#birth certificate

A Senate bill that seeks for the permanent validity for birth, death, and marriage certificates lapsed into law on July 28, pursuant to the Article VI, Section 27(1) of the Philippine Constitution. The said bill provides for the permanent validity of birth, death and marriage certificates issued, signed, certified or authenticated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and its predecessor, the National Statistics Office, regardless of the date of issuance. The bill also covers documents from the Local Civil Registries, and the reports of birth, death, and marriage that are registered and issued by the Philippine Foreign Service Posts. Revilla, the bill has come into legislation to address the issue on some private entities and government agencies only accepting copies of PSA birth certificate obtained within the past six-months, creating the impression of a six-month validity. Although, PSA in one of the Senate hearings about the bill, said that these certificates do not expire, Sen. Revilla reasoned that the constant changing of security paper's color may lead rejection of long-issued certificates. Furthermore, the measure also stated under Section 5 that it prohibits any entities, whether government agencies or private institutions, from requiring submission of newer copies of the said certificates when a valid document can already be presented. Read more in our articles including "Bill seeking permanent validity of birth, death, marriage certificates lapses into law" and "PSA introduces online access for birth, marriage, and death certificates".