NBI set to file charges vs Asi

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is set to file falsification charges against basketball player Paulasi Asi Taulava, his mother and other individuals for fabricating documents to show his mother was a Filipino born in Samar.

Sources said NBI agents have already forwarded to the NBI Legal Division investigation reports, which indicated that Taulava, of Talk n Text, his mother Pauline Hernandez Mateaki allegedly falsified her birth certificate to allow his son to stay and play with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Aside from the Taulavas, one of the sources noted that other people, including those from local Civil Registry in Samar will be named in the charges.

The source said the bureau has strong evidence to show that the mother and son committed falsification of documents, which carries of imprisonment of six years and 1 day to 12 years.

One of the documents allegedly fabricated was the late registration of the birth certification of Taulava’s mother from the National Statistics Office (NSO). The document stated that Mateaki was born in a town in Samar.

The source said the second evidence was the application of Mateaki to the US government for permanent residency. In the application for US permanent residency, Mateaki stated that she was a Tongan having been born in Tonga.

The documents from Tonga was sent to the NBI-International Police (Interpol) by the US Department of Homeland Security (DSH), which also provided certification that indeed Mateaki was a Tongan.

If Taulava and his mother claim the Philippine NSO documents were genuine, then US application for permanent residency was fabricated. But if they say the US document was genuine, then the local documents are fake, the investigator noted.

Aside from the two pieces of evidence, the bureau has already requested from Tonga government a copy of Mateakis birth certificate to further strengthen the case against the Taulavas.

The document from Tonga would serve as confirmatory evidence, the source added.