Sagay City is targeting to assist up to 6,000 learners under its School-Based Civil Registration Assistance Program as the initiative enters its third year of bringing birth certificates and other civil registration services directly to students.
As of Nov. 3, around 4,377 learners have been identified as beneficiaries, while some schools have yet to submit the names of students, who will avail themselves of the service, city civil registrar, Engr. Vivencio Flores, said.
Of the beneficiaries, the Local Civil Registrar’s (LCR) Office has already released 1,974 birth certificates, with the remaining documents scheduled for distribution through continuing school visits.
Flores said LCR teams have been visiting schools across Sagay to personally distribute the documents, making civil registration services more accessible to learners and their families.
This school year, the program covers learners in kindergarten and grades 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12, while students from other grade levels were already served during the first two years of implementation.
The city government allocated P1.3 million for this year’s program through the Local Council for the Protection of Children.
The budget covers the cost of birth certificate copies as well as assistance for petitions for correction of entries, supplemental reports for missing information, and legitimation when applicable, the city said in a press release.
Flores said the program goes beyond simply providing copies of birth certificates by helping families correct errors or incomplete information in the civil registry records of their children.
The program was formally launched Oct. 8 at Eusebio Lopez Memorial Integrated School, after which LCR personnel began visiting schools based on a scheduled distribution plan.
Flores said Mayor Leo Rafael Cueva wants the program to continue until all learners under the Sagay Schools Division have complete and accurate birth certificates.
The city government is aiming to complete the initial coverage of learners from grades 1 to 12 by 2027, after which the program is expected to continue for incoming students who may still need civil registration assistance.
Accurate birth certificates are essential, not only for school enrollment but also for accessing government services, employment requirements, and other legal transactions later in life, the city said.
Through the school-based approach, Sagay City aims to lessen the burden on parents who would otherwise need to personally process the documents while ensuring that more learners have accurate and complete civil registration records. ||
