Free birth registration gives juveniles second chance

CEBU, Philippines - “Why did you not have me registered?" was the cry of Al (not his real name), when he learned that he is going to spend a long time in jail because his mother Zosima, 42 years old from Barangay Mambaling cannot prove he is a minor.

Abandoned by his father, Al was left in the care of a relative because his mother needs to work outside the province. A decade of longing for his mother led him to the wrong crowd, where he learned to use rugby to get high. When it wasn’t enough, Al resorted to snatching cellphones in the downtown area just for kicks.

Al’s first time to snatch a cellphone proved to be his last because the police caught him and lock him up. The birth registration his mother Zosima took for granted 15 years ago would have been Al’s saving grace from going to jail. Unable to prove that he is 15 years old, Zosima helplessly listen to his son lament behind bars, begging for a second chance.

Al is not the only kid whose future depends on a piece of security paper registering their birth.

An 11-year old kid named Charles Joseph from Barangay Binaliw wants to be a policeman when he grows up but his teacher said he cannot graduate grade 6 if his mother cannot produce a birth certificate.

Siblings, Dan and Cheryl Constantino ages 7 and 8 from Barangay Lusaran are afraid to go to school and face their teacher because they have been warned for a year that if their mother 37-year old mother, Alma Constantino cannot submit their birth certificate as a requisite for enrollment, they cannot enroll by June. It’s a sad realization for Alma because her children lo ok forward to going to school since both of them dreams of becoming a teacher someday.

The parents of these children realized the need to register the birth of their children but getting them registered this late would approximately cost P2,000/per child, not to mention the time and distance it takes from one office to another to complete the requirement, it was simply too much for them to prioritize the birth registration until it is too late to do such as the case of Al.

Their worries were answered the day Pantawid Pamilya’s Modified Cash Transfer (MCCT) Program implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducted a Free Birth Registration at San Nicolas Gym for the children of Pantawid Pamilya under the MCCT Program.

The free birth registration conducted by DSWD-MCCT program for its beneficiaries in Cebu City was in partnership with Cebu City’s Local Civil Registrar and Young Lawyers Association of Cebu (YLAC). The activity served close to 200 children.

For Zosima of Mambaling, it did not only save his son from long term imprisonment but she got some free legal advice from Atty. Mark Gaviola and Atty. Jimbo Hernandez of YLAC who’s notarial and legal services was rendered for free on the said date. Their presence and free services together with the City’s Civil Registrar and DSWD strengthened the beneficiaries trust in the government’s intervention and intention to help them cross poverty threshold through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The Pantawid Pamilya program is a conditional transfer program that allocates P500/month/household for health and P300/child/month, but a maximum of three children only for education and will be given only upon compliance of the following set conditions: 85% monthly attendance of children in school for the educational grant and for the health grant, pre and post natal care, once-a-month visit to the health center and most of all attendance to Family Development Sessions once a month are to be complied.

Acquiring a birth certificate for Al, Charles, Dan, Sheryl and the rest of the unregistered children of Pantawid Pamilya’s MCCT Program is elusive no more. The free birth registration conducted by DSWD together with Cebu City’s Local Civil Registrar and Young Lawyers Association of Cebu fulfilled the rights of these children to have a name. A step to move closer to their dreams for a better future. —  (FREEMAN)