Development Management officer Hazel Torrefiel of NCIP checks the birth certificates of Sama-Bajaus prior to its distribution.
(Contributed Photo)
To assist the indigent indigenous communities like the Sama-Bajaus in acquiring legal documents like birth certificates, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) sponsored a free late registration.
The DSWD-7, in partnership with the Public Attorneys Office, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Philippine Statistics Authority, Cebu City government and Nano Nagle Child Care and Learning Center provided a venue where the Sama-Bajaus of Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City, can avail of the free late registration in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 8371 also known as “The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997.”
The free civil registration activity is in line with the Indigenous Peoples Participation Framework geared towards the fulfillment of their community participation and promotion of their rights.
It is also in consonance with the Article 7 of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that “The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and cared for by his or her parents…”
During the activity, about 91 birth certificates issued by the City Registrar’s Office and PSA were distributed to the Sama-Bajau parents whose children were registered last year.
This year, more than 50 are set to be registered.
PSA-7 Regional Director Ronaldo Taghap during the distribution of the birth certificates stressed that such documents should be kept properly as it contains the legal identity of their children.
“We only have one name and we should take care of our identity especially the children who are now enrolled in schools,” Taghap said in the vernacular.