Recto files bill giving birth certificates a lifetime validity

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto filed a bill seeking to confer lifetime validity on a birth certificate, and which mandated government agencies to accept a birth certificate regardless of when it was issued.

According to Recto's Saturday statement, the bill would end the practice of government and private offices requiring applicants who are seeking a document, permit, service, or job to present a new or recently-issued birth certificate.

“Magastos sa aplikante ang requirement na kailangang brand new ang birth certificate. Dagdag pa ang pahirap sa pagkuha,” explained Recto.

While the senator praised the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which had "never been remiss in explaining that birth certificates it has issued have no expiry dates," the assurance "remains unheeded in many offices which continue to require that the submitted birth certificate was issued within the past six months."

Recto also noted that, while the security paper (SECPA) on which PSA birth certificates are printed on have changed in appearances over the years to keep the "proliferation of fraudulent birth certificates and identities at bay," the statistics authority had been "emphatic in its assurance that such does not remove the validity of the birth certificate."

In spite of this, the lawmaker noted, some government agencies required applicants to submit a birth certificate that was printed on the most recent version of the SECPA, and issued during the last six months.

“Hindi naman yan ulam o sardinas na napapanis. Kaya nakakalungkot na marami pa ring mga opisina na ang gusto ay bagong kuhang birth certificate, na isang pahirap sa isang aplikante,” Recto said.

The PSA currently charges P155 for an authenticated copy of a birth certificate. It charges P365 if the document is delivered to the home of the requesting party.

The senator believed that only a law conferring a lifetime validity on a birth certificate would stop offices from enforcing “an unnecessary, expensive and oppressive” requirement.

A provision in his bill states that a “birth certificate certified and issued by the PSA shall not expire and shall be considered valid at any time.”

The proposed measure, however, provided exceptions to the rule such as birth records that provide administrative corrections, as provided under Republic Act Nos. 9048 and 10172.

Finally, Recto said was also high time for the government to persuade foreign embassies in the country to drop the “six month old” rule in the birth, marriage and other PSA-issued certificates they require from visa applicants. — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News