REVILLA-SPONSORED BILL FOR PERMANENT VALIDITY OF BIRTH, DEATH, AND MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES SIGNED INTO LAW

Republic Act No. 11909 or the "Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Birth, Death, and Marriage Act" was enacted into law Monday, August 1, 2022.

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Chairperson of the Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization, and Professional Regulation, principally sponsored and defended the bill in the Senate.

Through the law, the certificates of live birth, death, and marriage - that are issued, signed, certified, or authenticated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), its predecessor the National Statistics Office (NSO), and the local civil registries - shall have permanent validity regardless of the date of issuance.

Those certificates shall be recognized and accepted in all government and private transactions or services requiring the submission of the same as proof of identity and legal status of a person.

The law was legislated to address the growing concern that some government agencies and private institutions requiring the submission of the aforementioned documents accept only those documents obtained in the past 6 months prior to submission, thus creating an impression of a 6-month validity. Though the PSA has clarified that the certificates mentioned do not have an expiration, the constant changing of the color of the security paper leads to the rejection of the acceptance of long-issued documents.

This leaves many Filipinos with no choice but to request new copies of the certificates they need which are an additional financial burden to them.

"Malugod tayo na naipasa na ang 'Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Birth, Death, and Marriage Act' na pinagsikapan at pinagtulong-tulungan natin na madinig sa Senado. Ang panalo dito ay ang bawat Pilipino, na hindi kailangan gumastos pa nang paulit-ulit para sa mga certificates dahil ang mga hawak at nabayaran na nila ay di na mawawalan ng bisa", Sen. Revilla said.