Ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 1,322 na indibidwal na konektado sa P500-million confidential fund ng Office of the Vice President (OVP) ang walang birth records. Kabilang dito ang pangalang "Mary Grace Piattos," na naunang lumabas sa acknowledgment receipt ng nasabing pondo sa imbestigasyon ng Kamara.
Sa kanyang press conference noong November 20, hindi nagbigay ng komento si Vice Presidente Sara Duterte tungkol kay "Mary Grace Piattos," dahil hindi raw dumaan sa kanya ang mga acknowledgment receipt para sa confidential funds na sinasabing pinirmahan ni "Piattos."\
Noong December 11 naman, sinabi rin ni VP Sara na hindi siya magpapaliwanag sa Kamara kaugnay sa mga umano’y “fabricated” na mga resibo, dahil sa pangambang maapektuhan ang kanilang isinasagawang intelligence operations.
Alamin ang kahalagahan ng mga record ng PSA at ang epekto nito sa usapin ng transparency kasama si Marizza Grande, Assistant National Statistician ng Philippine Statistics Authority sa #TheMangahasInterviews.
Sa kanyang press conference noong November 20, hindi nagbigay ng komento si Vice Presidente Sara Duterte tungkol kay "Mary Grace Piattos," dahil hindi raw dumaan sa kanya ang mga acknowledgment receipt para sa confidential funds na sinasabing pinirmahan ni "Piattos."\
Noong December 11 naman, sinabi rin ni VP Sara na hindi siya magpapaliwanag sa Kamara kaugnay sa mga umano’y “fabricated” na mga resibo, dahil sa pangambang maapektuhan ang kanilang isinasagawang intelligence operations.
Alamin ang kahalagahan ng mga record ng PSA at ang epekto nito sa usapin ng transparency kasama si Marizza Grande, Assistant National Statistician ng Philippine Statistics Authority sa #TheMangahasInterviews.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Two out of every three OVP Confidential Fund recipients do not have birth certificates, according to the PSA.
00:14This is a widespread issue regarding the registration of birth, marriage, and death of Filipinos.
00:21Let's listen. We are fortunate to be able to talk to the Officer-in-Charge, Assistant National Statistician, Civil Registration Service of the PSA, the Philippine Statistics Authority, Ms. Marisa B. Grande. Good day, ma'am.
00:39Good day, Ma'am Lu, and to all the listeners who are watching us.
00:45All right. For background, I'm a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Northern Philippines,
00:53Master's credit in Applied Statistics from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Master's degree in Demography from the UP Population Institute.
01:0420 plus years, ma'am, in the PSA?
01:09Yes, ma'am. More than 23 years, including my services during the NSO.
01:17All right. So you've been there your whole life. You're talking about statistics and numbers.
01:24Ma'am, please tell us. Recently, the PSA was in the news because of the non-birth records of 1,300 out of 1,900 recipients of confidential funds by Vice President Sara Duterte. How did this happen?
01:44Well, based on the data provided by our Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability,
01:53the names of all the recipients were verified in our Civil Registry System Database.
02:03In the second batch, out of 1,322 out of the 1,992, negative records were released in the PSA.
02:14Meaning, they don't have a birth certificate on file in our database.
02:20In the third batch, out of 2 out of 3, negative records were released.
02:23What do you mean by that? Maybe they didn't register, or maybe it was a late registration, or maybe the PSA's data is not enough?
02:32Well, first, it means that they don't have a record based on their name.
02:38Most of the names in the database are just names.
02:45So, we need additional information like date of birth, place of birth, and name of the parents.
02:54But basically, if you have a unique name, you can get positive records.
03:02So, based on our data, it means that they don't have a record.
03:07It is also possible that they didn't register or they registered in the local Civil Registry, but not here in the PSA.
03:17All right. So, it means that the income that the report is providing is just a small amount of the confidential funds of these people.
03:29How accurate or is there a margin of error that the PSA is looking at in this report?
03:35Well, in the data, as I mentioned earlier, it is just a name.
03:41So, we are just relying on one information. In fact, there is no middle name.
03:46So, if there is a middle name, at least we are very assured that we will see if they have a birth.
03:53Correct. We also looked at marriages and the death records if they exist.
04:00There is nothing there. So, birth, marriage, and death.
04:08You have three records.
04:10Out of those three, 1,300, because the names are incomplete, middle name, birth date, and name of the parents,
04:19why are you so confident that those people do not exist in your records?
04:24Based on our verification, 1,322 in the birth, there is a negative record.
04:32And in those names, we checked if they have marriage records, there is a negative 1,456.
