For our current times, it’s hard to wrap our minds around the idea of individuals being undocumented and unregistered.
This is even worse when you remember government agencies in recent years have made continuous efforts to make these processes streamlined.
Unfortunately, these cases remain to haunt our society—there’s still a student somewhere forced to drop out; a bed-ridden child in a hospital deprived of free health services; or a tricycle driver barely making ends meet—all without the basic government documents.
This crop of indigents, although constantly challenged by fewer and missed opportunities, are being actively changed for the better.
One of the figures leading this charge is the City Civil Registrar’s Office of San Pedro City, whose department head Riah Fojas believed that such entitlement should be fundamental in the first place.
“This is the first document that you have for identification. This is the basic document ng isang tao. Ito'y karapatan din ng isang individual na magkaroon ng pagkakakilanlan,” she explained.
It was these efforts that earned Fojas’ office recognition from national government agencies, who hailed their continuous efforts to ensure that every San Pedrense will be registered.
On February 11, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) awarded the local office led by Riah Fojas at the 2024 CALABARZON Outstanding Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) Awards in Lipa City, Batangas.
They were the top performer in Laguna for the category of Extra Large, marking it their third consecutive year to appear in the top five.
According to PSA, the selection for Outstanding LCROs are greatly determined by their delivery of civil registration programs, activities and services which must adhere to the standards of the national agency.
Poorer sections
In an interview with Fojas, the local Civil Registrar emphasized that it is even more important that those from poorer sectors have access to civil registration because otherwise any hopes of gaining assistance from the government would be a pipe dream.
With the support of Mayor Art Mercado, rural communities were able to be reached by the City Civil Registrar’s Office through their intensified initiatives such as mobile registration, information education campaign, and partnership programs.
But it is their commitment to inclusivity that really propelled them to great success, and it is evident in their choice of programs.
“What we do, nagpupunta kami sa mga Buntis Congress. Yung mga buntis, yung mga manganganak na.
Nagpupunta kami sa bara-barangay para mag-campaign and also we coordinate with even the barangays for the conduct of mobile registration sa kanila.
Ang isa pang maganda na katulong sa atin is the joint memorandum of agreement with DepEd na every year we conduct mobile registration in all schools in San Pedro.”
These mobile registrations, for instance, run for about a whole year and cover all barangays in San Pedro to make sure no one is truly left behind.
Achievements
Through the City Civil Registrar Office’s efforts, they had successfully submitted to the Civil Registration Service (CRS) the following documents: 3304 birth certificates, 884 mariage certificates, 1819 death certificates and 860 marriage licenses.
This recognition not only values their efforts but also empowers them to surpass the threshold with the implementation of their upcoming project.
Fojas shared their plans of launching a mobile office this year which is set to feature a one-stop shop to lessen the burden of San Pedrenses.
“Kasi let's face it, yung iba ay hindi kaya makapunta ng City Hall dahil walang pamasahe. Gusto ko talagang babain yung mga tao. Puntahan sila through the mobile office.
And aside from that, we are coordinating with the PDAO and also the OSCA, yung mga matatanda na hindi na makakapunta dito sa opisina. Gusto ko i-home visit na lang sila tapos dala na namin lahat ng isang opisina.”
The consistent track record of City Civil Registrar’s Office as an Outstanding LCRO proves that inclusivity is the name of the game.
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