The Local Civil Registry Office noted a significant increase in the number of petitions for correction of entries in vital civil registration documents pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9048 that authorizes the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul-general to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial order.
Local Civil Registry Luz Perez stated there has been a notable increase in the number of petitions filed by concerned individuals during the first quarter of this year with 207 or a 35 percent increase compared to the 153 petitions for correction of entries filed in the said office during the same period last year.
She claimed that petitions filed under correction of clerical error registered the highest number from the types of petitions filed during the first quarter of this year.
Under the 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 in accordance with the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.
Further, Any person having direct and personal interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil register may file, in person, a verified petition with the local civil registry office of the city or municipality where the record being sought to be corrected or changed is kept.
In case the petitioner has already migrated to another place in the country and it would not be practical for such party, in terms of transportation expenses, time and effort to appear in person before the local civil registrar keeping the documents to be corrected or changed, the petition may be filed, in person, with the local civil registrar of the place where the interested party is presently residing or domiciled. The two (2) local civil registrars concerned will then communicate to facilitate the processing of the petition.
Citizens of the Philippines who are presently residing or domiciled in foreign countries may file their petition, in person, with the nearest Philippine Consulates.
The petitions filed with the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall be processed in accordance with this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.
All petitions for the clerical or typographical errors and/or change of first names or nicknames may be availed of only once.
Section 4 of RA 9048 provided that the petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce; the new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and he has been publicly known by that by that first name or nickname in the community or the change will avoid confusion.
Moreover, the petition shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by the 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.
