6NWCR closing ceremonies highlights

may occur affecting an individuals civil status

like foundling, adoption, legitimation, annulment,
divorce and others . CRG also mentioned that
birth registration presents the fundamental universal right that every child born has the right to be
recognized by the state where it indicates prima
facie evidence of the childs existence. She also
stated that marriage as a human right initiative
molds the family as a basic unit of society. It is
protected legally by its compliance of the essential and formal requisites and is being recognized
by the State by its subsequent registration in the
civil register.

NSO Administrator& CRG Carmelita N. Ericta

during her synthesis and directions

Civil Registrar General (CRG) Carmelita N. Ericta in

her synthesis stressed that civil registration plays an
essential role in guaranteeing and preserving fundamental human rights. She defined civil registration as a
system by which the government records and registers
all vital events such as birth, marriage and death including all other events and circumstances in life that

Death registration and its derived mortality statistics on the other hand, are important for public
health policy planning and programming. CRG
Ericta also mentioned that changes in the civil
status of persons arising from effects of court decrees and legal instruments are necessary to be
legally established through registration or proper
annotations in the appropriate civil register.
Continued on page 3

3,057 participants of the 6NWCR

Despite of natural interventions and other unconstrained conditions, the 6NWCR became a success. A
total of 3,057 civil registrars and staff, local chief executives, solemnizing officers and other stakeholders
attended the 3-day workshop. The unexpected number
of attendees spilled over the venue that resulted to big
adjustments in all settings and preparations. The NSO
appreciated the participants understanding and their
resilience to the situations.
The closing ceremonies was graced by the Polytechnic
University of the Philippines (PUP) Maharlika Dance
Group.

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Maharlika Dance Group during the closing
ceremonies

Atty. Concepcion clarifies marriage laws

UP College of Law Dean, Danilo I. Concepcion,
started with a note that there are marriage laws
under the Family Code of the Philippines valuable
to local civil registrars (LCRs), solemnizing officers (SOs) and mayors. Atty. Concepcion emphasized on the application of provisions under
articles 14,18,35,36,37, and 38 useful in the performance of their duties.
Citing Art. 18, Atty. Concepcion stressed that
LCRs has only ministerial function and no function to determine if the parties are disqualified
and shall still issue the marriage license after the
interested party has completed all the requirements. In case of doubt and any known impediment, the LCR has only to put notation in the application for marriage license of the particulars of
the impediment. Art. 18 curtailed the previous
latitude enjoyed by LCRs in issuing marriage license where the parties affected have to go to
court to compel the LCR to issue the marriage
license.
According to Atty. Concepcion, psychological incapacity which is a ground for nullity of marriage
can be rooted back to the provisions of the
Canon Law. During those times, psychological
incapacity is considered as ground for absolute
divorce. However in the enactment of the Family
Code during President Cory Aquinos term, the
President would not allow to include those
grounds for absolute divorce. Framers of the law
still adopted the same and put those grounds in
Article 36 which is now considered as psychological incapacity.
Atty. Concepcion presented cases and situations
to further illustrate and explain provisions in Articles 14,18,20, and 34. A father filed for the nullity
of marriage of his daughter in the absence of his
signature in the affidavit of consent despite the
signature and consent given by the mother. The
action is justified based on Art 14 to quote
exhibit to the local civil registrar, the consent to
their marriage of their father, mother, surviving

Atty. Danilo I. Concepcion during his lecture

o n m a r r i a g e l a ws

parent or guardian, or persons having legal charge

of them, in the order mentioned. On the other hand,
if the father is missing or dead at the time of the
filing of the marriage license and it is only the
mother who signed the affidavit of consent, then,
the LCR may ask for additional requirements such
as the death certificate of the father. The situation
may become a ground for nullification of the marriage in the future opined by Atty. Concepcion.
He likewise illustrated a case wherein the father
questioned the authenticity of his signature saying
he did not consent to the marriage and that his signature was falsified. Atty. Concepcion posed the
question if the LCRs can issue the marriage license
or not. Notwithstanding the difficulty of authenticating the signature of the parents, validity of signatures are also of no issue but LCRs are forewarned
of the need for basis to avoid future problems, Atty.
Concepcion said. Another case he cited is about a
transsexual who was able to get a court order declaring the change in sex from male to female and
applies for a marriage license. Will the LCR issue
the marriage license? In the opinion of Atty. Concepcion, marriage license should be issued because LCR has ministerial power only and there is
already a court order.
Continued on page 5

