Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______ 
Introduced by  
HON. ATTY. GERVILLE “JINKY BITRICS” R. LUISTRO 
AN ACT  
PROVIDING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND RESPONSIVE CIVIL REGISTRATION 
AND VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Civil registration plays a pivotal role in establishing an individual's legal identity, civil 
status, and family relations, ensuring access to essential services like healthcare, education, and 
social welfare. It also provides policymakers with critical demographic and health data through 
vital statistics. However, in the Philippines, generating comprehensive vital statistics from civil 
registration currently takes up to three years. While some indicators, such as birth and marriage 
data, are released periodically, others, like maternal mortality and cause-of-death statistics, 
depend on less reliable and costly household surveys. 
The Philippine Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system faces several 
challenges, including geographic and demographic barriers, coordination across government 
levels, and gaps in training for cause-of-death determination and ICD-10 coding. Collecting data 
on deaths occurring outside health facilities and improving access for marginalized groups, such 
as Muslims, indigenous peoples, and the poor, remain critical issues. 
To address these concerns, this bill proposes a modernized, standardized, and inclusive 
CRVS system with increased barangay-level participation and alignment with international 
human rights frameworks. It mandates digitalization of records, free registration of civil registry 
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events, and programs for delayed registration, ensuring wider coverage and more reliable data 
for shaping social, economic, and health policies.  
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
HON. ATTY. GERVILLE “JINKY BITRICS” R. LUISTRO 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______ 
Introduced by  
HON. ATTY. GERVILLE “JINKY BITRICS” R. LUISTRO 
AN ACT  
PROVIDING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND RESPONSIVE CIVIL REGISTRATION 
AND VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Civil Registration and Vital 
Statistics (CRVS) Act." 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State shall promote and maintain an efficient, 
responsive, inclusive, and accessible civil registration and vital statistics system. Towards this 
end, standardization and modernization of registration procedures is necessary to establish the 
identity of an individual for administrative and legal purposes. Moreover, efficient and simplified 
procedures in recording vital events must be applied in civil registration in order to establish the 
most precise identity of an individual for the benefit of the general public. 
The State declares the registration of all births, deaths, and marriages without 
discrimination as a national State policy. 
In the implementation of the policy stated above, the State, in enacting this Civil 
Registration and Vital Statistics Act, institutionalizes and hereby maintains a legal framework 
related to the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), ensuring a system that provides 
equal access that is affordable, available, and protects the rights of all citizens, especially 
11207


children. Such system will also ensure the gathering of statistics and easier retrieval and 
recording of statistics. 
The enactment of this policy, reaffirms the commitment of the State to the international 
standards and recommendations, according to the principles of the universal human right to be 
recognized as a person before the law (UDHR Art.Vl), to children's right to nationality, 
registration after birth (UN CRC Art. VII), the right to identity (UN CRC Art. VIII), the right to 
be protected from discrimination based on race, sex, colour, language, religion, national or social 
origin (ICCPR Art. XXIV), the right to nationality of persons with disabilities (CRPD Art. 
XVIII), the right of adolescents to birth registration (UNCRC GC 20, Art. VIII), the right of 
children in street situations to be proactively supported to obtain legal identity documents and the 
right of all children at all ages to free, accessible, simple and expeditious birth registration (UN 
CRC GC 21, Art. XV), and the right of all Filipino migrant workers to be recognized as a person 
of the law (ICMW, Art. XXIV) on CRVS. 
SECTION 3. Coverage. — This law shall embrace all acts, events, and judicial and 
administrative issuances affecting the civil status and vital statistics of persons in the Philippines 
and all Filipino citizens abroad, including all children with at least one Filipino parent. 
SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act, the following terms are defined 
as follows: 
a) Abandoned child refers to a child who has no proper parental care or guardianship, a
foundling, or on who has been deserted by one's parents for a period of at least three
(3) continuous months, and has been declared as such by the National Authority for
Child Care (NACC);
b) Abandoned Filipino child in foreign country refers to an unregistered or
undocumented child found outside the Philippine territory, with known or unknown
facts of birth, separated from or deserted by the biological Filipino parent guardian, or
custodian for a period of at least three (3) continuous months and committed to a
foreign orphanage or charitable institution or in a temporary informal care, and has
been declared as such by the NACC, upon recommendation of the Office of the
Social Welfare Attaché (OSWA) of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), or the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA);
c) Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS) refers to a scheme to facilitate extensive
civil registration at the barangay level involving all barangay officials assisting the
Local Civil Registrars in civil registration work, as provided in Section 394(d)(5) of
Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991;
d) Birth Attendant refers exclusively to persons with midwifery skills such as licensed
doctors, midwives, and nurses who have been trained to proficiency in the skills


necessary to manage normal deliveries and diagnose, manage, or refer obstetric 
complications; 
e) Child refers to any person below 18 years of age or 18 years or older who is unable to
fully take care of himself/herself from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or
discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition;
f)
Children in Need of Special Protection (CNSP) refers to all children who are
vulnerable to or are victims of abuse, neglect, exploitation, cruelty, discrimination
and nature or human-induced violence, which includes the following:

abused sexually or physically;

in commercial sexual exploitation;

in conflict with the law;

in situations of armed conflict;

engaged in worst forms of labor;

with mental, physical, learning, and other disabilities;

with HIV, AIDS, or other sexually-transmitted infections, in street situations;

affected by the use of illegal substance;

affected by the war on drugs;

abandoned or without primary caregiver;

internally displaced, refugees, statelessness, and at-risk of statelessness; and,

