GENERAL SANTOS CITY (PIA) – In leading the 2025 nationwide celebration of the Civil Registration Month (CRM), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) emphasized the significance of the occasion in the lives of Filipinos.
Proclamation No. 682, issued on January 28, 1991, designates the month of February as Civil Registration Month and the PSA as the lead implementing agency.
The celebration aims to “remind Filipinos of their duty to register important events in their lives, such as births, marriages, and deaths, as well as decrees, legal instruments, and judicial orders affecting their civil status.”
PSA Sarangani Chief Statistical Specialist Ismael B. Ramos Jr. stressed the significance of CRM in boosting, especially, the registration of births, citing PSA’s recent census results, which show that over two million Filipinos are still not registered, with many of them coming from poor and indigenous communities.
“Dapat lahat ng Pilipino ay rehistrado upang magkaroon ng legal na pagkakakilanlan at access sa mahahalagang dokumento,” he stressed.
(All Filipinos should be registered to have legal identity and access to vital documents.)
He pointed out that PSA has introduced various programs, including mobile registration outlets to expand its service to remote communities, cater to Filipinos without birth certificates, and make other registration services more accessible.
Ramos highlighted the importance of continued collaboration between the government and local communities in ensuring that civil registration remains inclusive and available for everyone.
According to him, civil registration plays a crucial role in national planning, as birth, marriage, and death records contribute to accurate statistical data that guide public health programs and policy development.
As a response, the city government is actively implementing PSA’s Birth Registration Assistance Project (BRAP) to address challenges in delayed registration through its Local Civil Registry (LCR).
The intensified initiative ensures that every resident has access to official birth records, Dexter Imperial, chief of LCR’s Birth, Death, and Marriage Division, said.
Through this program, LCR schedules barangay visits to conduct on-site birth registrations, working closely with barangay officials to verify residents’ identities.
The initiative prioritizes indigent individuals, requiring only a three-in-one barangay certification—proof of birth, residency, and indigency—to qualify for free registration.
Imperial acknowledged the accessibility of remote communities as a significant obstacle in birth registration.
“Karamihan sa mga walang rehistro ay nakatira sa malalayong barangay kaya nagiging hamon ang lokasyon, pati na rin ang pagsunod sa documentary requirements,” he explained.
(Most of those without birth registration live in far-flung barangays, making location and compliance with documentary requirements a challenge.)
But with the BRAP, he explained the registration process is simplified, reducing the number of required documents while still ensuring proper identity verification.
“Sa halip na napakaraming requirements, kokonti na lang ang hinihingi natin, ngunit masisiguro pa rin natin ang tunay na pagkakakilanlan ng isang tao,” Imperial said.
(Instead of requiring an extensive list of documents, we have minimized the requirements while still ensuring proper identity verification.)
To assist LCR, PSA also conducts verification to ensure that applicants have no existing records elsewhere to prevent any slips or redundancy. (HJPF – PIA SarGen)