Page 2

6NWCR ...
From page 1

The 6NWCR carries the theme Wastong Rehistro,

Pananagutan ng Bawat Pilipino. CRG Ericta said
that this years theme advocates to register vital
events, provide evidence that supports the legal
right of every citizen, the most basic of which is protecting their fundamental civil rights. Hence,
wastong rehistro is everyones responsibility. The
integrity of the documents should likewise be protected. She reiterated that all stakeholders and civil
registration agents have a duty to safeguard the
trustworthiness of the civil registry documents
since these personify the document owners and
essentially comprise and represent their legal personality as evidences of existence and realities or
ways of life.
There are still areas of concern that need to be addressed as pointed out by the CRG. Among these
were:

implementation of civil registration laws and

compliance to requirements as provided for in
the Family Code, RA 9048, RA 9255, RA 9858,
RA 9523 and other laws on civil registration as
well as the OCRG Administrative Orders;
execution of the role of civil registration officers,
agents and solemnizing officers in the context of
what is mandated under existing laws, procedures and protocols in carrying out birth, death,
marriage registration and all other circumstances in life, such as foundling, adoption, annulment, correction of entries, use of fathers
surname, legitimation, and other registrable
court decrees and legal instruments; and
registration protocols on children not covered by
RA 9523, stateless children, undocumented Filipinos and their children born abroad.

Adm. & CRG Carmelita N. Ericta, DA Paula Monina

G . C o l l a d o t o g e t h e r wi t h t h e D i r e c t o r s a n d
p a r t i c i p a n t s c o n c l u d e d t h e 6 NW C R wi t h t h e s i n g i n g
of the Hand in Hand song

Proactive and continuous participation of all

channels and agents on civil registration towards a
continuing advocacy on the moral, spiritual and legal significance of civil registration;

Awareness raising campaign on the importance

of civil registration, and its legal use and implications to society; and

Strengthened policy and program support on

laws concerning civil registration.

On the Mechanisms and Support Strategies, CRG

Ericta emphasized the following:
The need to reinforce policy review support in
the implementation of civil registration laws and
lobby among policy makers and legislators for proposed amendments, if theres any;

The need to address legal gaps on some provisions of various civil registration laws and other
laws that affect the civil status of persons;

The need to draw interest among stakeholders

to carry out religiously their functions as agents of
civil registration in accordance with the laws invoking their participation;

To address these concerns, CRG Ericta enumerated

the different policy actions, mechanisms and support
strategies that need to be carried out.

Institutionalization of programs that will enhance civil registration in the barangays through
BCRS and coordination with other welfare and de-

Under policy actions, CRG Ericta said that there is a

need for:

Continued on page 5
Page 3

VSD Chief Reolalas reveals top killer

From 1970 to 1989, it was noted that pneumonia
diseases in the country
was consistent to be the number one killer disease
in the country but it declined in the succeeding
years. In fact, it ranked fourth as killer disease in
2010 because diseases of the heart topped as
killer disease for two decades from 1990 to 2010.
To summarize, there has been a shift in the major
cause of death from communicable diseases to non
-communicable diseases or degenerative diseases
according to Chief Reolalas. She added that the
three leading causes of deaths from 1999 to 2010,
that is, diseases of the heart, cerebrovascular diseases and malignant neoplasm comprised less than
one-third (32.4%) of the total deaths in 1999 but
almost half in 2010 (43.5%). These three leading
causes of death, including diabetes mellitus are
called as lifestyle diseases.