abandoned children or abandoned Filipino children in a foreign country
g) Circuit Registrar refers to the Clerk of Court of a Shari'a Circuit Court performing as
Circuit Registrar of Muslim marriages, divorces, revocations of divorces, and
conversions with the respective court's jurisdiction, as provided in Title VI, Book
Two of Presidential Decree No. 1083, otherwise known as the Code of Muslim
Personal Laws of the Philippines (P.D. No. 1083);
h) Civil Registration refers to the continuous, permanent, universal and compulsory
documentation of occurrences and characteristics of vital events in the life of a
person, including any modifications thereof during his lifetime and until his death, as
provided for by this Act;
i)
Civil Register refers to the various civil registry books and related certificates and
documents where registrable acts, events, and judicial and administrative issuances
concerning the civil status of a person are recorded and kept in the archives of the
Civil Registrar's Offices, Philippine Consulate Offices, Sharifa District and Circuit
Courts, and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA);
j)
Civil Registrar (CR) refers to the head of the Local Civil Registry Office (Civil
Registrar's Office), the Consul General (CG) in the Philippine Consulate Offices, or
the Clerk of Court in Shari'a District and Circuit court;
k) Civil Registrar General (CRG) refers to the head of the PSA who is also the National
Statistician of the government of the Philippines;


l)
Consul General (CG) refers to the head of a Philippine Consulate Office acting as
Civil Registrar of all civil registry documents involving Filipinos in a foreign country;
m) Civil Registry Document refers to a certificate or any document relating to the civil
status of a person which is recorded and kept in the archives of the Civil Registrar's
Offices, Philippine Consulate Offices, Shari'a District and Circuit courts, and the
PSA;
n) District Recorder (DR) refers to the Clerk of Court of the Shari'a District Court
performing civil registration-related functions as District Recorder of Muslim
marriages, divorces, revocation of divorces, and conversions with the respective
court's territorial jurisdiction, as provided in Title VI, Book Two of P.D. No. 1083;
o) Foundling refers to a deserted or abandoned child or infant with unknown facts of
birth and parentage and this shall also include those who have been duly registered as
a foundling during her or his infant childhood, but have reached the age of majority
without benefitting from adoption procedures upon the passage of this law, pursuant
to Republic Act No. 11767, otherwise known as the Foundling Recognition and
Protection Act;
p) Legal Instrument refers to any legal documents that would be officially issued
pursuant to this act;
q) Live Birth refers to a complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product/s
of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which after such
separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart,
pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether
or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached;
r)
Local Archive Authority (LAA) refers to the Local Civil Registrar or the authorized
representative of the Local Civil Registrar's Office of each city and municipality who
has the duty to establish, keep, and maintain the local archives, to include its
mandatory digitization of all civil registry documents for the herein provided Digital
Linkages and Interconnection of All Participating LRCOs.
s) Local Civil Registrar (LCR) refers to the head of the Civil Registrar's Office;
t)
National Statistician refers to the head of the PSA acting as the CRG for the purpose
of this Act;
u) Out-of-Town Reporting refers to the occurrence wherein the certificate of live birth or
death is presented to the civil registrar of a city or municipality which is not the place
of birth or death, not for registration but to be forwarded to the civil registrar of the
city or municipality where the birth or death occurred and where it should be
registered; and,
v) Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) refers to the central statistics authority of the
Republic of the Philippines headed by the National Statistician.


SECTION 5. Duties and Function of the Civil Registrar General (CRG). – The Office of 
the Civil Registrar General shall have the following duties and functions: 
a) Policy-making Functions. The CRG has the following policy-making functions and
responsibilities on the Civil Registry System:
1. Prepare and promulgate the implementing rules and regulations pertaining to
civil registration laws and all subsequent issuances relative thereto, in close
collaboration with the DILG and the PACR; and,
2. Issue circulars and memoranda pertaining to civil registration enhancements
as part of the functions of the OCRG;
b) Provision of Technical Support to Local Civil Registry Offices
1. Provide technical supervision to the City/Municipal Civil Registrar (C/MCRs)
and other Local Civil Registry Officers; and,
2. Provide ways and means to assist Civil Registrars for the reconstruction of
Local Archives as the need arises; and,
c) National Civil Registry Depository, Act as the national central depository of all civil
registry documents submitted to the OCRG for archiving from all civil registry
offices of the Philippines, for back up database and statistical analysis purposes only.
SECTION 6. Duties of the City/Municipal Civil Registrar. — The appointment of 
C/MCRs shall be mandatory for city and municipal governments. 
The C/MCR shall be responsible for the civil registration programs in the local 
government unit concerned, pursuant to this Act, other existing laws, rules and regulations. 
The C/MCR shall develop plans and strategies and upon approval thereof by the mayor, 
implement the same, particularly those which pertains to civil registry programs and projects. 
The C/MCR shall: 
a) As much as practicable, assist in the preparation, and accept and register all
registrable events and documents occurring within his or her jurisdiction affecting the
civil status of persons;
b) File registrable certificates and documents presented to him or her for entry;
c) Compile copies of every document registered and transmit to CRG within the first ten
(10) calendar days of the succeeding month;
d) Issue certified transcripts or copies of any certificate or document registered, upon
payment of the prescribed fees;
e) Classify, digitize, index, and preserve all registered documents in accordance with the
appropriate archiving procedures;
f)
Administer oaths, free of charge, for civil registry purposes;
g) File, keep, and preserve in a secure place the civil registry book as required by law;


