City civil registrar: Register your children’s birth immediately

Lawyer Evangeline Abatayo, City Civil registrar, talks about the requirements under the additional guidelines by the Office of the Civil Registrar General (OCRG) on Wednesday, July 10. | Screengrab from the Sugboanon Channel

CEBU CITY,  Philippines —  Officials from the Office of the City Civil Registrar (OCCR) in Cebu City urged the public, especially parents, to immediately register their children’s birth to prevent going through the delayed registration process. 

In a live interview via Sugbuanon Channel on Wednesday, July 10, the City Civil Registrar, lawyer Evangeline Abatayo, and OCCR Acting Assistant Head Jason Bongcales, discussed the guidelines and the requirements applicants would follow after the PSA Memorandum Circular 2024-17.

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The purpose of the Memorandum, made public on June 20 and issued by the Office of the Civil Registrar General (OCRG), is to uphold the country’s civil registry system’s integrity and reinforce the delayed birth registration process.

Abatayo said that the delayed registration process is the report of vital events like birth, marriage, or death which is made beyond the reglementary period. The reglementary period is the period within which an event must be registered.

“So ang reglementary period for the registration of birth and death is 30 days from the occurrence of the event…Beyond ana nga period, bisag usa lang ka adlaw nga molapas, gitawag nana siya ug delayed registration meaning lahi sa timely registration, nga kun madelayed na, naay penalty fee plus daghan pa jud siyag supporting documents na need isubmit,” Abatayo said.

Abatayo said that the addition of requirements for the process of delayed registration was because of the Senate inquiry regarding delayed registrations of birth. 

Currently, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has yet to issue an official statement regarding the additional guidelines for the delayed registration process that ensures civil registration is safe.

Additional guidelines

Some of the additional guidelines include the mandatory appearance of the applicant (if 18 years old and above). If the applicant is a minor, the parents or judicially appointed guardians or any individual that is exercising substitute parental authority, should appear before the City or Municipal Civil Registrar.

Another guideline is the mandatory submission of additional requirements like the barangay certificate as proof of residence, and national ID which if there is none, the applicant will be referred to the PSA, a 2×2 unedited front-facing photo of the applicant, and at least two documents which have the identity of the parents,  including the certificate of live birth (COLB), government-issued IDs, or their marriage certificate. 

Abatayo said that the additional guidelines were not yet fleshed out and that the additional requirements would add to the burden of the applicants. 

Due to the burden of the additional requirements for delayed registration, the officials from OCCR urged the parents to register the birth of their children on time as the child is entitled to a name and nationality. 

“Atong responsibilidad isip ginikanan, isip inahan, ato unta tumanon kay luoy man kaayo ang bata nga wala intawn siyay buot ba unya siya masugamat sa problema inig kadako na niya,” Abatayo said. 

(It is our responsibility as parents, as a mother, that we will accomplish this because it will be the children who will have problems with this when he grows up if this will not be done.)

Photo caption: Philippine Statistics Authority Central Visayas (PSA-7) Director Engr. Ariel Florendo talks about the regional inflation report on Friday, July 12.