Civil Registration Laws and Procedures
Civil Registration Procedures
1. What is Vital or Civil Registration?
Vital or Civil Registration is the recording in the appropriate civil registers, vital acts and events that affect the civil status of individuals.
2. What is vital acts and events?
Vital acts and events are the births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, and all such events that have something to do with an individual's entrance and departure from life together with the changes in civil status that may occur to a person during his lifetime..
Registry number is the sequential number indicating the order by which the document for registration is entered in the appropriate civil registry book.
4. What is Delayed Registration?
An act of registering a vital event that is made beyond the reglementary period of registration.
Live Birth is a complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached- each product of such birth is considered live born.
6. Can a fetus with a intra-uterine life of less than seven (7) months be registered as live birth?
If a fetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven (7) months it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four (24) hours after its complete delivery form the maternal womb (Article 42, R. A. 386). For Statistical purposes, a Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) shall be prepared in duplicate, a copy shall be forwarded to the office of the Civil Registrar-General and the other for Civil Registrar's file.
If a fetus had an intra-uterine life of seven (7) days or more and born alive at the time it was completely delivered from the maternal womb but died later shall be considered as live birth and shall be registered in Register of Births.
7. What are the reglementary period and Place of Registration of Births?
The birth f a child shall be registered within thirty (30) days from the time of birth at the Local Civil Registry Office of city/municipality where the birth occurred.
8. Who are responsible to report the occurrence of birth to the Local Civil Registry Office?
1. When the birth occurred in the hospital or clinic or in a similar institution, the administrator thereof shall be responsible in causing the registration of such birth. However, the attendant at birth shall certify the facts of birth.
2. When the birth did not occur in the hospital or clinic or in a similar institution, the physician, nurse, midwife, 'hilot' or anybody who attended the delivery of the child shall be responsible both in certifying the facts of births and causing the registration of such birth.
3. In default of the hospital/ clinic administrator or attendant at birth, either parents of the child shall cause the registration of birth.
4. When the birth occurs aboard a vehicle, vessel, or airplane while in transit, registration of the said birth shall be a joint responsibility of the driver, captain or pilot and the parents, at the case maybe.
9. What are the exceptional cases for the place of registration of birth?
1. When a child is born aboard a vehicle, vessel or airplane while in transit within Philippine territory and the exact place of birth could not be ascertained, the birth shall be recorded in the civil register of the city or municipality of the mother's destination or where the mother habitually resides;
2. When the child is born aboard a vessel or airplane en route to the Philippines, the birth shall be recorded in the civil register of the city or municipality where the mother habitually resides, if she is a resident of the Philippines and if either the father or the mother or both parents are citizens of the Philippines. When the parents are both foreigners but not residents of the Philippines, the birth may be recorded in the civil register of Manila, if they so desire;
3. For delayed registration of events where the city/ municipality has been divided or integrated, the registration of birth shall be made in the mother city/ municipality, which jurisdiction over the reported place of occurrenceof birth.
10. What is an out-of-town reporting of Birth?
It is a reporting of birth that occurs when the Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) is presented to the civil registrar of a city or municipality which is not the place of birth, not for registration but to be forwarded to the civil registrar of the city/ municipality where the birth occurred and where it should be registered.
11. Who else can accept an out-of-town reporting of Birth?
Out-of-town reporting of birth may also be performed by the Civil Registrar-General or by his authorized representatives who are the Regional Directors and Provincial Statistical Officers of the National Statistics Office.
12. Who can apply for a person's birth certificate?
1. The concerned person himself, or any person authorized by him,
2. His spouse, his parent or parents, his descendants, or guardian of institution legally in-charge of him, if he is a minor,
3. The court or proper public official whenever absolutely necessary in administrative, judicial or other official proceedings to determine the identity of the child's parents or other circumstances surrounding his birth, and
4. In case of person's death, the nearest relative or kin.
13. What is Death?
Death is a permanent disappearance of all evidence of life at any time after live birth has taken place (postnatal cessation of vital functions without capability of resuscitation). (U. N. Statistical Commission)
14. Can an intra-uterine life of less than seven (7) months be registered?
A fetus with an intra uterine life of seven (7) months or more and born alive at the time it was completely delivered from the maternal womb but died late shall be considered as death an shall be registered in Register of Deaths.
However a fetus with an intra-uterine life of less than seven (7) months is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four (24) hours after its complete delivery from the mother's womb. For statistical purposes, a Certificate of Death shall be prepared in duplicate an a copy of each shall be forwarded to the Office of the Civil Registrar and the Office of the Civil Registrar-General.
15. What are the reglementary period and Place of Registration of Death?
Registration of death shall be made in the office of the Civil Registrar of the city/ municipality where the death occurred within thirty (30) days from time of death.
16. What are the exceptional cases for the place of registration of death?
1. The death of a person in a vehicle, airplane or vessel while in transit within the jurisdiction of the Philippines and where the exact place of death cannot be determined, the Certificate of Death shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office (LRCO) of the city/ municipality of the place of burial/ cremation. If the place of burial/ cremation is outside the Philippines, the death shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) of Manila.
2. When a citizen of the Philippines dies aboard a vessel r airplane en route to the Philippines and the exact place of death cannot be ascertained, the death shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office of the city/ municipality where the person habitually resides before his death, if he was a resident of the Philippines.If the deceased is a foreigner and a resident of the Philippines, the death shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office where the deceased habitually resides.
