Man nabbed for selling fake IDs, certificates in Cebu City

NBI-7 agents apprehended a man accused of falsifying BIR TIN cards and PSA Certificate of Live Birth during an operation along the Plaridel St. in Cebu City on Monday, August 12. | NBI-7 Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A man from Cebu City landed in jail on Monday, August 12, 2024, after he was caught reselling and delivering fake BIR TIN (tax identification number) cards and PSA Certificate of Live Birth papers.

The arrest was the result of a joint-operation by the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7), National Bureau of Investigation-Cebu District Office (Cebdo), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 7.

At around 3 p.m. on Monday, they nabbed the suspect identified as Romel Gonesto Panonce, 29. 

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Panonce, a resident of Sitio Alaska, Brgy. Mambaling, is accused of selling falsified public documents and also delivering them to his customers.

The suspect’s identity came up on the radar of operatives after the arrest of a certain Del Rosario Loctor along Plaridel Street in Cebu City last August 9.

Loctor was allegedly caught with a falsified BIR TIN card.

According to NBI-7, Loctor voluntarily offered information that he was made to deliver said BIR TIN Card through a male person from Brgy. Mambaling. 

How he was caught

Operatives then consummated a transaction with the second subject online and pretended to purchase two BIR TIN cards worth P300.

When Ponence arrived onboard his motorcycle to deliver the items, agents swarmed in and arrested him.

Seized from his possession were several BIR TIN Cards, copies of LTO Driver’s Licenses, PSA Birth Certificates and PSA Death Certificates, PhilHealth Card, National ID and Unified Multi-purpose ID.

Upon verification, authorities found that the documents were all fake because they are either non-existent, belonging to different persons, or not printed on official government accountable forms.

Warning against fake documents

Charges of falsification of public documents and computer related forgery have been filed by NBI-7 against Panonce.

Following his arrest, NBI-7 reminded the public to transact only with legitimate and authorized personnel or representatives of government agencies.

In addition, civilians are warned against acquiring their documents online as these prove to be fake most of the time.

The use of falsified documents is penalized under Article 169-172 of the Revised Penal Code, which carries the penalty of a fine and imprisonment for 6 months to 6 years. 

While this arrest had no connection to the previous case of a woman from Talisay caught selling fake IDs, it is an indication that there are still a huge number of resellers and printers of fake IDs everywhere.