h) Receive all registrable documents and transcribe in the corresponding civil register all
documents accepted for registration;
i)
Receive applications for the issuance of a marriage license and, after determining that
the requirements and supporting certificates and publication thereof for the prescribed
period have been complied with, issue the license upon payment of the authorized fee
for the local treasurer;
j)
Conduct community education campaigns on vital registration and assist in the
preparation of demographic and other statistics for the local government unit
concerned;
k) Recommend to the legislative bodies and collaborate with administrative agencies in
the formulation of systems, procedures, policies, rules, and regulations on civil
registration;
l)
Submit status reports to the CRG on the condition of civil registry documents filed in
his civil registry office whenever there are substantial changes in the state of his/her
files, in case of fire, flood, earthquake and other natural and or manmade calamities;
m) Reconstruct destroyed civil registry records upon compliance with the requirements
following the procedures established by the CRG;
n) Make civil registry forms available at all times in the civil registry office;
o) Exercise quasi-judicial functions in the following cases:
1. clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname, 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; or,
2. petitioner for the change of first name or nickname finds the first name or
nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write
or pronounce, has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and
has been publicly known by that first name in the community or the change
will avoid the confusion as provided for under existing laws.
SECTION 7. Civil Registry Books. — The Civil Registrar shall keep, update, and 
preserve the following books in their offices: 
a) Register of Births — the records of birth in the civil registry;
b) Register of Births Of Person without Known Parents or Facts of Birth — the records
of abandoned children in the civil register;
c) Register of Deaths — the records of death of a deceased in the civil register;
d) Register of Marriages — the records of solemnized marriage in the civil register;
e) Register of Court Decrees or Orders — the records of court decree or order
concerning the status of a person in the civil register;
f)
Register of Legal Instruments — the records of legal instruments executed affecting
the vital events of a person in the civil register;


g) Register of Applications for Marriage License — the records Of application of
marriage license in the civil register;
h) Register of Conversion to Islam — the records of conversion to Islam religion of a
person in the civil register;
i)
Register of Muslim Filipino Marriages — the records of marriage of a Muslim
Filipino in the civil register;
j)
Register of Muslim Filipino Divorces — the records of divorce of a Muslim Filipino
in the civil register;
k) Register of Indigenous Cultural Communities/indigenous Peoples (ICC/IPs) Marriage
Dissolutions — the records of ICCs/lPs dissolution of marriage in the civil register;
and register of ICCs/lPs Revocation of Marriage Dissolutions — the records Of
ICCs/lPs revocation of marriage dissolutions.
SECTION 8. Registrable Acts and Events. — The following are the Registrable Acts and 
Events: 
1. Birth,
2. Death;
3. Application for Marriage License;
4. Marriage;
5. Court Orders or Decrees; and,
6. Legal Instruments;
The Registrable Orders or Decrees of Courts and other competent authorities are the 
following: 
1. Adoption;
2. Rescission of Adoption;
3. Annulment of Marriage;
4. Declaration of Nullity of Marriage;
5. Declaration of Presumptive Death;
6. Compulsory Recognition of Illegitimate Child;
7. Voluntary Recognition of Minor Illegitimate Child;
8. Appointment of Guardian;
9. Termination of Guardianship;
10. Judicial Determination of Filiation;
11. All forms of naturalization;
12. Cancellation of Naturalization,
13. Judicial Determination of the Fact of Reappearance, if Disputed,
14. Separation of Property;
15. Revival of Former Property Regime;
16. Repatriation;


17. Foreign Court Orders Decided Abroad; and,
18. Other orders/decrees that pertain to the civil status and vital statistics of a person.
The civil registrar shall properly enter the registrable events and court orders or
decrees.
SECTION 9. Free Registration of Vital Civil Registry Events. — The registration of 
births, deaths and marriage are hereby declared a national policy Therefore, no fees shall be 
imposed and collected in the registration Of these events, whether or not these are registered on 
time. All supporting documents as prerequisite to birth registration shall also be free. 
The first copies of civil registration certificates shall be free. For issuance of succeeding 
copies of civil registry documents, a minimal fee prescribed by the CRG may be collected. 
For registration of registrable judicial and administrative issuances or orders, and legal 
instruments, a standard fee shall be collected 
SECTION 10. Registration and Certification of Birth. — The declaration of the 
physician, midwife, nurse, birth attendant, finder or in default thereof, the declaration of either or 
both parents or any person who has knowledge of the facts of birth of the newborn child shall be 
sufficient for the registration of birth in the civil register. 
The duly accomplished Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) containing the above 
declaration shall be submitted for registration to the Civil Registrar's Office in the city or 
municipality where the birth occurred within thirty (30) calendar days from date of birth by the 
aforementioned persons, declaring the following when available: 
1. Full name of the child,
2. Sex;
3. Date of birth,
4. Place of birth or where found;
5. Name of mother;
6. Citizenship of the mother;
7. Name of father;
8. Citizenship of the father;
9. Date and place of marriage of parents; and,
10. Such other data as may be identified in the implementing rules and regulations of this
Act.
Birth and other civil registry records of persons when any or some of the following 
information is absent/missing shall have equal acceptability and shall be respected before all 


government, public, private, commercial, and business transactions where these documents are 
presented: 
a.
usual middle initial or middle name;
b. citizenship, if stateless;
c.
names of parents, if unknown;
d. date of marriage, if inapplicable;
e.
when an individual has only one birth name; or,
f.
any analogous circumstances.
All regulatory bodies such as, but not limited to, the Securities and Exchange 
Commission and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shall adhere to this law and adopt the necessary 
rules and regulations to implement this act. The fetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it 
is completely delivered from the mother's womb and shall be considered as live birth and shall 
be registered in the Register of Births. 
However, if the fetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed 
born if it dies within twenty-four (24) hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb. 
All cases of birth on board a vessel or airplane en route to the Philippines shall be 
recorded in the civil register of the city or municipality where the mother habitually resides if 
either of the parent is a citizen of the Philippines or both are. When the parents are both 
foreigners but not residents of the Philippines, the birth may be recorded in any civil registry 
office in the Philippines, if they so desire. 
Abandoned children or foundlings whose parents, guardians or relatives are unknown, or 
children committed to an orphanage or a child-caring institution with unknown facts of birth and 
parentage, shall be registered by the finder or charitable institution concerned within thirty (30) 
days from the date of finding or commitment of the child with the CIMCR of the place where 
such person was found. The CRG shall issue a COLB to these children. 
All LCR/PSAs in partnership with LGUs shall provide mobile birth registration services 
especially in all Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Area (GIDA)under their 
jurisdiction. 
SECTION 11. Delayed Registration of Birth. — A person, regardless of age, who has 
not been registered with the Civil Registrars Office at the place of birth or where found shall 
apply for delayed registration within the prescribed period of thirty (30) calendar days upon 
discovering that no entry of birth has been recorded in the Register of Births. 


