Councilor wants indigents free from fees

CEBU, Philippines - Residents in Cebu City classified as indigents may soon be exempted from paying fees for documents relating to birth, marriage and death that are being collected by the Office of the Civil Registrar.

This will happen if the City Council will pass the ordinance of Councilor Sisinio Andales.

Andales cited Republic Act No. 9048 or "An act authorizing 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, amending for this purpose Articles 376 and 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines."

He said R. A. No. 9048 makes the correction of clerical or typographical error and change of firs name or nickname in the birth records of individuals less costly and much easier to process.

"This representation had observed that some Cebu City residents are unable to process their application birth registration and for corrections or changes of their birth records or the lack of it due to the prohibitive costs of the filing and other fees and expenses in relations therewith," he said.

The proposed measure defines an indigent resident as "any Cebu City residents who is a registered voter of Cebu City for at least a year, including their child or children, certified to by the Department of Social Welfare and Services of Cebu City as indigent."

The registration fees of birth, marriage and death is collected by the Office of the Cebu City Civil Registrar, while the correction or changes of records is in the Civil Registry.

Individuals who want to be classified as indigent will be interviewed by DSWS to determine their eligibility.

Section 3 of the proposed measure states that "the availing individual shall submit, together with other requirements, to the Local Civil Registrar's Office a certification issued by the DSWS Office attesting that he/she is an indigent resident of the City of Cebu, for that individual to avail of the exemption provided for in this ordinance."

If classified as indigent, DSWS will issue a "Certificate of Indigency."

With this, Andales wants DSWS to provide guidelines in the application for such certification.

Section 6 provides the penalty clause which states that "any misrepresentation concerning the income and property requirements that is done for the purpose of availing of the benefit under this ordinance and upon proof thereof shall be punished as follows; for the first offense, a fine of P2,000 or an aggregate of eight hours community service; for the second offense, a fine of P3,000 or 24 hours community service; and for the third offense, a fine of P5,000 or imprisonment of not less than 60 days but not more than 90 days, or both such fine and imprisonment. (FREEMAN)