04:43In the death records, there are 1,593 negative records.
04:48So, it means that in that list, there are a lot of records that do not exist in our database.
04:57Let's be clear, Marisa.
05:00Those names or surnames, Piatos, or others, is there no similarity or similarity?
05:07The trigger name, Merry Grace Piatos, is there no Filipino Piatos surname?
05:15We looked at Merry Grace Piatos, based on the first name and surname, it is really negative.
05:22Piatos has a double T, but we have records of Piatos with a single T that exists.
05:33But there is also no Merry Grace Piatos with a single T.
05:37So, we looked at the other possibilities.
05:41If there is a type, there is a name, but the result is a negative record.
05:47So, you looked at all possible cognate names.
05:52Our problem is, as Senator Grace said, 1,600 birth certificates, you can see that the documents are false.
06:03According to the PSA, this might be even bigger, around 50,000.
06:07All of these are suspected fraudulent birth certificates.
06:11Okay, we are confirming based on our ongoing investigations in our local civil registry offices.
06:23First, the data provided by the DFA, the NBI, Bureau of Immigration, we looked at it.
06:32We went to the source where the documents were registered.
06:36When we saw irregularities in the registration, that's the time we blocked the record.
06:44This is 1,627 foreign birth records of nationals that we blocked so that they cannot get copies here in the PSA.
06:57At 1,465, we endorsed it to the Office of the Solicitor General
07:06because it still needs to go through the process of cancelling my documents.
07:12I will just add that since there are responsible persons,
07:19involved persons in the irregular and delayed registration,
07:24we have endorsed 12 personnel or local civil registrars to their local chief executives
07:34for their conduct of investigation and disciplinary action to all involved personnel in the irregular and delayed registration.
07:47Okay, so those birth certificates, ma'am, can they still be fixed if their documents are supported?
07:55Isn't it because the registrar made a mistake or the name of the hospital was changed?
08:03It will still go through the cancellation of the court because it needs to be established if there are additional supporting documents.
08:13But of course, in the late registration, the irregular process will be very glaring
08:21because some of them can only be seen in the supporting documents,
08:25the negative certification from the PSA, affidavits.
08:29So, there are no prescribed supporting documents for you to know that this is the identity of the person who registered.
08:39Okay, ma'am. Let's go to the next question.
08:43From the no records, the supporting documents are allowed,
08:47and you have the late registration that is said to be a bigger problem, 14.5 million Filipinos
08:56whose birth certificates are late.
08:59How does this happen?
09:01Is it because not all of them are born in the same hospital?
09:04So, we have prepared data analytics.
09:07This was led by our national statistician, Sir Dennis Mapa.
09:12He created a team.
09:14We looked at all the registrations from 2010 to 2023.
09:19We saw in the data that based on the indicators that we saw in the fact-finding,
09:26for example, the case of late registration,
09:29one of the parents is a foreigner or has a foreign-sounding name.
09:34Then, for late registration, we saw in the cases that are often used,
09:42based on this data, it came out that in 14.89, including the 2024 registered birth,
09:53about 50,000 are suspected of fraudulent registration.
09:59So, our head, Dr. Dennis Mapa,
10:04he ordered our field offices to conduct inspections and audits of our local CB registrars.
10:13So, all of these have a list of those who conducted late registration
10:18and will look at the source document to see if the supporting documents are valid.
10:24So, currently, our field offices are ongoing visits to our local CB registrars to look at the data.
10:35We saw that 50,532 are suspected of fraudulent registration based on our late registration data.
10:47Does this mean that there can be more false or fake supporting documents in the registration?
10:55Possibly.
10:56If your audit is successful.
10:57Based on these data, it is possible to look at these data.
11:02So, we will go to the local CB registrars offices to see the data.
11:10Okay.
11:11There is also news that some PSA field offices are suspected of fraudulent registration.
11:19It's not just Filipinos who were born here, but also foreigners who work in Pogo.
11:26What is the situation there?
11:28Have they been investigated?
11:29How big is it?
11:30Because this sounds like there is a conspiracy within the PSA.
11:35So, Ma'am Malu, since we started the investigation on these cases,
11:41we looked at not only external but also our internal processes.
11:47So, this year, we conducted fact-finding investigations on our CRS outlets.
11:55We looked at the weak points where fraudulent registration will be suspected.
12:03So, we made enhancements to the system.
12:06How is that?
12:07Were there suspicions, complaints, or dismissals from work
12:12because it seems like there is a big role here in collecting birth certificates?
12:19Well, not only our local CB registrars and personnel,
12:23we also have suspended and removed employees from our outlets
12:31based on the conduct of our investigation.
