Indigents' exemption from publication of change in certificates eyed

MANILA, Philippines - Indigents who need to rectify errors in their birth certificates but cannot  do so because of the high cost of publication may soon get a relief.

Rep. Pedro P. Romualdo (Lone District, Camiguin) is author of HB 6813 which exempts them from the publication requirement of Republic Act (RA) No. 9048, as amended by RA 10172.

Section 3 of RA 10172 states that “The petition for change of first name or nickname, or for correction of erroneous entry concerning the day and month in the date of birth or the sex of a person, as the case may be, shall be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.”

Under the Romualdo proposal, all indigent petitioners for change of first name or nickname or for correction of erroneous entry concerning the day and month in the date of birth of the sex of a person shall be exempted from the requirement provided under the existing law.

The Camiguin lawmaker said that to avail of the exemption, the indigent petitioner should secure a certification of indigency from the local Social Welfare officer of the local government unit where the petition is lodged by the petitioner.

Romualdo added that in place of the publication requirement for indigent petitioners, the posting of the names of the petitioners in two common public places in the municipality or province where the petition originated and in places where the petition is being lodged for a period of two weeks shall be undertaken by the local civil registrar concerned.

“It is also incumbent upon the local registrar to keep a separate record and proof of posting of the names of petitioners with pending applications in their office,” he said.

Romualdo said penalties shall be imposed on persons who make a mockery of the civil registration through fraud, willful deceit, and dishonesty.

“Imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than six years or a fine of not less than P50,000 but not more than P200,000 or both at the discretion of the court shall be imposed on violators,” he said.

The penalty of removal from government service will be in accordance with existing Civil Service laws including penalties provided under this Act.