For delayed registration, resorting to out-of-town registration of birth may be allowed, 
where the place of application for registration is other than the place of birth of the person 
seeking to be registered. The LCR and PSA shall issue a COLB free of charge regardless of 
delay. A person who has not been registered before the office of the C/MCR and PSA where he 
or she was born within the prescribed period of thirty (30) calendar days shall apply on the basis 
of his or her nearest kin. The informant and affiant must show authentic proof of the identity of 
the person to be registered, the facts of his birth, his parentage and other relevant data. 
In the implementation Of this act, the LCR/PSA should conduct regular review to assess 
the accessibility of registration and design and implement programmatic interventions to address 
gaps in CRVS, with PSA as the central office for data management and standards. 
The record of a person's birth shall be kept strictly confidential, and any treatment 
thereof shall be fully compliant with the Republic Act No. 10173, also known as the Data 
Privacy Act of 2012. 
SECTION 12. Culturally—Sensitive Registration System to be known as the Indigenous 
Peoples Civil Registration System (IPCRS). — PSA, in collaboration with the National 
Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Commission on Muslim Filipinos 
(NCMF), Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippine 
Association of Civil Registrars, National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA), and 
distinguished anthropologists and selected elders and leaders Of IPs shall establish an Indigenous 
Peoples Civil Registration System (IPCRS) that is sensitive and appropriate to the unique 
cultural practices and identification systems of IPs: Provided, That the IPCRS shall be 
harmonized with existing laws and systems on civil registry. 
In recording the birth of IPs delivered in the traditional customs and practices of the 
indigenous community, the report as to the circumstances of the birth by any of the parents or by 
the tribal doctor or tribal midwife who attended to the delivery shall be conclusive upon the 
Local Civil Registrar without need for further proof and PSA. 
The IPCRS shall take into account the various ethnic affiliations of the IPs in the 
country. For this purpose, the PSA Head, acting as the Civil Registrar General, instead of issuing 
separate forms for the IPCRS, shall cause the amendment of the existing civil registry forms, for 
uniformity of all civil registry documents to ensure acceptability by end-user agencies or 
institutions of the facts and information contained in said documents and ease of establishing 
filial bonds between or among parents or parents and child. 


In the absence of any identifying document, the self-ascription or ascription by any of 
the parents or tribal leader or elder shall suffice to establish the identity of IPs when applying 
with the LCR/PSA for recording birth, marriage, or death. 
SECTION 13. Mandatory Continuing Education and Training Program. — To ensure that 
the efficient and effective delivery of civil registration services meet the demand for quality civil 
registrars who shall perform civil registration functions, the Civil Registrar General together with 
local government units (LGIJ), shall conduct continuing education and training program for Civil 
Registrars, Consul Generals, District Recorders, and Circuit Registrars and their staff, in 
collaboration with relevant partners in government, academe, industry, and non-governmental 
organizations. Such training programs shall be initiated, conducted based on Training Needs 
Analysis, and evaluated regularly throughout the year to ensure constant upgrading of skills of 
the Civil Registrars, Consul Generals, District Recorders, and Circuit Registrars, and their staff. 
SECTION 14. Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS). — The Civil Registrar 
General shall establish a systematic civil registration procedure at the barangay level, to be called 
as the Barangay Civil Registration System, where elected and appointed barangay officials shall 
be mandated to assist in the facilitation of civil registration within their area or jurisdiction, 
subject to the provision of this Act. 
The Barangay Captain shall submit to the Civil Registrar's Office of his/her city or 
municipality the names of the Barangay Secretary as Ex-Officio Barangay Civil Registration 
Officer (BCRO) and another deputized barangay official as Barangay Civil Registration 
Assistant (BCRA) who shall assist in the registration of all vital events of every individual within 
their area of jurisdiction. 
The CRO shall engage the barangays to support in the implementation of the law, 
including the provision of fiscal and budgetary support. 
Proper networking, interconnection, and collaboration between the barangay and its 
respective Civil Registrar's Office shall be ensured in order to attain mandatory civil registration 
of all born Filipinos. The PSA, LGUs, a national professional organization of local civil 
registrars duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other accredited 
government or private institutions shall conduct regular training and capacity building programs 
to upgrade the knowledge and skills in civil registration functions of all partners in the barangay. 
SECTION 15. Free Delayed Registration Program. — Local government units are 
mandated to implement a free delayed registration program for persons whose births have not 
been registered and certified due to such factors as poverty, distance, or lack of literacy. The 