12:36We conducted fact-finding investigations.
12:41There were suspended and removed employees.
12:45There were less than 10.
12:47I don't know the exact number as to the PSA employees or associates that we removed.
12:59Why are they suspended?
13:01How much is the settlement for you to get a Peking birth certificate?
13:06You know, Ma'am Malu, there are trends that we can see especially during the pandemic.
13:13So, social media is used to offer services such as late registration,
13:22temporary deletion of records.
13:24That's what they offer as a correction.
13:27So, we have local CB registrars who were suspended
13:33when we uploaded their records to the database
13:40because at that time, during the pandemic,
13:43they already have late registration offers, for example.
13:46But we were able to make it into a solution
13:49because we are also tracking through social media the offers of services.
13:56In fact, until now, we are continuously monitoring
14:01because we have a process that is detected in the system.
14:05For example, if someone registered using the same registry number,
14:14it will be detected by our system.
14:16So, that will trigger the conduct of investigation.
14:20Ms. Marisa, please explain.
14:22We have the Philippine Statistics Authority but in every LGU, there is a civil register.
14:27What is your connection or connection?
14:30Are you the regulatory, supervisory, policy board of all our civil registrars?
14:38All of the local civil registrars, the 1,634,
14:42are under the technical supervision of our National Statistician and Civil Registrar General,
14:48the head of PSA.
14:50But the ones who have administrative supervision are our local chief executives.
14:57The dates for the registration of birth, marriages, or deaths
15:01are done by our local civil registrars.
15:04We are the ones who are collecting
15:07because we are the central repository of all the documents.
15:10So, administratively and legally plus statistical,
15:13we are the ones who issue the dates for birth, marriages, and deaths.
15:18And if our countrymen ask for a copy,
15:21PSA also issues it.
15:24So, these are the so-called vital statistics that you are focusing on.
15:29Ms. Marisa, please explain why it is important to register the birth certificate.
15:35What are the benefits?
15:37They say that the birth certificate is also important for claiming rights.
15:42Please explain why it is important for parents to register their children's birth certificate.
15:50It is important to have a timely registration of the birth of a child
15:56because this is the prima facie evidence of their legal identity.
16:02This is where you can get the name of a child.
16:05As they say, it is the passport in life to access the social benefits.
16:12And of course, your identity.
16:15There is your parent's name, when you were born, and where you were born.
16:19These data, aside from the fact that we use it for legal purposes,
16:25transactions in private or government institutions,
16:29we also collect it in the PSA so that the statistical side can be used for planning,
16:36like vaccination, how many schools will be built based on these data.
16:41Okay.
16:42Now, how does the late registration function?
16:45How is it possible that there is no hospital or health center
16:48that is close to the neighboring municipalities of our country?
16:53Most of the late registrations are supposedly home births.
17:00This means that it happened outside the facilities or hospitals.
17:05These are the remote areas where they did not have access to civil registration before.
17:14We have programs that were launched for special sectors,
17:19like indigenous people, Muslims, and those who live in remote areas,
17:24where our PSA field offices go with our partners,
17:29the local civil registrars, to conduct mobile registration.
17:33Unfortunately, this was also used to abuse the process
17:39so that other people can have an identity.
17:42But we've strengthened the process.
17:46In June, we issued stricter delayed registration requirements.
17:53In filing a delayed registration, it is mandatory for the document owner
18:00to go to our local civil registrar.
18:04We also mandated their registration in the national ID
18:09so that they can also capture the valid documents or ID of our parents.
18:17Because we also saw in the investigation the lack of supporting documents,
18:24the identity of the parents.
18:26So we required that.
18:28And the photos, because the photos are also important.
18:32When we conduct investigations,
18:35who is the person who registered their birth certificate?
18:40The documents, the requirements, how do you do that?
18:43Do they match?
18:44For example, the parents do not have a proof of identification,
18:47or no marriage certificate, or they are not registered in the field.
18:52How can they complete the registration?
18:56The mandatory requirements that we asked for,
18:59the barangay certification as a proof of residency, that's important.
19:04Second, the document owner must register in the national ID.
19:10Third, two valid documents.
19:12It's either birth or marriage certificate of the parents,
19:16or their IDs.
19:18So senior citizen ID, comelec, valid ID of the parents.
19:25Any two.
19:26Then, the photo.
19:28Our citizens must submit a photo.
19:33Ms. Marisa, how undocumented are the different age groups?
19:37You're talking about the 14.9 million Filipinos with late registration.
19:43What are those age groups?
19:46Who are the most without registration?
