Correcting Entries in Birth Certificate

Hi, all loyal readers of my blog! Wishing you all a blessed and wonderful day! It has been a while since my last post here coz I was so busy the past few days. I'm pretty sure you can relate to this topic I wanna share with you regarding NEW LAWS that deal with the correction of entries in the Birth Certificate. 
 

According to Article 412 of the New Civil Code, no entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected, without a judicial order. Thus, a person desiring to amend any wrong entry in his/her certificate of live birth needs to go to court. However, this was the rule before the enactment of  Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9048 or more popularly known as the Clerical Error Law  in 2001. Under this law, no entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order, except for clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname which can be corrected or changed by the concerned city or municipal civil registrar or consul general (Section 1, RA No. 9048).

Clerical or typographical errors is defined by the said law as follows:

“Section 2. Definition of Terms – As used in this Act, the following terms shall mean:

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(3) “Clerical or typographical error” refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records: Provided, however, That no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, status or sex of the petitioner.

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Consequently, errors in the civil register pertaining to the nationality, age, status or sex of a person may be corrected only by filing a petition in court. However, to address the dilemma of some of our fellowmen pertaining to issues other than clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname, R.A. No. 10172 was enacted amending some provisions of R.A. No. 9048 by giving authority to the city or municipal civil registrar or consul general to correct errors in the entry of sex and day and month of birth of a person in the civil register. 

With the advent of these new laws pertinent to the correction of entries in the birth certificate, many of our fellow countrymen would be eased of the burden of going to the court just to correct errors in the entries of our one of the most important documents in life – the Birth Certificate.

I am hoping that you may find useful information in this post, and continuously visit my blog every now and then. Happy reading, sharing and learning!

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