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Civil registrations are needed—NSO

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 23) — The National Statistics Office-Cordillera Administrative Region (NSO-CAR) tackled the uses of civil registry documents as it relayed the recent local civil registration details in the weekly Kapihan sponsored by the Cordillera Association of Regional Executives (CARE), today. One of importance was that of the birth registration project (BRP) which constitutes the survey in target municipalities in the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mt. Province.

NSO Regional Director Olivia G. Gulla calls on the public for better participation since the activities in civil registration processes also help the people back.

“Basically, there are two uses (of civil registration): one is for development planning on education, social services, etc, and the other is to provide records provide proof of parentage or any other evidence of facts in a person’s life,” Gulla explained.

The civil registration is a continuous and compulsory recording of events such as birth, death, fetal death and marriage. Court decrees and supplementary legal documents are integrated in the civil registration papers as mandated by Act. No. 3753, the Civil Registry Law.

Another issue discussed was the civil registration of indigenous peoples (IPs) and indigenous cultural communities (ICCs). Administrative Order No. 3, series of 2004, governs the procedures and guidelines for effective and efficient civil registration of IPs and ICCs. This is in line with Republic Act (RA) 8371 (IP Rights Act) so as there would be appropriate protection and promotion of the interests of IPs and ICCs.

Moreover, Bernardo A. Velasco, NSO-CAR administrative officer, relayed the civil registration situation here in the Cordillera.

“Nung inumpisahan namin yung BRP, nakita namin na marami ang unregistered (children). Mas marami actually ang adults na unregistered,” (When we started the BRP, we realized there were many unregistered children. There are actually more unregistered adults) Velasco imparts. He also explained that the high number of unregistered persons, especially in the CAR, is due to the inaccessibility of the registration centers to the communities. Awareness of the registration uses is also a barrier from being listed.

Velasco also highlighted the clerical error in registering of first names either at the local registration office or at the national office. Most of the babies were named ‘Baby Boy’ or ‘Baby Girl’ even if that was not the name the parents intended for the child, thus creating a conflict in the child’s enlisted name.

Gulla clarified that RA 9048 authorizes the city or municipal registrar to correct a typographical or clerical error in a child’s first name or nickname.

Essentially, this act also embraces the change in the first name or nickname, given that the petitioner finds his/her name ridiculous and tainted with dishonor; the new name has been used commonly and publicly; and that the change will avoid confusion in processing administrative documents. (A harmless and innocuous clerical error, misspelled name or birthplace for example, refers to an obvious mistake either in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register; the correction can only be made with reference to other existing record/s.)

Other matters presented were registration of illegitimate children opting to use the father’s surname (in accordance to RA 9255), and birth registration of children in need of special protection (CNSP).

Adrian A. Cerezo, NSO-CAR statistician, said that the child has the right to the estates of both of his or her parents, consequently needing the appropriate surname for proper claims. On the other hand, Gulla said that CNSP shall refer to persons below 18 years old or those above the said age but are unable to take care of themselves. Reasons of CNSP are of the following cases: sexually/physically abused; victims of child labor; abandoned or without primary caregiver, among other grounds.

Gulla also said that as of now, there are 188 barangay civil registration centers (some of the barangays are clustered into having one registration center). There are also 1, 081 registration agents trained in CAR. This is to compensate easier access for far-flung highland communities.

In CAR, there are 49,813 registered births, 11,237 registered marriages, and 5,798 registered deaths as of 2004.

Meanwhile, in the same forum, NSO revealed results of the recently concluded regional Philippine Statistics Quiz (PSQ-CAR). The champion was Joemylou Tattao, a first year Electronics and Communication Engineer (ECE) student from the St. Louis University, here. Tattao is second to Ateneo de Manila University’s champion as the highest scorer among the country’s regional PSQs.

According to Gulla, the PSQ aims to instill the value of statistics among students and to win public cooperation in times of censuses and surveys. It also measures the effectiveness of the statistics curriculum in schools. # Pink-Jean Fangon Melegrito for NORDIS

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