19:49They are between 5 to 60 years old.
19:53That's the capture of our data analytics.
19:57But for us to see, we also look at the birth registration,
20:06the percentage of birth registration of zero-year-olds,
20:09because the timeliness of registration is important.
20:14So over time, from 2013 to 2023,
20:1910% of the total birth became 5.7%.
20:24So it means that the zero age improved.
20:27But there are still a lot of 5 to 60 years old.
20:31So that's where we focused because mostly what we investigated
20:37is really belonging to legal age group,
20:4018 years old and over,
20:42who filed for delayed registration
20:46so that they can get different IDs for the Philippine government.
20:51So we looked at that.
20:54What is the implication of delayed registration?
20:57You said 5 to 60 years old and those of legal age.
21:01Does that mean they are not in school?
21:04They cannot get a job?
21:06Because in some companies, it is required to have a proof of NBI.
21:12They will ask for a birth certificate or passport.
21:16They will also ask for a birth certificate.
21:18So who are these Filipinos?
21:20Are they the out of school?
21:22Are they the unemployed?
21:24Are they the ones who didn't have a chance to work and study?
21:32So 50,532.
21:37Most of them are between age 5 to 60 and attended by HELOTS.
21:43So these are the things that we need to look at in our sources
21:50to know the reason for their delayed registration.
21:56Because it is also one of the things that our registrants declare
22:00their affidavits.
22:01Why was their birth certificate not registered?
22:05They often use negligence of the parents that it was not reported.
22:11So we will look at the demographics.
22:16We focused on the 5 to 60-year-old data.
22:22Ms. Marisa, let's go to the second set.
22:25The number you are looking at is marriage.
22:27I think it's going down.
22:28What about registered marriages?
22:31Well, mostly because the trend is shifting.
22:34The marriage is declining.
22:36The number of people getting married in the church is also decreasing.
22:42Okay. Why is that?
22:43Most of them are going to civil weddings.
22:48So if it's a civil wedding, it's not that registered
22:53or the PSA will not be able to collect the registrants?
22:58It is still included for as long as it is registered
23:05in our local civil registry offices.
23:08It needs to be reported.
23:09Our solemnizing officers have a mandate to get married.
23:14But in default, the parties involved need to ensure
23:18that their marriage certificate is also reported
23:22to the local civil registry offices.
23:25So I will just give you an overview.
23:29From 2014, 429,000 were the number of marriages
23:38as compared to 2023, which is only 414,000.
23:44Except for the pandemic, 2020,
23:48we registered only 240,000 marriage records.
23:55What are the benefits of these data?
23:58Does it mean that they will no longer register or get married?
24:03Because before you get a marriage certificate,
24:06you need to get a marriage license from the civil registrar.
24:10Then they will register.
24:12So getting a marriage certificate is like a confirmation.
24:16What does this mean?
24:17Do Filipinos no longer want to get married?
24:20The marrying age?
24:22We have seen that over time, marriages are declining
24:30because some people prefer cohabitation.
24:36The civil ceremony is already at 43% based on our data for 2023
24:45as compared to those who got married to Roman Catholics
24:49at 31.4%.
24:52So it's big.
24:54Maybe because getting married is expensive,
24:57that's why many people resort to civil ceremonies.
25:02Church weddings are declining by 8%.
25:08Are these all Church denominations?
25:1231.4% are Roman Catholics.
25:18Our other religious rites are at 23.5%.
25:25Muslims are at 1.5%.
25:29We also have tribes at 0.7%.
25:34That's our data for 2023.
25:37So overall, there is a decline in the number of people registering to get married,
25:44regardless of their religion.
25:46Yes.
25:48Now let's go to the third set of data that you're looking at, Dec.
25:52What are the trends?
25:54What data are you looking at?
25:57Lifespan?
25:59Cost of death?
26:00What data are you looking at?
26:02In terms of death, we are looking at the statistics
26:09coming from all records of deaths registered by the local civil registrar.
26:16It covers those who died at home and those who died in hospitals.
26:26As long as it was registered in our local civil registry offices.
26:32Based on our data, in 2014, there were 174,900 deaths registered.
26:49In terms of death, there were 694,821.
26:55Based on the 2023 registration of deaths that we collected from the certificates of deaths.
27:06Okay.
27:07That's the latest, 600,000 plus?
27:10Yes. 694,000.
27:13Is the number going up or down?
27:16Well, it's going down compared to the pandemic that was a bit high because of COVID-19.
27:25But the data, the certificates of death came from homes and hospitals.
27:31How about the ones from the streets?
27:33I can only ask about the extrajudicial killings that were killed.
