Lawyer Leo Anthony Braceros, the City Civil Registrar’s Office Head said, his office will be establishing registration centers in 16 far-flung barangays this year under its Indigenous Peoples (IP) Civil Registration System program.
At the I-Speak media forum, Thursday (Feb. 2), Braceros said previous efforts fall short in urging all citizens to register births, marriages and deaths, especially in far-flung areas with the highest concentration of IP population.
“We noticed na everytime mag-conduct ta og mobile registration in very remote areas, naa pa gihapoy mabilin na IPs na unregistered since we cannot stay there for long,” he said.
That is why, he said, they decided to establish a civil registration system right there in their vicinity.
He said that 16 locations in 16 barangays inhabited by IP citizens have been identified and studied. The 16 pilot civil registration desks will be established in 12 barangays in District 3 to include Barangay Gumitan, Marilog Proper and Baganihan (to cater to the Matigsalug tribe); Barangays Salaysay, Magsaysay and Malamba (for the Ovu Manuvu); Barangay Dacudao, Baguio Proper and Tamayong (inhabited by the Klata tribe); and Barangays Atan-Awe, Daliaon Plantation and Catigan (for the Tagabawa).
In District two: Barangays Mapula, Tapak, Malabog and Pandaitan (to serve the Ata tribe).
With the establishment of civil registration desks in said communities, the IPs will no longer have to wait for a mobile civil registration team to visit them nor will they have to venture far from their homes to the district registration offices.
Braceros said the civil registration desks will be manned by chosen members of IP communities, adding the tribal leaders were the ones who selected candidates to become civil registration agents.
The IP registration agents were given seminar workshop on basic civil registration laws. They were also trained on how to properly prepare birth certificate and making the right inquiries to clients to determine false from genuine information.
The city is still eyeing more barangays to implement the said program should this be successful.
The city, meanwhile, has an average annual birth registration of 35,000, annual death registration of 8,000, and annual marriage registration of 10,000.
However, Braceros said these numbers do not accurately reflect the current population density of the city due to the undetermined number of unregistered citizens.(with reports from City Information Office).
Atty. Leo Anthony Braceros