Maaari bang i-apply para sa late registration of birth ang isang yumao na?

Mang Jeff was a famous farmer in their barrio.  His success story, from being a humble tenant who plants and harvests for landlords, to being one of the wealthiest landowners and supplier of root crops, fruits, and vegetables in their province, is well-known in their barangay.  When he retired from farming at the age of 62, he has successfully established his family’s properties and remained to be the largest supplier of milled rice in their region.

Sadly though, Mang Jeff passed away shortly after handing over the operations of their farms to his eldest daughter. After his death, his family decided to subdivide part of Mang Jeff’s farmland, the areas that he set apart for his children’s inheritance.

Through the help of a lawyer, the documents needed to transfer the land’s titles to Mang Roy’s children were filed at the Registry of Deeds.  Everything went smoothly until the ROD required the children to submit a copy of Mang Jeff’s birth certificate.

His wife requested for a copy at the Philippine Statistics Authority although, at the back of her mind, she knows that she has never seen a copy of her husband’s birth certificate.  She recalls him saying once that he doesn’t have a birth certificate.

True enough, their request returned void; they were instead handed a negative certificate – meaning, Mang Jeff’s birth is not registered.  When they inquired how they can get a copy of Mang Jeff’s birth certificate, they were advised to apply for a late registration of birth at the LCR in Mang Jeff’s birthplace.

Late registration of birth happens when a child remains unregistered at the Local Civil Registry of his birthplace for more than 30 days after his birth.  For various reasons, parents fail to report their child’s birth to the municipal hall and as a result, these children grow up without a record of their birth.  Not having a birth certificate is not a complicated matter since all you have to do is submit the person’s information for proper registration.  It becomes complicated when the person you wish to register is already dead.

Although the requirements for late registration are pretty simple (an original copy of your Baptismal Certificate and a Certified True Copy of the person’s Marriage Certificate), these may prove to be inutile since the person who needs to be birth certificate, his children may not be granted their inheritance.

Their family lawyer advised them to execute a Joint Affidavit of Two Disinterested Persons – an attestation from two individuals who are not related to Mang Jeff’s family but are fully aware of Mang Jeff’s identity and roots.  This affidavit shall support the details of Mang Jeff’s birth date and birthplace.  This, together with the negative certificate given by the PSA, shall then be submitted to the Registry of Deeds to fulfill the requirement for Mang Jeff’s birth certificate.

Mang Jeff’s children sought the kind help of their former landlords and the tenants of their farmlands.  All these people knew their father from as far back as when he was starting as a humble farmer and are all qualified to execute the needed affidavit.  As soon as the documents were notarized, Mang Jeff’s children trooped to the ROD, submitted the documents, and explained to the clerk that their father’s birth was never registered and he did not have a birth certificate all his life.

Fortunately, the RDO accepted the documents and released the land titles of each of Mang Jeff’s children.

It is important for all Filipinos to be duly registered at the LCR of their birthplaces and to have a copy of his birth certificate all the time.  If your parents still do not have birth certificates, find time to register them at their birthplaces so they would be properly accounted for by the PSA.  Every member of your household must have a copy of their PSA birth certificate, printed on the PSA’s Security Paper.