27:37The government said it was around 7,000.
27:40The human rights defenders said it was around 20,000 to 30,000.
27:45Are they included in the certificates of death?
27:48This was registered in our local civil registrars.
27:54It is included.
27:55By cause of death, what is the priority?
27:59The cause of death depends on what was declared by the attendant at death,
28:05meaning it could be the physician who attended the deceased
28:10or the municipal health officer who placed the data on the cause of death, on the certificate of death.
28:24Okay.
28:25Ms. Marisa, according to the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings,
28:30they usually place the cause of death and cardiac arrest even though they were shot,
28:37or their hands were tied, or their eyes were pierced.
28:40But the problem there is that the doctors also have the certificates of death.
28:46Does that come out of your eyes?
28:49The place of the cause of death is where it happens in the hospital if it was brought to the hospital.
28:59Now, if this person died outside the hospital,
29:05the family will be interviewed by the local health officers.
29:11But that depends on the data that our physicians place,
29:18the last attending physician at the deceased.
29:21All right.
29:22But the problem is that other families, because they are poor,
29:26they don't wait for the certificate of death because the service will last longer and they need to bury them right away,
29:33especially if it's a victim of violent death or those who were killed in EJK, drug war, or shooting, or encounters.
29:43But let's remember, Ms. Luna, before it can be buried,
29:49you need a permit.
29:51And the certificate of death is a requirement if you get a burial permit.
29:56All right.
29:57So, it's either the family themselves process it to get a burial permit.
30:07So, again, what I'm saying is that the data on the medical certificate of the cause of death
30:13depends on what the doctor added.
30:17If the patient died in the hospital or outside,
30:23it's based on the interview or autopsy of our local health officers.
30:30But Ms. Marisa, they say that the problem sometimes is the burial permit.
30:34That burial permit needs to be obtained immediately.
30:36That's why funeral operators are the intermediaries,
30:41so that the process is faster and the families can pay for a fast break
30:47from obtaining the certificate of death to the burial permit.
30:53Well, there are local practices, LGUs, that sometimes facilitate funeral parlors.
31:03There are also doctors who conduct a verbal autopsy or interview with the parents
31:15to establish the cause of death.
31:17Okay.
31:18What about the fine?
31:20Do we have an agency that is like a provider for doctors or funeral operators
31:29from birth, not so much for marriage and death?
31:34So, our law is a bit old, Act 375.
31:39The penalties are very low.
31:42That's why our coordination with legislative bodies and our partners is ongoing
31:51so that it can be amended.
31:52And that's one of the things we want to happen,
31:56so that the penalty for the involved is higher
32:00so that the families of the birth, marriage, or death certificates can be mitigated.
32:07So, all of this needs to be amended, Act 375.3, because it's old.
32:14It's from 1930, so it's been a long time.
32:20How much is the penalty now in the 1930 law?
32:24The violation in Act 375.3, since this is a 1930 law,
32:33the punishment is imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than six
32:40or by fine of 200 pesos.
32:44So, this needs to be amended so that we can implement it lower in the penalties
32:56if there are violations in the registration.
32:59Okay, so 200 pesos, if it's a big amount.
33:02For example, 1,500 or 5,000 pesos.
33:04It's worth it.
33:05You can have fake registration again and again.
33:09So, if you have a position, are you a registrar or a local field unit?
33:16Yeah.
33:19It's not applicable to the situation now.
33:23Our problem is that I don't think people really care about these certificates,
33:28except if the child needs to study and ask for a birth certificate,
33:33or if the child is going to get married and there is a claim on the conjugal property
33:37or benefits of the children, whether within marriage or outside of marriage.
33:42And if the birth certificate is like inheritance,
33:46are those things triggers to have an argument?
33:52Well, for others, maybe it's awareness towards people.
34:00Number one, the importance of timely registration,
34:04whether birth, marriages, or death.
34:06Second, we are already in the age of computerized,
34:11where you can address the family mechanism.
34:16It can be detected based on our computerized system.
34:20But when this happens to the source,
34:25when it comes to us, because we are a central repository,
34:29it's just stored in the database.
34:31That's why we need to be proactive,
34:33that we need to improve our system first,
34:41because the systems used by LGUs are different.
34:45So, we have a digitalization program
34:49to have one source from the hospital,
34:54or if it's in the community,
34:56how to reach out to our countrymen in remote areas,
35:00so the notifications.
35:02So, it all needs to be linked.
35:04We need an online platform
35:09to determine who has access,
35:13who has authorized people that can access to this system.
35:18So, it's easier to identify.
