President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. addressed public concerns about the difficulty of correcting birth certificate records in his latest vlog, citing suggestions from citizens who shared their experiences in the comment section of his previous episode about government services.
Marcos said many Filipinos raised issues about the complicated process of correcting errors in civil registry documents, including the requirement to amend mistakes one letter at a time and the need to travel long distances to the place of birth for late registrations.
One commenter, identified as Bong Dalo, pointed out the inconvenience of having to return to Mindanao to fix documents despite currently living in Luzon, noting the financial burden of travel.
Responding to the concern, Marcos acknowledged the difficulty of the process and emphasized the government’s push to improve services through digitalization.
“Ay mukha talagang pahirapan ito. Sa tingin ko, sa mga nagagawa na nating improvement gamit ang e-gov at internet, dapat isa na ito sa mga serbisyong hindi na natin inaalala. Napaka-basic naman yan,” Marcos said.
The President highlighted the newly launched e-certificate service of the Philippine Statistics Authority, which allows Filipinos to apply for digital copies of civil registry documents such as birth and marriage certificates.
“Nitong nakaraang linggo lang, sa pamamagitan ng PSA o Philippine Statistics Authority, meron na tayong PSA e-certificate service. Dito na kayo makakapag-apply ng digital copy ng inyong birth certificate, marriage certificate at iba pang mga dokumento,” he said.
Marcos also stressed that digital documents must be recognized by all government offices to maximize the benefits of the government’s digitalization program.
However, he noted that some processes may still require personal appearance to prevent fraudulent registrations, referencing previous controversies involving alleged falsified birth records linked to dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo.
“But having said that, kailangan natin intindihin na ang physical appearance sa ibang proseso ay hindi natin maisawalang-bahala para hindi tayo malusutan ng fraudulent birth registration,” Marcos added.
