BACOLOD CITY — A Negrense couple and their nine children from a remote village in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, have been officially registered through the Birth Registration Assistance Project (BRAP) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), marking a significant step towards accessible civil documentation in rural areas.
According to the Philippines News Agency, the family’s geographical isolation in mountainous Sitio Bula, Barangay Carol-an, was a major factor delaying the birth registrations of Julito Amper, 50, and his wife Marisa Amorganda, 48, along with their nine children. The PSA initiative provided them with their first official documents on security paper (SECPA). “I’m grateful to the PSA-Negros Occidental and the Civil Registrar’s Office of Kabankalan City for making civil registration services more accessible to people from the far-flung areas through their mobile registration initiatives,” said Amper.
On September 4, the entire family, comprising the parents and their children aged between 5 and 27, simultaneously received their SECPA birth certificates free of charge, setting a record for the most number of birth registrations filed at once under a single household in both Negros Occidental and the country. The acting City Civil Registrar, Monalisa Tabujara, along with representatives from PSA-Negros Occidental, facilitated the registrations and also distributed tokens to the family.
The Amper-Amorganda children, Junly, 27; Jomar, 21; Mica, 18; Melie, 16; Joniboy, 13; Joemary, 11; Julimar, 9; Julito Jr., 8; and Josil, 5, were all registered alongside two of the couple’s grandchildren. The logistical challenges for the family are considerable, requiring a 20-minute trek to the barangay center and an approximately hour and a half trip by tricycle to reach the city center.
This event follows another notable BRAP achievement from last July, when the PSA-Negros Occidental issued an official SECPA birth certificate to Enriquita Quillano Olitan, a 101-year-old woman from Kabankalan City, making her the oldest BRAP beneficiary in the province.
The BRAP, in collaboration with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and local government units, aims to improve civil registration coverage, particularly among marginalized communities and in economically disadvantaged areas, ensuring that all Filipino births are recorded.