35:20So, this is one of the programs that is being started by the PSA
35:25to develop a system that will be used by hospitals,
35:29local civil registers, up to the PSA level.
35:32All right.
35:33But Philippine IT seems to be a bit slow.
35:37What's the progress?
35:38What you're saying about this system,
35:40when can we dream of being awake?
35:44Is it really true?
35:47Well, it's ongoing now.
35:49We started the birth module
35:51and the integration of the national ID is also included here.
35:55So, our office envisions that once the child is born,
36:01he will be given a birth certificate.
36:03He also has a national ID number
36:06that is linked to his mother and father.
36:09So, we will go there.
36:12So, the process really needs an integrated system.
36:16And the collaboration from the LG level to the provincial,
36:22up to the PSA level.
36:24How many years will it take to set up that?
36:28The birth, marriage, death, and all other Philippine IDs?
36:33It will take about 3 to 5 years
36:35because the Philippine Foreign Service Post
36:40for registration of Filipinos abroad
36:44and the marriages and divorces of Filipinos in Syria.
36:48So, our program will take 3 to 5 years.
36:523 to 5 years.
36:53And is that a big fund?
36:57Yes, Ma'am Malu.
36:58So, we are asking for support from our legislative bodies
37:06to give us additional budget for our digitalization.
37:10What is your ballpark figure now?
37:13Low to high?
37:15Initially, they gave us P136 million this year.
37:21And next year, we will need the same amount
37:26to pilot and expand our additional pilot areas
37:32for the birth and death module.
37:35Okay.
37:36Now, Ms. Marisa,
37:38they say that when it comes to elections,
37:41the PSA will issue fake birth certificates
37:45because it is necessary for the voter's registration.
37:49So, how big of a problem is that?
37:52Does the PSA have a special focus
37:55on fake voter's registrations?
37:58Although, the Pomelec is the one who delists.
38:00Actually, they suspend.
38:03They cannot delist.
38:05How big is that problem?
38:07Because, honestly,
38:10aside from BARMA, in Mindanao,
38:13in those areas, they say,
38:15the fake ones are all over the place.
38:18Because the politicians just insisted
38:20on having a new district,
38:22having more voters.
38:25What is the problem with these statistics
38:28when it comes to elections?
38:30Are they influencing for good or ill?
38:33In Pomelec,
38:36we have initial coordination with them
38:39for the provision of data-matching services
38:43so that we can cross-match voters' lists
38:48in the death records or birth.
38:51That can be done by the PSA
38:53because we have data-matching or data-sharing projects
38:59like GSIS, PBAO, AFP,
39:02and other government agencies.
39:04So, we are in the discussion part
39:08in Pomelec.
39:11They need to be matched
39:14so that they can see if these lists are dead.
39:17So, those are our next steps
39:20for the voters of Pomelec.
39:25Do you have a lot of people who have joined
39:28to verify your matching data?
39:32As of now, it hasn't started yet.
39:36So, in May 2025,
39:38we may not have a clear picture
39:42of how many voters have died
39:44that they say are being used
39:46by flying voters or ghost voters.
39:51Well, the process depends on the number of records,
39:58but it can be prioritized by our agency
40:01because coming May 2025 election,
40:05Pomelec also needs to cleanse their database.
40:09All right.
40:10Do you only have coordination now
40:12or was there before?
40:14I think before, there were collaborations
40:17but right now, we just need to coordinate
40:21so that we can use our data
40:24and cleanse their database.
40:26What are your dreams?
40:2923 years in the service,
40:31but have you seen enough progress?
40:33Where do you think we should actually focus on
40:36for better results?
40:38Well, first of all,
40:42we have a commitment to the CRVSDK
40:45that by 2024,
40:47which will end this June supposedly,
40:5199.5% of all Filipinos are registered
40:55and have birth certificates.
40:57So, by 2020, we're only at 96%.
41:04So, that's what our office is really aiming for
41:09that all true Filipinos,
41:12our true countrymen,
41:14will be able to register
41:17and have birth certificates.
41:19So, our program,
41:21the Birth Registration Assistance Project,
41:24it caters to all marginalized sectors.
41:29So, we were surprised because young and old
41:32still don't have birth certificates.
41:36So, in our program,
41:37we have around 7 to 10 centenarians
41:44that we gave their birth certificates.
41:47100 years old,
41:48they still don't have birth certificates?
41:50Yes.
41:51We have data that we were able to look at
41:55and register with the help of our partnership
41:58with our local CB registrars
42:00because this is nationwide.
42:02So, there are a lot of improvements
42:06since the time that in 2001,
42:09the computerization project of PSA started.
