Middle initials no longer required for birth certificates - NSO

MANILA, Philippines – Children born outside wedlock could be registered with the local civil registry office even without a middle initial or name, a top official of the National Statistics Office (NSO) said yesterday.

Lourdes Hufana, director of the NSO’s civil registry department, told reporters during a forum at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City that the civil registry manual provides that the registration of the middle initial or name is optional.

“What is required in the birth certificate is the first and the last name of the person,” she said.

Hufana said policy of non-inclusion of the middle initial in the birth records is aimed to protect the privacy of children born outside wedlock who were not recognized by their fathers.

She said illegitimate children could be registered using the maiden name of their mothers minus the name of their biological fathers.

Hufana explained that there has been a debate over the middle initial requirement since the mother of an illegitimate child who was not recognized by the father would tend to use her own middle name, making it appear that the mother and her child are siblings.