Warning: This is a lengthy post.
Photo courtesy of www.psa.gov.ph
It all started because I wanted
to travel the world and to do so, I need to have a passport. While on the
process of collecting my documents so that I could apply for one, I
unfortunately found out that there are many issues involving my birth
certificate after receiving a copy from then National Statistics Office or NSO
(now Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA).
Firstly, my certificate of live
birth does not indicate my “First and Last Names”. The only items that were
filled out were my “Middle Name” and other details such as the date when I was
born as well as my place of birth, the names of my parents, and the name of the
OB-Gynecologist who attended to my mother at the time of my birth.
Second, since my parents were not
married, I am considered as an illegitimate child. I can use my father’s last
name as long as he acknowledged that I am indeed his child. There is a section
at the back of my birth certificate regarding the acknowledgement however, my
father wasn’t able to sign it due to the circumstances of my birth (as per my
mother’s explanation).
Finally, my father died a long
time ago without any written proof that he acknowledged me as his child thus as
a rule, I am not allowed by the law to use his Last Name. However, I’ve been
using it in all of my school and government records ever since.
I went to the Local Civil
Registry office in Manila (as I was born in Manila) to seek for an advise on
what to do regarding my case. They told me to get a local copy of my birth
certificate first because there are times that NSO copies are not updated
especially if there has been changes made on someone's birth records in their
end and a transmittal hasn't been done yet. So I did as I was told and was
surprised to see that indeed, there was a supplemental report filed by my father
to supply my first name on the birth certificate but my last name remains
blank. I guess this is because at that time, he was still not married with my
mother (they didn’t really get married anyway).
Since the changes made already
reflects the local copy of my birth certificate, I was then instructed to file
for a transmittal report so that my NSO records will be updated. I paid less
than Php 500 for the whole process (getting the local copy + filing the
transmittal) and was informed that I can already get an updated copy of my
birth certificate from NSO after a month. I also asked one of the staff if
there is anything that we could do about my last name since my father already
passed away. She explained that if there is no written document proving that I
was acknowledged by my father, they can’t do anything about it and that I may
need to consult a lawyer about this matter.
Uh oh! Consulting a lawyer means appearing
in the courts and going through a very tedious process that were both time and
money consuming. Well, I’m not rich so together with my mother, we decided to
seek the assistance of the Public Attorney's Office (PAO). Luckily, they are
kind enough to answer all of my concerns and queries. I was told that since my
father wouldn’t be able to testify and sign necessary documents, I will not be
able to use his last name and that I should just use my middle name (my mother’s
maiden name) as my last name so it will appear that I don’t have a middle name.
I was given several copies of
originally signed and notarized affidavit stating that I am one and the same person
and that all my school, employment, and government records should be updated
bearing my name as it appears on my birth certificate. Now, I have to go back
to my school since elementary and update everything from there then I have to go to
different government offices to do the same. Oh well, what can I do? Anyway,
this was a much better option than going to the courts right? I hope I can
finish everything before October though. With that, Good luck to me! X___X
If you need any legal assistance,
here are the contact details from our Public Attorney's Office (PAO):
Public Attorney's Office
Central Office
Office
Address: 4th & 5th Floors
DOJ Agencies Building
NIA Rd. corner East Ave., Diliman, Quezon City
Hotline: (02) 929-9436; (02) 4262075; (02) 4262801; (02) 4262450; (02) 4262987; (02)
4262683
Local 106/107 (Office Hours)
Local 159
(Outside Office Hours)
See you soon! :)