42:12PSA, not NSO.
42:14But it changed then.
42:17So, the demand of our countrymen
42:20for effective, faster,
42:23and integrity,
42:25we need to maintain the integrity of our documents.
42:29So, that's why we want to make sure
42:33that all who will register
42:36will be true Filipinos.
42:39But, well,
42:41civil registration is where you were born,
42:45you will be registered.
42:46So, that's the concept,
42:48the national concept.
42:49So, regardless of your nationality.
42:51But what's important is that
42:53the true, accurate facts and information
42:56should be reflected in the birth certificate.
42:58Okay.
42:59Now, ma'am,
43:00the 6 to 10 centenarians
43:02that you discovered don't have birth certificates,
43:05how many seniors,
43:0760 years old and above,
43:10are not registered?
43:12We still need to extract that information.
43:16But we also have data
43:19that a whole family doesn't have a birth certificate
43:23that we facilitated in their registration.
43:28I think 23,
43:30if I'm not mistaken,
43:31a family.
43:33So,
43:35this program is really fun.
43:40It won't be successful
43:42if it's not through the partnership
43:44of the local government unit.
43:46Our local civil registrars
43:49are the ones who will work hard
43:51to conduct mobile registration
43:53in remote areas
43:54so that we can cover
43:56all of the indigenous people,
43:59Muslims and our fellow countrymen
44:01in remote areas.
44:02Okay.
44:03You said from 96 to 99 percent,
44:05you want to promise
44:07the CPS
44:09to register.
44:10What is the absolute number?
44:12The 3 percent difference.
44:14How many thousands of Filipinos
44:16do you want to register
44:18for birth certificates?
44:21In our 2020 CPH,
44:253.7 million.
44:29That's the unregistered.
44:32But as of December 20,
44:35in the Birth Registration Assistance Project,
44:38we registered 434,959.
44:44Okay.
44:45And part of our program
44:48is to provide free security papers
44:51to our fellow countrymen.
44:53We already distributed
44:55217,727.
44:59In our data,
45:02our first step
45:05is to verify
45:06if there is a record or not.
45:09In our first verification,
45:11we have positive records
45:13of 254,000.
45:15That means
45:17more than 600,000
45:19have registration.
45:21We still have 3 million to go.
45:26How many children
45:29are you giving birth every year?
45:31That's a lot.
45:32Will you add more?
45:35For the zero-year-olds,
45:38as I said earlier,
45:39the late registration is lower.
45:42It's at 5.7 percent.
45:44So, 1.45 million.
45:49Out of this 1.45 million,
45:51the late registration is at 5.7 percent.
45:55So, our timely percentage is a bit high.
46:00So, they should not be hassled
46:04by delayed registration,
46:06additional fees,
46:07and parents should be aware.
46:09It's free to register
46:13for a birth certificate.
46:15But there are additional fees
46:18when it's a delayed registration process.
46:21How much will they pay if it's late?
46:25We have birth registration assistance projects
46:29for free indigents.
46:32But those who can afford it,
46:34they will go through
46:36the normal delayed registration process.
46:38Which means, how much will they pay?
46:41We gave a ceiling of 200
46:44to our Joint Memorandum Circular
46:47with the DILG.
46:49But it will depend on
46:51the local government units'
46:53resolution.
46:56Ms. Marisa,
46:57most Filipinos have this problem
47:00that their children's birth certificates are missing.
47:04Our record-keeping is not that good.
47:07Then they will ask again
47:09to get a new birth certificate
47:12or to register again.
47:16What are your advice
47:18on how we should be careful
47:21and hide our birth certificates
47:24or marriage certificates
47:26or certificates of death?
47:28For our Filipinos,
47:30once they register
47:32their birth, marriage, or death,
47:34they have a personal copy
47:36that is original.
47:38So, they should hide it.
47:41Second,
47:43they can request
47:45anywhere, PSA.
47:47We have 76
47:50CRS outlets nationwide
47:54where they can walk in
47:56and request their copy.
47:58We have a law,
48:00the Permanent Validity of Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates.
48:05As long as it has security features
48:08from PSA,
48:10they can keep it.
48:12They can use it
48:14for any transaction.
48:17As for the LCRs,
48:20our Local Civil Registrars,
48:22we have what we call a reconstruction process.
48:25If they don't have a copy
48:27that their office was flooded or burned,
48:31they can request a copy from PSA
48:34so they can reconstruct
48:36and get all the records
48:39that their offices should take care of.
48:42That's all.
48:44We only have a minimal payment.
48:46We should also look at
48:48generational record-keeping.
