September 07, 2012


Cheaper, faster 
birth certificate 
corrections



Local civil registrars now have additional power to correct errors in birth certificates under the newly inked Alvarez Bill.

President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act 10172, popularly known as Alvarez Bill, which amended several provisions of Republic Act 9048 or the Clerical or Typographical Error Law. Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Negros Occidental, 6th District), after whom the bill was named, is one of its principal authors.
RA 10172 extends the coverage of exemptions to requirement of judicial approval for correction on entries in the birth certificate, Alvarez said.
Under this new law, the city or municipal registrar may now correct clerical or typographical errors in the day and month of date of birth or gender without a court order.
This law also specifies where the fees for corrections of birth certificates should go.
"The fees collected by the city or municipal civil registrar or consul general pursuant to this Act shall accrue to the funds of the Local Civil Registry Office concerned or the Office of the Consul General for modernization of the office and hiring of new personnel and procurement of supplies, subject to government accounting and auditing rules,"  Section 8 of RA 10172 states.
Alvarez said that she filed the law due her experience as a lawyer. She said that court proceeding for correcting birth certificates are time-consuming and very costly so she decided that an amendment to the old RA 9048 could be the remedy.
With report from: Visayan Daily Star

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