No Need for Court Order to Correct Errors in Birthdate and Sex in the Birth Certificate
Do you need to correct erroneous birthdate and gender in your birth certificate?
Good news!
Now, under Republic Act 10172, you can have these errors easily changed without the hassle of going to court. On August 15, 2012, President Benigno S. Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10172 entitled “An Act Further Authorizing the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General to Correct Clerical or Typographical Errors in the Day and Month in the Date of Birth or Sex of a Person Appearing in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order Amending for this Purpose Republic Act No. 9048“.
R.A. No. 9048, signed in 2001, states that "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."
Under the amended law, this phrase was revised to include "the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person where it is patently clear that there was a clerical or typographical error or mistake in the entry."
RA 10172 simply expanded the coverage of the correction of clerical or typographical errors in the civil register without judicial order as earlier provided for in RA 9048. Whereas before it was only clerical or typographical errors and change in the first name or nickname of a person which may be changed or corrected by a city or municipal civil registrar or consul general without a judicial order, RA 10172 now allows changes or corrections in the day and month in the date of birth and sex of a person, even without the person petitioning the court. Because correction can be done at the Local Civil Registrar, the process is faster and cheaper.
What is a clerical or typographical error?
As defined under RA 10172, a “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, mistake in the entry of day and month in the date of birth or the sex of the person 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.
What CANNOT be changed?
1. Nationality
2. Age
3. Status
When did the law took effect?
The law took effect on 3 September 2012 (15 days after it was published in the newspapers)
How do you apply for correction under RA 10172?
The law states that a petition for correction of a clerical or typographical error, or for change of first name or nickname, as the case may be, shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by law to administer oaths. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish the merits of the petition and shall show affirmatively that the petitioner is competent to testify to the matters stated. The petitioner shall state the particular erroneous entry or entries, which are sought to be corrected and/or the change sought to be made.
The petition and its supporting papers shall be filed in three (3) copies to be distributed as follows: first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil registrar, or the consul general; second copy to the Office of the Civil Registrar General; and third copy to the petitioner.
The petition for change of first name or nickname, or for correction of erroneous entry concerning the day and month in the date of birth or the sex of a person, as the case may be, shall be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.
What are the requirements for correction of day and/or month in the date of birth?
1. Sworn Affidavit;
2. A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;
3. At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which the correction or change shall be based;
4. Other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition;
5. Earliest school record or earliest school documents such as, but not limited to, medical records, baptismal certificate and other documents issued by religious authorities;
6. Certification from the appropriate law enforcements, agencies that he has no pending case or no criminal record
What are the requirements for correction of sex?
1. Sworn Affidavit;
2. A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;
3. At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which the correction or change shall be based;
4. Other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition;
5. Earliest school record or earliest school documents such as, but not limited to, medical records, baptismal certificate and other documents issued by religious authorities;
6. Certification issued by an accredited government physician attesting to the fact that the petitioner has not undergone sex change or sex transplant
7. Certification from the appropriate law enforcements, agencies that he has no pending case or no criminal record
Can those persons who have undergone sex reassignment surgery, or sex change, avail of the law?
No. Correction of the gender appearing in the birth certificate is NOT allowed if based on the ground that the person successfully underwent sex change surgery. As a safeguard against any attempt to circumvent this prohibition, the new law requires the presentation of documents showing the petitioner’s gender closest to his/her birth. Also, the petition is required to be accompanied by a certification issued by an accredited government physician attesting to the fact that the petitioner has not undergone sex change or sex transplant.
Who may file the petition?
For correction of entry on the day and/or month in the date of birth:
Any person of legal age, having direct and personal interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in the day and/or month in the date of birth of a person in the civil register for birth, may file the petition.
A person is considered to have direct and personal interest when he is the owner of the record, or the owner's spouse, children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, guardian, or any other person duly authorized by law or by the owner of the document sought to be corrected; Provided; however, that when a person is a minor or physically or mentally incapacitated, the petition may be filed on his/her behalf by his/her spouse, or any of his/her children, parents, brothers; sisters; grandparents, guardians, or persons duly authorized by law.
For correction of a clerical or typographical error in sex:
The petitioner affected by such error shall personally file the petition with the civil registry office where the birth certificate is registered. (Rule 3, Republic Act No. 10172 Implementing Rules and Regulations)
Where to file the petition?
For correction of clerical and typographical error in the entry of the day and/or month in the date of birth.
The verified petition may be filed with the C/MCR of the city or municipality or the Philippine Consulate, as the case may be, where the birth record containing the day and/or month in the date of birth to be corrected is registered.
When the petitioner has migrated to another place within the Philippines and it is not practical for such party, in terms of transportation expenses, time and effort to appear before the C/MCR of the place of birth, the petition may be filed with the C/MCR of the place where the petitioner is residing or domiciled.
Any person whose birth record was reported abroad and presently residing in the Philippines, the petition may be filed with the C/MCR of the place of residence following the procedures of migrant petition.
Any person whose birth record was registered in the Philippines, or in any Philippine Consulate, but who is presently residing or domiciled in a foreign country, may file the petition with the nearest Philippine Consulate.
For correction of clerical and typographical error in the entry of sex
The verified petition shall be filed, in person, with the C/MCR of the city or municipality or the Philippine Consulate, as the case may be, where the record containing the entry of sex in the birth certificate to be corrected is registered. (Rule 4, Republic Act No. 10172 Implementing Rules and Regulations)
Filing Fee
The C/MCR is hereby authorized to collect from every petitioner three thousand pesos (P3,000.00) for petition to correct the day and/or month in the date of birth or sex. An indigent petitioner shall be exempt from paying the required payment, provided that the petition is supported by a certification from the City/Municipal Social Welfare Office that the petitioner/document owner is indigent. (Rule 10, Republic Act No. 10172 Implementing Rules and Regulations)