BORONGAN CITY– Over 100 residents from a far-flung barangay in Borongan availed of free birth registration as the City Civil Registration Office (CCRO) extended its services in Barangay Pinanag-an in observance of National Civil Registration Month.
Erlinda Delmonte, who had just registered 57 years after her birth, noted that she would never have her birth registered if the city government did not visit their barrio.
“Wara ak pakaiskuyla tungod nga pobre it ak mga kag-anak ngan bisan iton nga pagparehistro in yana gudla, dako it ak pagpapasalamat nga kinanhi kami, kay siguro kun waray kinanhi, ngada ka hasta di ak kakarehistro,” Delmonte said.
(We are so poor that my parents could not even afford to send me to school; I even had my birth registered just today. I’m very thankful [to the city government] for coming here; maybe I might not have been able to register my birth if not for them.)
According to City Civil Registrar Ma. Luisa M. Azul III, the outreach program aims to bring government services closer to the people by providing the residents of several disadvantaged areas in the city with the opportunity to avail of the free registration.
“Kinanhi kami ha Brgy. Pinanag-an para buligan adton mga tawo nga diri pa rehistrado, kay makuri man ha ira it pagkadto ha Borongan City Hall dara hit gastos hiton ira pasahe.mbes nga ipasahe nira, ira nala ipinapalit hin pagkaon,” Azul added.
(Since it is difficult for the locals to personally register at the Borongan City Hall due to travel expenses, we are here in Pinanag-an to provide our services for free, so they could purchase food with the money instead rather than use it for fares.)
Azul also shared that they are conducting an outreach program for the barangays with low birth registration records. Barangay Pinanag-an recorded the lowest based on the data of CCRO.
Barangay Pinanag-an can be reached via a 1 hour and 30 minutes boat ride, in addition to the 1 hour ride from the capital of Borongan. It was also considered one of the hotspots of insurgency before because, in 2019, six soldiers died in an encounter with the New People’s Army in the area.
“Masunod an iba pa nga mga barangay sugad han Benowangan ngan San Mateo. [Asya] kun ano man nga barangay an nagkikinahanglan han amon services, magpahibaro la didi ha opisina, amon tatalinguhaon nga mapasyada,” siring ni Azul.
(Barangays Benowangan and San Mateo will follow. Just alert our office if there are barangays that need our services; we will do our best to visit your area.)
Consequently, the CCRO will just notify the barangay officials should the birth certificates and the security papers from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) of those who registered are ready to be claimed.
Aside from birth registration, the CCRO also answered inquiries from individuals about civil documents, particularly on correcting typographical errors and changing status. Some also registered for the free mass civil wedding this June.
(LDL/VTG/with reports from BCIO)