Sangguniang Barangay shall assist in the implementation of the program through the Barangay 
Civil Registration System. 
The OCRG, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the 
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) shall jointly prepare a Free Delayed 
Registration Program for Indigenous Peoples (FDRIP) which shall be implemented by the local 
government units and the NCIP regional or local offices in the localities concerned. 
SECTION 16. Strict Confidentiality of Birth Records. — The record of a person's birth 
shall be kept confidential and no information relating thereto shall be issued except upon request 
of the following: 
a) The concerned person herself/himself, or any person authorized by him;
b) Spouse;
c) Any or both the parents, direct descendants, or the guardian, or institution legally in-
charge in case of a minor;
d) The Court or appropriate public official whenever absolutely necessary in
administrative, judicial, or other official proceedings to determine the identity of the
child's parents or other circumstances surrounding the birth; and
e) The nearest kin in case of a person's death.
SECTION 17. Registration and Certification of Death. — No human body shall be buried 
or cremated unless the proper death certificate has been presented and recorded in the Civil 
Registrar's Office. 
The physician who attended the deceased, or in his default, the health officer concerned, 
any member of the family of the deceased or any person having knowledge of the death shall 
immediately report the same to the local health authorities who shall issue a death certificate and 
shall order the same to be recorded before the Civil Registrar's Office of the city or municipality 
where the death occurred. 
The death certificate which shall be issued by the attending physician of the deceased or, 
in his default, by the authorized health officer, shall indicate the following data, which shall be 
furnished by the person reporting the death to the civil registrar:  
1. Full name of the deceased;
2. Sex
3. Age;
4. Civil status;
5. Nationality;
6. Date of birth;
7. Place of birth;


8. Date of death;
9. Place of death;
10. Full names of the deceased's parents; Cause of death; and
11. Such other relevant data that may be required.
The surname to be entered in the registry of death and the Death Certificate shall be the 
surname used prior to his/her death. In case the deceased is a legally married woman, informants 
shall register the death using the surname she chose as a legally married person. 
The registration of death shall be made within thirty (30) calendar days from the time and 
date of death before the Civil Registrar's Office of the city or municipality where the death 
occurred, or the Philippine Consulate Office in the foreign country where the death happened. 
In the absence of the city or municipal health officer or his authorized representative in 
the place of registration, or when it is a non-working day and the health officer or his authorized 
representative is not expected to be in the office, the death shall be reported by the nearest kin of 
the deceased or by any person having knowledge of the death within forty-eight (48) hours after 
its occurrence, to the mayor or to the vice mayor or any member of the Sangguniang Bayan or to 
the municipal secretary, who shall issue and sign the medical certification of the Certificate of 
Death for burial, cremation, and registration purposes. 
When the death is subjected to a medico-legal examination, or the cause of death is under 
Investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or other concerned government 
office and the body of the deceased is subjected to autopsy or examination of the medico-legal 
officers and no record of death has been registered, the head of the NBI or other investigative 
agency or the duly authorized representative shall cause the registration of such death through 
the City or Municipal Health Officer of the city or municipality where the death occurred. The 
medico-legal officer shall accomplish and sign the medical certification portion of the certificate 
of death, subject to the review of the City or Municipal Health Officer. 
SECTION 18. Delayed Registration of Death. — A deceased person's facts of death that 
have not been within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of death shall be allowed delayed 
registration before the Civil Registrars Office at the place of death. 
In any case, out-of-town registration of death may be allowed 
SECTION 19. Registration Of the Application for Marriage License. — An application 
for marriage license shall be filed by the contracting parties before the Civil Registrar's Office of 
the city or municipality where one of the parties resides. The Civil Registrar shall enter all 
applications in the Register of Applications for Marriage License strictly in the order of receipt 


of applications. The CR shall record in said register the names of the applicants, the date on 
which the marriage license was issued, and such other data as may necessary. 
No application shall be received by the CR unless supporting documents are attached 
thereto and no application shall be posted unless it is received by the CR. Registration of the 
application shall only take place after the completion of the posting period. 
All applications for marriage license shall be governed by the pertinent provisions Of 
Executive Order NO, 209, otherwise known as the Family Code Of the Philippines. 
SECTION 20. Registration of Marriage. — All marriages shall be registered by the 
solemnizing officer before the Civil Registrar's Office of the place where they were solemnized. 
a) In case of marriages solemnized while in transit:
i. En route to, or within the Philippines, the marriage shall be registered at
the place of residence of either patty; or
ii. Leaving the Philippines, the marriage shall registered at the consulate of
the Philippines in the place of destination of the parties, or in the absence
thereof, to the nearest Philippine consulate from the place of destination.
b) In cases of registration of traditional marriages and dissolution of marriages
among and between IPs.
The report of marriage among and between IPs solemnized in accordance with customary 
laws, rites, traditions, and by the person duly authorized to perform the ritual or ceremony and by 
the parties to the marriage shall be conclusive upon the LCR or PSA without need for further 
proof. For this purpose, the NCIP shall submit to the PSA a list of IPs by each indigenous 
community to solemnize marriage according to its customary laws or practices. The PSA shall 
issue a Certificate of Registration of Authority to Solemnize Marriage (CRASM) to such IPs for 
free. 
In the case of indigenous communities whose traditional marriage ceremony does not 
require the presence of a solemnizing officer, as determined by the NCIP, the report by the 
contracting parties shall be conclusive upon the LCR/PSA without the need for further proof 
except personal confirmation, orally or in writing, by any of the parents or by a tribal leader or 
elder of the indigenous community to which any of the spouses belong. For this purpose, the 
NCIP shall furnish the PSA and the LCR With a list Of indigenous communities falling under 
this paragraph: Provided, That pending the submission Of such list. the oral or written 
confirmation of the tribal leader or elder shall be conclusive upon the LCR/PSA. 


