THE City Council has finally approved an ordinance establishing guidelines for and allowing the registration of births for people born in Iloilo City but are not born in hospitals or maternity clinics and whose births are not attended by a licensed physician or midwife.
In Tuesday's session, September 6, proponent City Councilor RLeone Gerochi confirmed there is an increasing number of births in this city that are not registered by reason that such deliveries were not made in hospitals or maternity clinics.
Gerochi said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child provides that “the child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name and the right to a nationality.”
The office of the City Local Civil Registrar also registered its approval of the measure in fulfillment of the right to have one’s birth registered as a prerequisite to the fulfillment of the other rights enshrined in the Constitution such as the right to education, the right to health care and the right of suffrage, among others.
The proposed ordinance on births within the territorial jurisdiction of Iloilo City not made in hospitals or maternity clinics and without the assistance of licensed physician of midwife shall be allowed registration by the Local Civil Registrar subject to compliance of documents.
These documents are the National Statistics Office/Philippine Statistics Authority (NSO/PSA) issued Negative Result of Child; NSO/PSA issued certificate of no marriage of parents if not married; NSO/PSA issued marriage certificate of parents; cedula of parents, valid ID cards of parents; baptismal certificate, immunization card or dedication of the child; certification issued by the barangay captain confirming the birth of the child; certification issued by the head of the district health officer confirming the birth; joint affidavit of two disinterested person who have witnessed the birth; and affidavit of explanation by the mother or father stating the reasons o circumstances why the birth of the child did not took place in a hospital or clinic. (LCP/Sunnex)