Nasa radar na pala ng FBI at US Dept of Homeland Security si Gina O. Reyes ng Marinduque

2 US agencies asked to probe disqualified bet in Marinduque

Manila Bulletin – Sun, May 12, 2013

A congressional candidate in Marinduque earlier disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now in the radar of United States federal authorities over alleged discrepancies in her Philippine and US travel documents.

This came after the United States Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were asked to investigate the issuance of a US passport to Regina Ongsiako Reyes.

In his letters to the two US agencies, Pepito Vergara, of Bagumbayan in Quezon City, said that official Philippine government records showed that "Reyes possesses a US passport with No. 306278853 and that she had been repeatedly using the same to enter and exit the Philippines."
Reyes is the daughter of Marinduque Governor Carmencita Reyes and the sister of former congressman Edmundo Reyes Jr.

"Interestingly, Ms. Reyes' date of birth as stated in her US passport is indicated as 03 July 1959, while her date of birth in her Philippine passport is indicated as 03 July 1964," Vergara said in his letters dated May 3.

He pointed out that records from the civil registry of Manila and from the Philippine National Statistics Office showed that Reyes' full name is Regina Victoria Hyacinth Ongsiako Reyes, born of Filipino parents in the City of Manila on July 3, 1958.

Last March 27, the Comelec's First Division cancelled Reyes' certificate of candidacy (COC) for being an American citizen and for lack of the one-year residency for candidates to an elective office.

The Comelec decision stemmed from the petition filed by Joseph Tan, a resident of Torrijos, Marinduque, to cancel Reyes' certificate of candidacy for making several false representations in her COC.

In its 13-page decision, the Comelec First Division ruled that Reyes is an American citizen based on the certificate issued by the Bureau of Immigration detailing Reyes' use of a U.S passport since 2005.

"Unless and until she can establish that she had availed of the privileges of Republic Act 9225 by becoming a dual Filipino-American citizen, and thereafter, made a valid sworn renunciation of her American citizenship, she remains to be an American citizen and is, therefore, ineligible to run for and hold any elective public office in the Philippines," a Comelec resolution stated.