COTABATO CITY (PIA) — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) continues to strengthen its initiatives to increase civil registration, especially in marginalized areas of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), through the Birth Registration Assistance Project (BRAP).
“Sa programang ito, namamahagi ang PSA-BARMM ng birth certificate in security paper ng libre sa mga beneficiaries nito sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng rehiyon,” Engr. Akan Tula, PSA-BARMM regional director, said during the recent episode of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas.
(In this program, PSA-BARMM distributes birth certificates on security paper for free to its beneficiaries in different parts of the region.)
According to him, as of June 21, 146,145 of the 198,033 submitted registrations had negative verifications, meaning that the system contained no data at all.
He added that of the 27,751 people registered, 11,669 had already received their birth certificates on security paper for free.
Adang Irari, an 84-year-old resident of Upper Laus, Talipao in Sulu and the project’s oldest beneficiary, has now received her birth certificate, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to benefit from the project.
“Wherever I go, I will not worry anymore,” she emphasized, citing the importance of the birth certificate she received.
Irari also described the document as a big help to ease out some of her difficulties in life that come from being an elderly person.
Meanwhile, to cater to more residents, Tula said their office recently launched the Civil Registry System (CRS) Tawi-Tawi Outlet to provide convenience for residents in the area.
He stated that with the newly established CRS, the residents of Tawi-Tawi would no longer need to travel to Zamboanga to avail of the PSA services.
Furthermore, Tula revealed that their office will soon establish more mobile outlets to bring their services closer to people, particularly those in the Bangsamoro region’s island provinces.
The official also vowed to intensify the registration of unregistered individuals through the BRAP, providing them with the most valuable piece of identification at no cost. (SJDM – PIA Region 12)