VSD Chief Aurora T. Reolalas during her presentation

at 6NWCR

Many people die yearly due to diseases. Record

shows that deaths (from all causes of death) in
the country showed an increasing trend over the
past 40 years from 1970 to 2010 with a percent
change of about 108 percent in the past four decades, Vital Statistics Division (VSD) Chief Aurora
T. Reolalas said. She cited that death statistics
and analyses of its causes are essential to assess the effectiveness of the countrys health system and to help health planners in determining
whether they are focusing on the right kind of
public health programs and actions. Also, information on the diseases that causes of death
gives strong interest to start vigorous programmes to encourage lifestyle that will help prevent these illnesses. On the other hand, the government should allot enough health budget to
provide effective treatment.
Ms. Reolalas explained that the registered Certificate of Death (COD) is the tool used in obtaining
the data on deaths. In the Philippines, the classification of deaths according to cause that is being
employed follows the International Classification
of Diseases (ICD) Version 10 by the World Health
Organization (WHO).

To combat these kind of diseases, health program

managers shall make plans and programs such as
educate the population and conduct information
campaign on how to evade these lifestyle diseases, Reolalas added. It was also reiterated in
her presentation that timely registration of deaths
shall be given importance so that the death data
compiled will give a true picture of the health situation in the country in all levels of disaggregation,
and will be maximized by health planners in making
health programs and interventions.

Do you know that...

In 2009, reported deaths of Filipinos

abroad to Philippine Embassies reached
2,072. Of these, 62.0 % are males, 38.0%
are females.
In 2009, the third leading cause of death
was malignant neoplasm or cancer
(47,732 or 9.9%)
One in every two fetuses dies due to
disorders related to short gestation and
low birth weight in 2010
About 5.2 deaths per thousand population
occured in 2009
In 2009 the lowest number of deaths
occurred at age group 10-14 with 4,892 or
1.0 percent of the total
Page 4

6NWCR
From Page 3

velopment agencies;
Continuing conduct of advocacy related programs
on civil registration protocols and other civil registration basics;

The need to minimize and reduce errors in the

accomplishment of the various civil registry forms; and

The need to strengthen administrative protocols in

the registration procedures of various events, enhancements of systems such as PhilCRIS, DVSS,
Modified BCRS, SOIS and use of CRASM.

After discussing the policy actions and strategies,

CRG Ericta outlined the future plans of the Office of
the Civil Registrar General (OCRG) to guide all the
stakeholders and agents of civil registration. She presented the following plans:
Consolidation of policy action matters for review, such
as those requiring legislative action with amendments
of certain provisions of the law;

Review of administrative guidelines and consolidation of action matters that may require issuance of
circulars from the OCRG;

Implementation of the revised civil registry forms

Lobbying with identified legal and policy champions in the legislative and executive agencies for
RA 9048 amendments , Act 3753 amendments
and amendment of the Local Government Code
for BCRS

Strengthening network of Civil Registration Officers, agents, as well as Solemnizing Officers and
provide a wider venue for learning sessions that
will help in the execution of their duties;

Institutionalization of the modified BCRS

Fine-tuning of PhilCRIS

For SOs, issuance of CRASM with SO Identification Cards

Release of vital statistics and information about

civil registration for public consumption through
www.census.gov.ph;

Enhancement of the website of the Solemnizing

Officers which can now be

accessed
online
through
www.sois.census.gov.ph to include updated
directory of Solemnizing Officers, updates on
marriage laws, jurisprudence, marriage registration procedures and protocols.
Finally, the Administrator was grateful to all 3,057
participants who attended the 6NWCR despite of
the bad weather conditions and intense rain that
flooded almost all parts of Metro Manila. She ended
her synthesis by extending her invitation to all the
participants for the next National Workshop on Civil
Registration.
-End-

Atty. Concepcion
From Page 2

Interesting case of mayors who sign the Certificate

of Marriage even without personally attending to the
parties was also cited. Mayors with scheduled weddings but are absent due to compelling reasons still
affix their signature in the marriage document. Similarly, a case of a mayor who officiated marriage of
two celebrity friends in the absence of marriage license but with an instruction to LCR to commence
the issuance of the marriage license. The couple
was advised to come back for their marriage contract after the posting period of the marriage license. The mayor in this case can be charged for
falsification of document or can be penalized for
conducting illegal marriages under the Revised Penal Code.
During Kasalang Bayan, wherein several or many
pairs of bride and groom are present, the mayor
would designate a pastor or a solemnizing officer to
marry the constituents. In this case, not all attendees to the mass wedding are members or under
the same religious sect of the solemnizing officers.
Under the law, it is required that either or both of the
parties must be a member of the religious congregation or sect of the solemnizing officer.
-End-

Page 5

Answers to main issues...

