Man fakes cenomars so married clients may wed anew, so he could eat

Authorities arrested a fixer who sold fake certificates of no marriage record (CENOMAR) to clients looking to make it appear that they were single.

According to a report by Jon Consulta on "24 Oras", the suspect was identified as Darwin Rotap. He was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation-Special Task Force.

Inside the NBI's van, Rotap said he needed to sell bogus documents to buy food.

Rotap was accosted after he  handed over the counterfeit cenomar to a poseur buyer. Seized from him were the fake document and marked money.

His arrest stemmed from a tip received by Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) that the suspect offered fake cenomar in exchange of P500 to clients who wanted to lie about their marriages.

"'Yung asawa mo buhay pa pinapalabas na patay na o kaya pinapalabas na hindi ka talaga nag-asawa," said Jeremiah Belgica, ARTA's director general.

(They buy the document to prove that their husband had already died, or to declare  their marriages as null and void.)

"Either way that is falsification of documents," he added.

Sixto Espinesin Jr., NBI-STF executive officer, said fake cenomar fixers usually help those who are linked to human trafficking cases as well as mail order brides.

These victims would need cenomars to tie the knot with foreigners.

Marizza Grande, assistant national statistician of PSA, declared that the Cenomar was fake as its barcodes were issued in 2019.

ARTA had also warned that those buying fake government documents from fixers will face complaints such as violation of the ARTA law. -Ma. Angelica Garcia/NB, GMA News