The dissolution of marriage Of IPs following customary indigenous laws and practices 
shall be directly recorded with the LCR/PSA without need of court intervention: Provided, That 
such facts and information shall be confirmed orally or in writing by a tribal leader or elder of 
the indigenous community to which any of the spouses belongs. 
All marriages shall be registered within thirty (30) days from the date of the marriage. 
Marriages registered after the stipulated period shall be considered late registration and an 
administrative fee Shall be imposed on the solemnizing officer, In no shall double or multiple 
registration Of marriages be except for cases provided by law 
SECTION 21. Multiple Registration. — In cases Of multiple registrations Of birth, 
marriage or death, the first duly registered document shall prevail, unless the Court orders 
otherwise.  
For multiple marriages by and between the same parties, the first marriage shall prevail, 
and not the first registered marriage of such parties 
SECTION 22. Registration Of Solemnizing Officers. — A1 solemnizing officers shall be 
registered with the Office of the CRG, except those who are not to be so registered as provided 
for by law or existing rules. 
The Mayor, with the assistance of the Civil Registrar's Office, shall determine documents 
pertaining to the existence Of religious sects.  
SECTION 23. Registration of Court Orders. — In case of court issuance or order 
concerning the status of a person, the Clerk of Court shall advise the successful petitioner to 
register such document before the Civil Registrar's Office which has jurisdiction on the issuing 
court.  
In cases of legal separation, absolute nullity of void marriages and annulment of voidable 
marriages, the prevailing party shall cause the registration of the decree in the Civil Registrars 
Office where the marriage was registered, the Civil Registrar's Office where the family court is 
situated, and in the PSA. Such party shall report to the Court compliance with this requirement 
within thirty (30) days from receipt of the copy of the decree. 
In case a person other than the petitioner shall apply to register a court order before the 
Civil Registrars Office, the LCR has the responsibility to verify the veracity of the court issuance 
or order, otherwise, registration thereof shall be refused. 


The Civil Register Office where the event was registered Shall forward a true copy of the 
order to the Civil Registrar's Office where the vital event affected was originally registered. The 
Civil Registrar's Office where the Vital event was originally registered shall make proper 
annotations in the document and in the applicable registry book. The Civil Registrar's Office 
which has jurisdiction over the original registry shall send a certified true copy of the annotated 
document and the registered court order to the CRG. 
Each corrected document shall be reported to the Office of the CRG during the usual 
reporting month. 
All court orders shall be registered within thirty (30) days after its finality, otherwise it 
shall be considered as delayed registration. 
All court orders shall be affected through annotations in the civil registry document 
except in an adoption case when the child shall be entitled to the issuance of an amended COLB.  
SECTION 24. Registration Of a child born abroad to at least one Filipino — The parents 
shall cause the registration Of the birth of their child to the Philippine Consulate which in tum 
shall issue a Report of Birth within thirty (30) calendar days from date of birth of a Filipino child 
declaring the following when available: 
1. Full name of the child;
2. Sex;
3. Date of birth;
4. Place of birth or where found;
5. Name of mother,
6. Citizenship of the mother;
7. Name of father;
8. Citizenship Of the father;
9. Date and place of marriage of parents; and,
10. Such Other data as may require in the implementing rules and regulations of this
Act.
SECTION 25. Registration Of Persons without Known Parents. — All without known 
parents, guardians or relatives, or a person committed in an orphanage or charitable institution 
with unknown facts of birth and parentage, shall be reported by the finder to the Barangay 
Chairperson or any member of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) Of 
the place where the person was found, or to the Philippine National Police Women and 
Children's Protection Desk (PNP-WCPD), whichever is nearer or convenient to the finder, 
stating the facts and circumstances surrounding the finding of the When the report is duly noted, 
the finder shall bring the child to the nearest Department of Social Welfare and Development 
(DSWD) office in the region, for proper screening, assessment. and evaluation by an authorized 


social worker within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of finding or commitment of the 
child, The finder shall execute a sworn statement before the Barangay Captain stating the facts 
and circumstances surrounding the finding of the person. 
In case of foundlings found in Philippine Consulates, embassies and territories, the 
relevant Philippine Consulate shall be governed by Republic Act No, 11767, otherwise known as 
the Foundling Recognition and Protection Act, the finder or charitable institution concerned shall 
cause the registration before the Civil Registrar's Office where such person was found within 
thirty (30) calendar days from the date of entrustment to the institution. 
Any report made after the thirty (30) day shall be considered late registration, and the 
concerned party shall be required to state in a sworn statement the circumstances that caused the 
late reporting to the civil registrar. 
Should the foundling become adopted, the Local Civil Registrar shall stamp the 
simulated birth record "cancelled" with an annotation of the issuance of a new rectified 
certificate of birth in its place. The rectified birth certificate bearing the names of the biological 
parents of the child or the foundling certificate shall then likewise be stamped "cancelled" with 
the annotation Of the issuance Of a new birth record in its place, and shall be sealed in the civil 
registry records, Thereafter, the Local Civil shall record, register, and issue a new certificate of 
birth which shall not bear any notation that it is a new or amended issue, as stated in Sec. 12 of 
Republic Act No. 11222, otherwise known as the Simulated Birth Rectification Act. 
SECTION 26. Registration of Adoption. — The decree of adoption shall be in the civil 
register within thirty (30) days after the date of issue of the final judgment of the court. 
After registration of the decree of adoption. the Civil Registrar's Office where the birth of 
the adopted was registered shall immediately issue an amended COLB.  
Such COLB of an adopted child shall not any mark or annotation or any indication of the 
facts of adoption. It shall have the same entries as those appearing in the original records of birth, 
except for the following items of information: 
a) Name of the adopted — The first name of the adopted child shall the same as in the
original COLB unless the order of adoption carried an order changing it to another
name. The middle name of the adopted child shall be the same as the middle name of
the adopter, except when the husband and the wife jointly adopted the child, in which
case, the middle name of the adopted shall be the surname of the adopting mother.


