Birth registration helps Philippines families

Families are being registered in the Philippines

Marlon studied hard to finish high school. He dreamed of finding a job to help his parents and for them to support his 10 younger siblings at school.

When Marlon graduated with good grades he worked hard for several months to save for the 18-hour journey from Lope de Vega in Northern Samar to the capital, Manila City to seek work.

Unfortunately just as his dream was about to become a reality his sacrifices suddenly seemed in vain. Despite the grades and his competence Marlon was not accepted in any of the jobs he applied for. No one would offer him a job because he did not have a birth certificate.

Everyone in the family was upset. Marlon’s inability to find a job would mean three of his siblings would have to quit school, as the family simply did not have the income to support them. Marlon’s mother Lolita said; “I did not realise that a birth certificate could be this important.”

The only thing the family could do was to save money to procure all the necessary documents that Marlon needed for him to get a birth certificate. Despite birth certificates for newborn babies being free, many families in Lope de Vega do not realise the importance of registering their children until its too late.

Like Lolita they expect their children to live the same life they had - finish elementary school, work in the farm and have their own family, without having any use for a birth certificate. Most parents are not aware that birth registration is the basic right of a child.

The importance became even more apparent when school officials announced that no one would be allowed to graduate in elementary and high school if they did not have a birth certificate.

Plan’s response

Lolita is helping children get birth certificates

Plan assessed that in Northern Samar only 49 per cent of children between 0-17 years of age are registered and that adult registration is also low.

In partnership with the national and local government, Plan is providing mobile birth registration and has helped train village officials, child leaders and community volunteers, enhancing their capacities as advocates of children’s rights and birth registration. Community civil registration agents were also given orientation on assisting in the preparation of the certificates.

Communities helped disseminate information to the village residents about the mobile birth registration and the local government waived late registration fees. To date, the mobile registration campaign has been able to register 663 out of 1,561 unregistered children.

This simple accomplishment has been considered a success by Lope de Veganhons and for the campaign to offer children the basic right to a name and nationality.

Marlon and his family’s future now looks bright, him and six of his siblings’ birth registrations are now in process and another two have been received.

Marlon’s mother Lolita has since made a personal commitment to prevent others from experiencing the same incident their family had. She is now an active community volunteer doing her little share in making a difference in the lives of children, not just her own, but of the whole community of Lope de Vega.