the government will be distributed to farmers, if the estate in question is an agricultural land. Non-agricultural lands should be used for “schools, hospitals, and other establishments for socialized services,” according to the bill. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio