PSA mulls stricter policy for late birth registration

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is eyeing to implement a stricter policy on the processing of late birth registration after the Senate criticized its lenient processes.

“Due diligence din on the part of the civil registrar to conduct validation dun sa mga supporting documents at maglalabas po ang PSA ng supplemental guidelines sa delayed registration,” said Marizza Grande, PSA assistant national statistician, in Sandra Aguinaldo’s report on 24 Oras on Thursday.

(Due diligence too is expected of the civil registrar to conduct validation on the supporting documents. The PSA will also soon issue supplemental guidelines on delayed registration.)

Some senators believe that syndicates might be taking advantage of PSA’s late birth registration policy following the irregularities on the identity of controversial Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.

The mayor claimed that her birth certificate was belatedly registered.

According to PSA’s data in 2022, 1.3 million births were registered on time and 127, 919 others were only registered 30 days after birth.

Meanwhile, 3.7 million Filipinos have no birth certificates due to various reasons as of 2020.

At the Quezon City Civil Registry, among the reasons for late registration are busy schedules of the parents, being born at home, or parents just forgetting to register their children’s birth.

Cristina Alberto Melnida, 48,  is among the people queuing at the city civil registry after she found out recently that she does not have a birth certificate.

“Nung elementary, puro baptismal [certificate] lang yung ginagamit ko hanggang sa makatapos ng high school, baptismal lang,  nakalusot,” she said.

(From elementary to high school, I just used my baptismal certificate. I didn’t encounter any problems.)

Meanwhile, Honey Rose Operio is just now processing her nine-year-old child’s birth certificate.

“Hindi po kasi nalakad nung nagpa-anak sa akin,” she said.

(The person who helped me in giving birth wasn’t able to process it.)

The QC Civil Registry said that having a birth certificate is important especially for claiming financial benefits and for education purposes.

“Basic right po talaga  ng lahat ng tao na magkaroon ng sense of identity, proof of identity, that would be the source of your all other basic and essential rights,” said Ira Montecastro, QC Civil Registry Birth Certificate Registration Division chief.

(It’s a basic right for everyone to have a sense of identity and proof of identity that would be the source of all your other basic and essential rights.)

Among the requirements for late registration of live birth include marriage certificate of parents, certification of using father’s surname, baptism certificate, school record, voter’s certification, medical records, and barangay certification.

“Isa yan sa mga inaabuso is dahil yung mga supporting documents ay posible pong kulang o peke. Sa ngayon ay pinag-aaralan namin at magbibigay kami ng supplemental guidelines nang sa gayon po ay ma authenticate muna itong mga documents na ito ay tama,” said Grande.

(Some are abusing the policy because they sometimes present insufficient or fake supporting documents. At present, we are now studying and will soon issue supplemental guidelines to authenticate these documents.)—Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News