To avoid any discrepancy or error in the entries of information in a birth certificate, a Quezon City councilor has proposed an ordinance prescribing procedures in the issuance of live birth certificates by every hospital, lying-in clinic and registered midwife.
Councilor Alex Herrera said that one of the major problems encountered by those securing an authenticated copy of birth certificates from the Civil Registry Office (CCRO) or the National Statistics Office (NSO) is error in the entries.
Examples of this error, Herrera said are misspelled name, typographical errors, gender and other discrepancies that is both costly and tedious to correct, not to mention the amount of time involved in the processing of the corrected documents.
The objective of the proposed ordinance is to prevent the occurrence of error and discrepancies and to provide a more efficient, systematic and expeditious procedure in the issuance of birth certificates by every maternity hospital, lying-in clinic and registered midwife in Quezon City.
Under the ordinance, a temporary certificate of live birth (TCLB), a temporary document shall be issued to the parent or guardian of a newborn child by a medical entity that assists in the live birth in QC.
The TCLB shall contain all entries surrounding the live birth of a child, written in print, duly signed by the attending physician or registered midwife, stating the full name, address and telephone/cellular number of the medical entity and duly acknowledged by the parent or guardian of the newborn child.
Within three (3) days after the live birth of the child or before discharge from the hospital, a TCLB in two copies, prepared by the medical entity and read and checked by the parents or guardian, will be attached and shall form an integral part of the certificate of live birth submitted to the CCRO ad NSO.
Any owner of a maternity hospital, lying in clinics or any medical entity and registered midwife in QC who fails or refuses to issue a TCLB will be fined P5,000 or imprisoned for 1 month. -30- Divine/ Maureen Quinones, PAISO