Q1: Despite the issuance of a marriage license by
the local civil registrar (LCR), the solemnizing officer (SO) required the couple to obtain certification
of no marriage (Cenomar) from the NSO. Does the
SO has the right to require the couple to submit a
Cenomar?
A1 (Atty. Concepcion): Yes, the SO can require
them. The couple, however, has other option of
finding another SO that will not require them the
Cenomar.
Q2 : Should an LCR accept application for marriage
license (AML) of a person still under 18 years old if
he/she intends to marry within the 120 days of validity?
A2 (Atty. Concepcion): The LCR may accept the
application but is advised to indicate the start of the
validity to a date when the parties are already 18
years old.
Q3: A couple was married in Caloocan City by a
pastor who is of different religious sect. Their marriage was registered in Malolos, Bulacan. Months
after, they were remarried in Marinduque by a
bishop. In the COLB of their children the date of
marriage indicated was the second marriage. Upon
request, they discovered that the NSO copy reflected the first marriage. What is the implication of
the marriages?
A3 (Atty. Concepcion): First marriage although
invalid is recorded with NSO. If the subsequent
marriage is within the 120 validity period of the marriage license, the 2nd marriage is valid. For a marriage to be valid, recording is not a requirement.
Q4: One of the procedures for registration is the
out-of-town recording of a vital event. The LCR
who received the documents for registration aside
from finding irregularities on the submitted documents has personal knowledge of some facts. The
LCR then asked for original copies and is still waiting for the said documents.

A4 (Atty. Concepcion): Even if the duty of the LCR

is ministerial, in this particular case he/she may determine the veracity of the presented documents for
registration.
Q5: A couple separated without getting court order.
One spouse cohabited with another. The legal
spouse died so the other spouse sought to marry
the common law partner after a year. They claimed
that they were exempted from getting the marriage
license since they were living in together for 11
years.
A5 (Atty. Concepcion): Analogous to the Nial vs.
Bayadog case, they cannot claim exemption from
getting the marriage license since they live only for
a year without an impediment.
Q6: A request for Cenomar of a person resulted to
an advisory of marriage (Cemar) stating that there
exist a marriage certificate bearing his name. He
discovered that his brother used his birth certificate
to marry someone. Can the LCR issue marriage
license to that person?
A6(Atty. Concepcion): The LCR may issue the
marriage license but have to put annotation that
there is a record of marriage. The parties involved
should be accountable for any problems that may
crop up because of the ensuing event. The marriage of the brother is valid.
Q7: LCR observed that there is no allotted space
where annotations on impediments and irregularities may be indicated in the marriage license.
Where can the LCR place the annotations?
A7 (Atty. Concepcion): Under Art 18, annotations
should be placed in the AML and not in the marriage license itself. With the limited space of AML,
it can be placed on the side or can be attached to
the AML. Future revisions may consider allotment
of space or item for notations.

Page 6

PHOTO GALLERY

A t t y . D a n i l o I . C o n c e p c i o n a n d Ms . A u r o r a T.
Reolalas during the open forum

N S O R e g i o n X, D i r e c t o r S a l v a d o r A . A v e s
a c t e d a s e m c e e i n t h e 6 NW C R c l o s i n g
ceremonies

Distribution of kits to the participants

Participant asking question to the resource

speakers during the open forum

A d m . C a r m e l i t a N . E r i c t a a n d D A P a u l a Mo n i n a G .
Collado during the
a wa r d i n g o f p l a q u e
of
recognition to the resource speakers

Distribution of Certificate of Attendance to the

p a r t i c i p a n t s wi t h A d m . E r i c t a s u p e r v i s i n g t h e
committee
Page 7