3. If the deceased is a foreigner an not a resident of the Philippines, his death shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office of Manila.
4. The death of a person in a vehicular accident, airplane crash, or shipwreck within the jurisdiction of the Philippines and the site of the accident or the place where the victim was found cannot be determined, a Certificate of Death shall be issued by the health officer of the place of burial and shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office of the said city/ municipality.
5. The death person aboard a vessel in the high seas shall be registered at the Local Civil Registry Office of the place of burial upon presentation of a Certificate of Death issued by the Health Officer of the sid place, or by the ship doctor, if any. Otherwise, the ship captain shall issue and cause the registration of the death certificate.
6. If the person is buried or drowned in high seas, or for any other reason, the body was not recovered- registration shall be made at the Local Civil Registry Office of the place of last known address of the deceased in the Philippines.
7. If the deceased is not a resident of the Philippines, the registration shall be made at the Local Civil Registry Office in Manila. The ship doctor or the ship captain or other health officer, in the exercise of his wise discretion, may issue and cause the registration of the death certificate.
8. In case of mass death where several persons died due to natural calamities, accidents, epidemic, etc., the health officer may issue and case the registration of the death certificates at the Local Civil Registry Office where the mass death occurred.
17. Who are responsible to report the event of death?
1. It shall be the responsibility of the physician who last attended the deceased or the administrator of the hospital or clinic where the person died to prepare the proper death certificate and certify as to cause of death. The death certificate shall then be forwarded within forty-eight (48) hours after death, to the health officer who shall examine the Certificate of Death and then affix his signature in the appropriate box and shall order its registration in the Office of the Civil Registrar.
2. It shall be the responsibility of the nearest relative or person who has knowledge of the death to report the same within forty-eight (48) hours if the deceased died without medical attendance. The health officer shall examine the deceased and shall certify as to the cause of death and direct the registration of the death certificate to the Office of the Civil Registrar within the reglementary period of thirty (30) days.
3. Where death occurs in a vehicle/ vessel/ airplane, the driver/ ship captain/ pilot, as the case maybe, shall report such death to the concerned health officer. In accidents where there are no survivors, it is the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle/ vessel/ airplane to make the report of death.
4. In the absence of a health officer or his authorized representative in the place of registration, or when it is a non-working day and the health officer or his authorized representative is not excepted to be in his office, the death should be reported within forty-eight (48) hours after its occurrenceby the nearest kin of the deceased or by any person having knowledge of the death to the mayor, municipal secretary, who shall issue the Certificate of Death for burial purposes.
5. The mayor, any member of the Sangguniang Bayan or the municipal secretary, as the case may be, shall sign the medical certification portion of the Certificate of Death, and the same shall be accepted for resignation by the civil registrar concerned, provided that the Certificate of Death and the Register of Deaths shall carry a remark that registration was made pursuant to Section 91 of P. D. No. 856.
18. What is an out-of-town reporting of Death?
It is a reporting of death that occurs when registration is not possible in the place of death and the Certificate of Death was presented to the civil registrar of the city or municipality other than the place of death, it shall be accepted by the civil registrar not for registration but to be forwarded to the civil registrar of the city or municipality, where the death occurred, for registration.
Out-of-town reporting may also be performed by the Civil Registrar-General or by his authorized representatives who are the Regional Directors and Provincial Chief Statistical Specialist of the PSA.
19. What is Mass death?
Mass death occurs when several persons die due to natural calamities, accidents, epidemics, etc. When the deceased cannot be identified, the health officer, upon submission of an affidavit by two disinterested persons, in the exercise of his wide discretion, may issue and cause the registration of the death certificate bearing the annotation 'Body Not Identified'.
20. What information shall the affidavit contain for cases of Mass Death?
The affidavit referred to in the aforementioned statement shall contain the following information:
21. What is Marriage?
'Marriage' is defined as a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman enetred into in accordance with the law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidence are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided in the Family Code of the Philippines.
22. What are reglementary period and Place of Registration of Marriage?
In ordinary marriage, the time for submission of the Certificate of Marriage is within fifteen (15) days following the solemnization of marriage while in marriages exempt from license requirement, the prescribed period is thirty (30) days, at the place where the marriage was solemnized.
23. Who is responsible to report the marriage event?
The solemnizing officer has the duty to report the marriage t the Office of the Civil Registrar where marriage was solemnized.
24. What marriages are exempted from Marriage License?
Marriage that was solemnized in accordance with Executive Order No. 209. Marriage that was solemnized in accordance with P. D. 1083 or Code of Muslim Personal Laws.
25. What specific Articles in EO 209 are exempted from Marriage License?
Article 27 - Incase either or both of the contracting parties are at the point of death, the marriage may be solemnized without the necessity of a marriage license and shall remain valid even if the ailing party subsequently survives;
Article 28 - If the residence of either party is so located that there is no means of transportation to enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar, the marriage may be solemnized without the necessity of a marriage license;
Article 33 - Marriage among Muslims or among members of the ethnic cultural communities may be performed validly without the necessity of a marriage license, provided they are solemnized in accordance with their customs, rites or practices; and
Article 34 - No license shall be necessary for the marriage of a man and a woman who have lived together as husband and wife for at least five (5) years and without any legal impediment to marry each other.