CEBU CITY — The number of unregistered births in Central Visayas has significantly decreased, said the Philippine Statistics Authority-Region 7 (PSA-7) here on Tuesday.
Although no comparative data were provided, PSA-7 Regional Director Ariel Florendo reported this to the local media during the Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO)-Philippine Information Agency 7 forum.
“Unregistered births have definitely declined because schools now require the submission of birth certificates upon enrollment,” Florendo said in Cebuano.
“Many have also made late registrations in order to avail of the government’s 4Ps program, which also requires birth certificates,” he added.
But despite the decline in the number of unregistered births, Florendo said there are still many people, particularly those living in far-flung areas, who don’t know the importance of civil registration because of lack of knowledge.
PSA-7 Civil Registration outlet supervisor Hera Juarez said most of these people believe that the baptismal certificate is more important than the birth certificate.
“That’s why they don’t bother to register their babies after they are baptized. It’s just fortunate that churches now don’t baptize children with no birth certificates,” Juarez also said in Cebuano.
As the PSA celebrates the 29th Civil Registration Month (CRM) this February, Florendo said they will be deploying personnel to the far-flung areas and educate the residents on civil registration.
“We will be sending out our people to these areas and create awareness on civil registration, not just during the CRM celebration but throughout the year. This is also in preparation for the National ID System,” he said.
The PSA-7 has also lined up other activities for the CRM celebration, including a motorcade, lectures, information drives in schools, quiz bee, and mobile registration, which is initiated by local Civil Registry offices across the region.
Meanwhile, the PSA-7 is currently conducting the Family Income and Expenditure Survey together with the quarterly Labor Force Survey.
In this regard, PSA-7 information officer Noel Rafols enjoined sample households to cooperate and entertain the enumerators or interviewers during their visit.
Rafols said uncooperative respondents and those giving false information can be penalized, as provided for under Section 27 of Republic Act 10625, or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013.
He also assured the general public that all information gathered by the PSA will be strictly confidential and will not be used for purposes of taxation, investigation, or legal action.
