ILOILO City – Poor residents could soon correct clerical and typographical errors in their civil registry documents without paying the city’s P1,300 administrative fee after the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) approved on final reading an ordinance removing the charge for qualified indigent applicants.
The measure, authored by Councilor Jose Maria Miguel Treñas, seeks to eliminate a financial barrier that could prevent indigent residents from correcting errors in their birth, marriage and death certificates.
Under the proposed ordinance, qualified indigent applicants will be exempted from the P1,300 administrative fee imposed by the Iloilo City Government for covered corrections. They will only need to present a certificate of indigency from their barangay to establish eligibility.
Treñas said the ordinance is intended to reinforce an exemption already available to indigent petitioners under Republic Act (RA) 9048, as amended by RA 10172, while ensuring they are also spared from applicable local administrative charges.
“Under RA 9048, as amended by RA 10172, qualified indigent petitioners are already exempt from paying the prescribed filing fees for corrections covered by these laws. Pero madamo gihapon sa aton mga kasimanwa ang wala nakahibalo nga may amo sini sila nga benepisyo,” Treñas said.
He said the local measure would establish a clearer mechanism for indigent residents seeking corrections and remove additional costs that could discourage them from fixing errors in important civil records.
“Through our proposed local ordinance, we want to strengthen this protection by ensuring that qualified indigent constituents will no longer have to worry about other applicable administrative fees payable to the Iloilo City Government in processing covered petitions,” he said.
Treñas stressed that correcting errors in civil registry documents should not become inaccessible simply because an applicant cannot afford the administrative costs.
“More importantly, we want to make this information reach the people who need it most and institutionalize a clear local mechanism so that mas madamo ang makabalo, mas madamo ang maka-avail, kag wala sang oportunidad nga madula tungod lamang kay wala sang ikasarang magbayad,” he said.
He said the proposed ordinance was prompted by the need to ensure that financial limitations would not prevent residents from correcting mistakes in documents that are crucial in many government, legal and personal transactions.
“Sometimes, good legislation begins simply by listening,” Treñas said.
“Kag kon mamati kita sa kabudlayan sang tawo, mas makahimo kita sang mga polisiya nga nagasabat sa ila kinahanglanon,” he added.
The measure covers corrections of typographical and clerical errors in birth, marriage and death certificates, subject to qualifications and requirements under applicable laws and the ordinance./PN