The surname of the adopted child shall be that of the adopter, If the husband and wife 
jointly adopt the child, the adopted child shall use the surname of the adopting father. 
b) Names of parents — The names of the natural parents of the adopted child shall be
substituted by the names of the adopting parents, to be indicated in the appropriate
spaces in the COLB as the or mother, as the case maybe; and,
c) Other information — Other information about the adopting parents such a citizenship
and religion shall indicated in the appropriate spaces of the amended certificate of
live birth.
The birth order of the adopted and other information about the adopted shall follow the 
information given by the adopting parents, unless the court order states otherwise. In cases where 
legally married husband and wife jointly adopt the child, the date and place of marriage of the 
adopting parents shall be entered in the appropriate spaces of the amended certificate of live birth 
of the adopted child. 
In all cases of adoption, no amendment or changes shall be affected in the civil registry 
books where the original birth records were duly registered, except for the marginal annotation 
by virtue of the adoption decree. 
In case the adopted child has no known parents, the basis for the issuance of the amended 
COLB shall be the court order. 
SECTION 27. Registration Of Presumptive — A judicial order or decree declaring a 
presumably dead for purposes of remarriage shall registered in the office of the local civil 
registrar of the place where the marriage was solemnized. It shall be annotated and recorded. The 
registration shall be annotated in the marriage register as well as in the marriage certificate. 
SECTION 28. Registration of Foreign Court Orders Decided Abroad. – All foreign court 
orders involving status of persons residing in the Philippines shall be registered before the Civil 
Registrar's Office where the affected document is registered, These foreign court orders, to be 
legal and binding in Philippine jurisdiction, must first be recognized by the appropriate embassy 
of such country here in the Philippines or Regional Trial Court which has the lawful jurisdiction 
over such case. 
SECTION 29. Registration Of Legal Instruments. — As a general rule, all legal 
instruments Shall be registered in the Civil registry of the place where they were executed except 
for the following: 


a) Affidavit of Reappearance — where the parties to the subsequent marriage are
residing; 
b) Marriage Settlement — where the marriage is recorded; or.
c) Admission of Paternity, Acknowledgment, Legitimation, Voluntary Emancipation of
Minor, Artificial Insemination — where the birth of child was recorded, 
SECTION 30. Registration of Affidavit of Reappearance. — A sworn statement of the 
facts and circumstances of reappearance of the absentee spouse shall be in the Civil registry 
Office where marriage of the present spouse was recorded , at the instance of any interested 
person , with due notice to the spouses of the subsequent marriage and without prejudice to the 
fact of reappearance being judicially determined in cases where such a fact is disputed 
SECTION 31. Registration Of Affidavit Of Acknowledgment or Affidavit of Admission 
of Paternity. — It shall be the duty of parents or parent who executed the affidavit of 
acknowledgment to send the original copy to the Civil Registrar's Office where the entries on the 
birth of the child were recorded for registration in the Register of Legal Instruments and for 
proper annotation in the Register of Births. 
SECTION 32. Registration Of Repatriation. — The instrument of repatriation and the 
oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the Government of the Philippines. Shall be filed in the 
Civil Registrar's Office of the place where the instrument was executed: Provided, that if the 
Philippine citizenship is reacquired by naturalization, the order of the court or any mandated 
(omnibus) authority granting citizenship shall be recorded in tite Register of Court Order. 
SECTION 33. Registration of Muslim Filipinos, Indigenous Cultural Communities 
(ICCS) or Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Children in Need Of Protection (CNSP). - Muslim 
Filipinos, ICCs or IPS and CNSP, by reason of their religious, and indigenous peculiarities, and 
vulnerabilities, shall be registered as follows: 
a) Muslim — civil registration of Muslim shall be governed by P.D. NO. 1083, Order
NO, 157, s, 1994. otherwise known as the Civil Registration System for Muslim
Filipinos, and its implementing rules and regulations.
b) Indigenous Peoples — civil registration of indigenous cultural communities or
indigenous shall be governed by Republic Act NO. 8371, otherwise known as the
Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act Of 1997, its implementing rules and regulations.
c) CNSP — Civil registration of Children in Need of Special Protection shall be by the
provisions of this Act, special laws, and implementing rules and regulations, in
coordination with the Department of Welfare and Development and Other concerned
agencies.


SECTION 34. Civil Registry Documents as Public Documents. — The registry books 
making up the civil register. the office files in hard copies and its corresponding digital files of 
the Civil Registrar's Offices, certification or certified copies from these files and all other 
documents relating thereto shall considered public and shall be prima facie evidence of the truth 
of the facts therein contained. These public documents, except those documents which are to be 
kept strictly confidential as provided for under this act and other applicable laws shall be to the 
public during office hours and Shall be kept in a secured place which Shall be furnished to civil 
registrar at the expenses of the funds of the civil registrar's office, Philippine consulate office, or 
Sharita court concerned 
The civil registrar shall not, under any circumstances, permit any document entrusted to 
his/her care to be removed from his/her office, except upon lawful order of the court, in which 
case the proper receipt shall be secured. 
SECTION 35. Digital/Electronic of Births, Death, and Marriage. — There shall be a 
compulsory of all occurrences of births, deaths, and marriages from all Barangays of the 
Philippines. As Barangay Registration Agents, all Barangay Secretaries or their representatives 
are hereby mandated to report these events using appropriate and secure electronic devices and 
systems to the LCR/PSA and other government agencies mandated by law to monitor the status 
Of registration Of vital civil registry events and shall assist the subsequent registration thereof, 
Continuing skills training relevant to Digital/Electronic Reporting Of Births, Death and 
Marriages Of Barangay Registration Agents shall be provided by the PSA, I-GU, PACR and 
other accredited government and private institutions and organizations. This training shall 
Barangay Registration Agents with the knowledge and skills to properly implement 
digital/electronic civil registration. 
SECTION 36. Development of National Civil Registry Database (NCRD) Software. — 
The National Government through the National Computer Center in close coordination with the 
PSA. the PACR, and the DILG shall develop official software responsive to the NCRD 
implementation. Participation and assistance of international and local private organizations 
having parallel objectives on the full development of digital civil registration may sought in the 
development of this software, Among other features, this software shall include the highest 
degree of data security to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of its database. 
SECTION 37. Digitization Of all Civil Registry — A1 registered documents in the 
LCR/PSA shall digitized. In addition to the usual reports and forwarding of the printed hard copy 
files. digitized files shall also be submitted to the PSA as back up files of the National Civil 
Registry Database (NCRD), for digital archiving purposes. 


