Quezon City’s birth registration initiative wins Galing Pook awards

MANILA, Philippines — Another initiative of the Quezon City government has been recognized as one of the best local government programs in the country.

The Quezon City Birth Registration Online (BRO) was among the 10 recipients of the Galing Pook Awards, which recognizes best practices and programs of local government units.

Launched in 2022, the QC BRO aims to improve birth registration by streamlining processes and removing costs.

According to the local government, the initiative was able to register more than 59,000 children who do not have birth certificates.

In 2023, the city council passed an ordinance to institutionalize the initiative.

It mandated all hospitals and birthing facilities in Quezon City to utilize the BRO system to ensure efficient birth registration.

The BRO also became an important source of reliable data for other local government agencies, the city government said.

“We are grateful for the recognitions given to our city in recent days,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said. “These awards are proof of the effectiveness of our programs for QCitizens and for the growth of our city’s economy.”

Aside from the BRO, another local government project – the Human Milk Bank Program – was among the finalists in this year’s Galing Pook Awards.

Quezon City received Galing Pook awards for the GrowQC urban agriculture program and IRISE UP risk monitoring and early warning system in 2020 and 2023, respectively.

Other winners of this year’s Galing Pook awards were Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro (waste water management); Balanga, Bataan (community-based ecotourism zone); Ormoc (marine mammal and reptile rehabilitation center); Valenzuela (child protection); Kapalong, Davao del Norte (establishment of first local college in the region); Pandi, Bulacan (community ampowerment and resettlement); Bataan (language restoration); Cabangan, Isabela (addressing illiteracy) and Taguig (breast cancer prevention).