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MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking the permanent validity of birth, death, and marriage certificates has lapsed into law.
Sharing a document dated August 1 from the Office of the President, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., the sponsor of Republic Act No. 11909, said the measure became law on August 1.
“Malugod tayo na naipasa na ang ‘Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Birth, Death, and Marriage Act’ na pinagsikapan at pinagtulong-tulungan natin na madinig sa Senado,” Revilla, chair of the Senate committee on civil service, government reorganization, and professional regulation, said in a statement.
(We are happy that the Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Birth, Death, and Marriage Act that we worked hard for and worked on together in the Senate has become law.)
“Ang panalo dito ay ang bawat Pilipino, na hindi kailangan gumastos pa nang paulit-ulit para sa mga certificates dahil ang mga hawak at nabayaran na nila ay di na mawawalan ng bisa,” he added.
(The winner here is every Filipino who no longer has to shell out money repeatedly for certificates because theirs won’t lose validity.)
Under the new law, birth, death, and marriage certificates are signed, issued, certified, or authenticated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), its predecessor, the National Statistics Office, and local civil registries will have permanent validity.
The certificates will also be acknowledged and accepted in government and private transactions or services “requiring the submission of the same as proof of identity and legal status of a person.”
Before the measure was enacted into law, some government agencies and private entities only accepted the certificates obtained in the past six months before submission.
While the PSA noted that the said certificates do not have an expiration date, the changing color of the security paper leads to the rejection of the documents. Hence, Filipinos needing the said certificates request new copies.