SECTION 38. False Statements. — Any who Shall knowingly make false statements in 
the furnished forms and present the same for entry in the Civil registers Shall in accordance with 
law unless it was done for the best interest of the Child. 
SECTION 39. Digitalization of Linkages and Interconnection Of All Participating 
LCR/PSA. — All capable LCR/PSA shall be interconnected to facilitate retrieval, online 
certifications, and for local government revenue generation using LGU-linked NCRD digital 
files. Participating LCR/PSA are hereby to issue certifications from NCRD for and in behalf of 
other LCR/PSA subject to pertinent laws, rules or regulations on the confidentiality of birth 
records. 
SECTION 40. Penal Provisions. — Persons in authority who knowingly fail to perform 
their duties in relation to this Act shall be held liable in accordance to law. 
Any solemnizing officer without being by the Civil Registrar or who, upon solemnizing 
marriage. refuses to exhibit his authority to solemnize marriage when called upon to do so by the 
parties or parents, grandparents. Guardians or persons having charge of the parties; or any bishop 
or officer, priest, minister, or imam. of any church, religion or sect the regulations and practices 
whereof require bans or publication previous to the solemnization of marriage that is 
subsequently declared illegal. or any solemnizing officer in violation of this Act, shall punished 
with imprisonment of not than six (6) months but not to three (3) years, a fine of not less than 
Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) but not more than One Hundred Thousand Pesos 
(P100,000.00), or both, and the revocation of the authority to solemnize upon the discretion of 
the Court. 
The attending physician, midwife, nurse, birth attendant, hospital administrator in-charge 
to cause the registration of live births but knowingly fails or withholds the delivery of copies of 
the certificate/s of live birth to the city or municipal civil registrar for registration, or any person 
who caused the failure of delivery, shall penalized by imprisonment of not more than six (6) 
months and a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00), or both, upon the 
discretion of the Court. 
SECTION 41. Withholding Of documents due to Non-payment Of hospital fees. — In no 
case shall failure to settle hospital bills, in full or in part, be a ground for non-delivery or 
withholding of the certificate of live birth or certificate of death or documents required in the 
issuance of the said certificate. 
SECTION 42. Use Of Fees and Income Collected. — All fees that are remitted to the 
PSA by the National Treasury and all income that the PSA is allowed to retain under law shall, 
any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding. be used primarily for operating expenses 
including capital outlay, upgrading of its current facilities, acquisition of office and 


establishment of satellite offices in the provinces, and Other activities or services the PSA in the 
Of its mandate needs. 
SECTION 43. Transitory Provisions. — The PSA shall carry out the reorganization of 
the civil registrars in such a manner that personnel of such office absorbed by the PSA shall 
continue to their duties and responsibilities in a holdover capacity so as not to unduly delay the 
production of statistics from ongoing censuses, surveys, and of administrative records. 
SECTION 44. Appropriations. — There shall be an initial appropriation Of One Hundred 
Fifty Million Pesos (Php 150,000,000.00) in the General Appropriations Act, which will in the 
PSA's budget for the initial development of software and the digitization Of the Civil Registrar's 
Office files. 
SECTION 45. Mandatory Review. — This Act shall undergo a mandatory review on its 
provisions every five (5) years to make the law more responsive to the needs of the times. The 
review shall be made by Congress, which shall conduct public hearings and record relevant 
testimonies of functionaries in the civil registration system, which shall be the basis of any 
amendment or of this Act. 
SECTION 46. Implementing Rules and Regulations ORR). — Within sixty (60) days 
from the effectivity of this Act, the PSA. shall promulgate the IRR for the effective 
implementation of this Act. The PSA may consult with the Department of Foreign Affairs, 
Department of Interior and Local Government. Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of 
Social Welfare and development (DSWD), National Commission of Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), 
the Office of the Supreme Court Administrator, the University of the Philippines Law Center, a 
national professional organization of local civil registrars duly registered with the and Exchange 
Commission, the National Privacy Commission, the of Health, the Office of Solicitor General, 
the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the Child Rights Network (CNN), the 
Commission on Human Rights (CHR, the Bureau of Immigration (BIR), the Council for the 
Welfare of Children (CWC), the National Council of Disability Affairs (NCDA), the 
Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), the Department of Education (DepEd), the Overseas 
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), related child caring agencies, international agencies, 
civil society organizations, related ministries of the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao 
(BARMM) and such other agencies in the formulation of the IRR. Other relevant stakeholders 
may also be consulted in the crafting of the IRR. 
Within ninety (90) days from the effectivity Of this Act, the OCRG shall issue 
implementing rules and regulations for the free delayed registration as in Section15 of this Act. 


SECTION 47. Clause. — If any part or provision of this Act which shall be held to 
invalid or unconstitutional. other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby Shall 
continue to be in force and effect 
SECTION 48. Repealing Clause. — Act NO. 3753 or the Law on Registry of Civil Status 
is Sec. 453, 454, and 479 Of the R.A. NO. 7160 or the Local Government of 1991 are also 
hereby repealed. All other laws, rules, regulations. orders, memoranda, or circulars inconsistent 
with this Act are hereby repealed and accordingly. 
SECTION 49. Construction. — In the interpretation of this law, the best interest of the 
child shall prevail. 
SECTION 50. Retroactivity — This Act Shall have retroactive effect insofar as it does 
not prejudice or impair vested or rights. 
SECTION 51. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in any of general circulation. 
Approved.