Republic Act No. 10172

In case the readers have forgotten what Republic Act No. 10172 is, this post would remind them anything they should know about this law.

Republic Act No. 10172 is an "Act Further Authorizing the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General to Correct Clerical or Typographical Errors in the Day and Month in the Date of Birth or Sex of a Person Appearing in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order, Amending for this Purpose Republic Act No. 9048".

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What is included in R.A. 9048 is only correction as to the typographical or clerical error of the FIRST NAME or NICKNAME of the person as appearing in the Civil Register.  Thus, in R.A. 10172, the clerical or typographical errors as to the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person have been added thereto.

What is the coverage of R.A. No. 10172?

It is basically limited to the clerical or typographical errors in the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person appearing in the civil register.  Clerical or Typographical Error refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth, mistake in the entry of day and month in date of birth or the sex of the person or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records.

Clearly, what shall be corrected are those those misspelled name or misspelled place of birth, mistake in the entry of day and month in the date of birth or the sex of the person which can be corrected or changed ONLY by reference to other existing record or records.

No petition for correction of erroneous entry concerning the date of birth or the sex of a person shall be entertained except if the petition is accompanied be earliest school record or earliest school documents such as, but not limited to, medical records, baptismal certificate and other documents issued by religious authorities; nor shall any entry involving change of gender corrected except if the petition is accompanied by a certification issued by an accredited government physician attesting to the fact that the petitioner has not undergone sex change or sex transplant.

Moreover, R.A. 10172 is not applicable to correction involving the change of nationality, age, or status of the petitioner.

Form and Contents of the Petition:

The petition for correction of a clerical or typographical error, or for change of first name or nickname, as the case may be, shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by law to administer oaths.

Supporting Documents:

The petition shall be supported by:

1.  A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;

2.  At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which  the correction or change shall be based; and

3.  Other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition.

The petition shall be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.

The petitioner shall also submit a certification from the appropriate law enforcement, agencies that he has no pending case or no criminal record.

The petition and its supporting papers shall be filed in three (3) copies to be distributed as follows: first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil registrar; or the consul general; second copy to the Office of the Civil Registrar General; and third copy to the petitioner.

Again, the correction can be done in the city or municipal civil registrar concerned or in the consul general, as the case may be.  No appearance in court is needed.