48:50In the Certificate of Death,
48:52I sometimes get asked,
48:54for example, if the parent is a senior,
48:56I get asked
48:58what the name of the mother and father
49:00of the grandmother is.
49:02It's hard to reconstruct that
49:04or to make a mistake.
49:06You should also look at
49:08the discipline
49:10of record-keeping
49:12across generations.
49:14We have a manual of instructions
49:17on how to fill it out.
49:19But it's good that you pointed out
49:22how to fill it out
49:24if you don't know the name
49:26of the mother and father.
49:28You can anonymize it
49:30or blank it
49:32so they can supplement it later.
49:34It's hard to correct
49:36after it's been registered.
49:38If it's blank,
49:40you can supplement the entry
49:42if there's an administrative process
49:44to correct it.
49:46This is applicable
49:48only to the elderly,
49:50not to the children.
49:52They will use
49:54a way of
49:56falsifying information.
49:58It's very important
50:00for the due diligence
50:02of our civil registrars
50:04to conduct interviews
50:06with the registrars.
50:08Okay, so due diligence
50:10in putting the correct name.
50:12I think that's usually the problem.
50:14The spelling.
50:16For example, Stella, double L,
50:18or one L, or with an N
50:20in the name.
50:22How do we discipline
50:24our countrymen
50:26in that way?
50:28The correct spelling
50:30and all the details
50:32are really important.
50:34When it comes to
50:36filling up
50:38our certificates,
50:40we have a portion
50:42where you can inform
50:44your parents
50:46or siblings
50:48that they need to review
50:50the entries
50:52they typed.
50:54If there's an error
50:56and it's been registered,
50:58they need to put a register number.
51:00It needs to go through
51:02a review process.
51:04Especially if it's been sent
51:06by the hospital to our local
51:08civil registrars,
51:10it's hard for you to correct it.
51:12You need to review it
51:14before signing.
51:16There are practices
51:18in other facilities
51:20or those who prepare
51:22that they need to sign
51:24on a blank form
51:26and they will fill out
51:28on the certificates.
51:30Sometimes, there are problems
51:32after that.
51:34As much as possible,
51:36there should be entries
51:38before our countrymen
51:40sign on the certificates.
51:42Sometimes, if the nurse
51:44or midwife
51:46really needs to sign on a blank form,
51:48or if it's Baby de la Cruz,
51:50everyone has a baby,
51:52male or female,
51:54or if the mother's mind
51:56has changed,
51:58that's where the common problems are.
52:00The name of the birth certificate
52:02is different.
52:04When it comes to the baptismal certificate,
52:06it's different.
52:08That's right.
52:10There are processes
52:12where the name can be changed
52:14through the clerical error law.
52:16This is Republic Act 9048.
52:18The process is administrative
52:20but there are still expenses
52:22because you need to pay
52:243,000 plus for publication.
52:26It's important
52:28that the parents
52:30are set
52:32so that when the baby
52:34is born,
52:36the correct name
52:38will be changed.
52:40Of course,
52:42if the mother is pregnant,
52:44the father might want
52:46a different name for the baby.
52:48It's possible that
52:50it's easier to just
52:52send it to the nurse,
52:54or the doctor.
52:56How can that be done
52:58especially when the birth
53:00is under stress
53:02here in the country
53:04where there are no hospitals
53:06or health centers?
53:10It's important
53:12that the parents
53:14are aware of the implications
53:16after the
53:18entries that will be
53:20included in the certificates.
53:22They need to review
53:24and finalize the decision
53:26because this will form as the legal
53:28identity of their child.
53:30It needs to be
53:32not changed
53:34and they need to check
53:36if the spelling is correct
53:38especially if it's a surname
53:40because it's no longer
53:42part of the administrative process
53:44and they will be courted
53:46in the year of birth.
53:48The parents need to review
53:50and finalize
53:52the informant.
53:54Although sometimes
53:56the clerical
53:58need to avoid
54:00that so that
54:02there will be no hassle
54:04for our clients.
54:06So be careful,
54:08don't just fill up.
54:10We learned a lot
54:12Ms. Marisa.
54:14Thank you for your time
54:16and I hope that
54:18we will have a single
54:20online system of registration
54:22of all our records
54:24of the Civil Registry.
54:26Merry Christmas, Ma'am!
54:28Thank you for your time
54:30that you gave us.
54:32Merry Christmas, Ma'am Malu
54:34and to all our viewers
54:36and listeners.
54:38Thank you very much.
54:48Merry Christmas, Ma'am Malu
54:50and to all our viewers
54:52and listeners.
54:54Thank you very much.