Senate OKs bill on lifetime validity of birth, death, and marriage certificates!

The Senate recently approved on third and final reading a measure conferring permanent validity on birth, death, and marriage certificates.

Birth certificate (Photo from PSA)

Pinoys do not have to spend time and money in securing new copies soon?

Under SB 2450, certificates of live birth, death, and marriage issued signed, certified, or authenticated by the Philippine Statistics Authority and its predecessor, the National Statistics Office, and the local civil registries shall have permanent validity regardless of the date of issuance and shall be recognized and accepted in all government or private transactions or services.

This means students and workers will no longer need to secure new birth certificates each time they apply for school or employment as proof of their identity as a person. This costs the applicant PHP 155 for an authenticated copy, or P365 when delivered at their address.

Sponsor and Author Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. said that it is especially unfair to those who are first-time job seekers. He added in a manifestation,

With this piece of legislation, we have clearly and categorically provided the permanent validity of the civil registry documents regardless of the date of issuance. As such, they will be recognized and accepted in all government or private transactions. Through this, our people do not have to unnecessarily spend time and money securing new copies of their documents.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said that enacting the bill would spare many Filipinos the inconvenience of repeatedly applying for such certificates. He explained the analogy behind that if land titles do not have best-before markings, civil service documents should also have none.

Once this bill is passed into law, violators will receive a punishment of one to six months imprisonment or a fine of not less than PHP 5,000 but not more than PHP 10,000, or both based on the discretion of the court.

Also, the bill states that if the offense is done by a public official or employee, an accessory penalty of temporary disqualification to hold public office shall likewise be charged.

See also: Birth, death, marriage certificates now permanently valid!

What do you think?

Source: Inquirer