Davao City Civil Registrar's Office Reports Significant Decline in Birth Certificate Applications
The Davao City Civil Registrar's Office (CCRO) has documented a notable decrease in applications for birth certificates, with figures dropping from approximately 29,000 in 2024 to 27,000 in 2025. This decline highlights challenges in civil registration processes within the region.
Official Statistics and Causes of the Drop
During the ISpeak media forum held on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at the City Mayor's Office, Nenita Hementera, Division Head of the CCRO's Birth Division, provided detailed insights. She reported that the office processed 29,090 applications in 2024, but only 27,310 applications were received in 2025. Hementera attributed this significant reduction to the unpreparedness of applicants following the implementation of new requirements.
She explained, "So medyo nabigla tong mga applicants or registrants, so syempre nag-prepare sila, ang nakuha nila nga requirements is base pa tong before nga gipagawas nga memorandum circular." This translates to applicants being caught off guard as they prepared based on outdated guidelines, leading to a drop in successful submissions.
Impact of PSA Memorandum Circular 2024-17
The primary factor behind the decline is the introduction of stricter policies through PSA Memorandum Circular 2024-17, which targets delayed registration. Delayed registration applies to births not recorded within 30 days and now requires a comprehensive set of documents to ensure authenticity and prevent fraud.
Key requirements for delayed registration include:
- A PSA negative result confirming no existing record
- A joint affidavit
- Two supporting documents such as baptismal certificates, school records, or government-issued IDs
- Additional items like two pieces of 2x2 white background photos, national ID, barangay certificate of residency, valid IDs of parents, marriage contract, and cedula
- Mandatory personal appearance for adult registrants
Adeline G. Batucan, chief statistical specialist of the PSA Davao del Sur Provincial Statistical Office, emphasized that these new guidelines were implemented to address verification issues encountered nationwide over the past two years. These issues included concerns related to fake registrants, and now all certified documents carry verification stickers to enhance security.
Outreach Initiatives to Improve Accessibility
In response to the challenges, the CCRO and PSA have launched extensive outreach programs to make civil registration more accessible and reduce delays. These initiatives aim to bring services closer to residents, especially those in remote areas.
Key efforts include:
- Weekly broadcasts of civil registration updates to keep the public informed
- Operational district offices in locations such as Paquibato, Bunawan, Buhangin, Tugbok, Toril, Baguio, Calinan, and Marilog
- Barangay Civil Registration Systems training for local staff, including 16 Indigenous Peoples communities, to eliminate language barriers and prevent name spelling errors
- Out-of-town registration coordinated through PSA-Davao Region evaluation
- School-based programs involving 40 public school teachers and 10 mobile Alternative Learning System teams
- Participation in Local Government Unit caravans and Brigada Eskwela activities
- Trained Civil Registration Agents conducting house-to-house visits and setting up mobile registration sites in barangays or tribal halls
Importance of Civil Registration and Future Goals
Officials stressed that these initiatives reflect a collective effort to ensure every resident of Davao City and the Davao Region has access to proper civil registration. This is essential for accessing education, employment, government services, and travel documents. With ongoing support from local barangays, schools, and Indigenous communities, the goal is to minimize delayed registrations and make the process more efficient, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of all citizens.
It is important to note that all PSA birth certificates, including older National Statistics Office-issued copies, have permanent validity as long as they are authentic. The PSA processes and encodes all records every tenth of the following month to maintain accuracy and timeliness in the system.
