What to do when you do not have your first name on PSA/NSO birth certificate?

I discovered that the NSO version of my birth certificate does not have my first name on it, the no-name issue on the birth certificate. Well, that was in 2014, but I did not bother to fix it until this year when I am required to get a passport. So, inasmuch that I don’t like doing paperwork in government offices, I have to.

In general, one must go to their respective city hall/municipality where their birth is registered, file for a No Name case, accomplish a Supplemental Report and have it notarized, submit it to the local civil registry staff and from there you have to deal with waiting and following up with NSO/PSA.

*Please note that this process I discussed in here was based on how it was done in the MANILA CITY HALL. Processing may vary for other city halls/municipalities.

But here’s how I am able to have my problem about having no name on my birth certificate fixed (well not yet, as I still have to go back and forth to the Manila City Hall because the process is not yet done.)

1. Obtain the latest copy of the local birth certificate. Check out how I got a copy of my local birth certificate. 

2. Go to the information desk for a new instruction on how to fix no name issue on the birth certificate. Tell them you already have your latest LCR birth certificate. 

3. Make sure to bring any form of identification documents and IDs with you plus at least two copies of each (diploma, baptismal certificate, etc.). After getting the new instructions from the Information Desk, you have to go to the No Name/ Supplemental Report desk and submit the documents you have, at least two IDs plus the photocopies of the IDs.

4. You will be provided with a blank Supplemental Report. I found a copy of the same online. You have to fill this out CORRECTLY. The staff will provide a guiding document so it would be easy for you. Please avoid erasures as much as possible. If you are not the owner of the birth certificate read the document thoroughly.

Download Supplemental Report -Manila (If you wish to print this on your own, make sure to use an A4 size paper.)

The Supplemental Report will be attached to all your documents. A payment slip will be given to you. You have to pay Php450 at the Payments counter (Window 3) for the Supplemental Report. Afterwards, you have to have the Supplemental Report notarized. I was advised to go to a specific office for this (second floor of the city hall). Notarization is Php50.00.

5. You have to go back to the No Name/Supplemental Report Desk and submit all the documents, plus the Php450 receipt and the notarized supplemental report. From there you will be given a new claim stub.

From what I understand from the staff, the document will be prepared for endorsement to PSA (formerly known as NSO) and be ready after 5 working days. But she also added that after that, I have to go back (again!) to the city hall the following week, before submitting it to the PSA office (at Sta. Mesa). She suggested though that it’s better to return two weeks after (instead of May 9, better to come to the office on May 19). I agreed, and the process stopped temporarily there.

Time spent for the whole transaction: 40 minutes

Fees: 450 for the supplemental report; 50 for document notarization

May 9, 2017

I returned to Manila City Hall to follow up regarding my local birth certificate. I was scheduled to claim it at 2pm at the Releasing section. Came 2pm, I handed my claim stub to the staff and he handed me the copies of the papers I submitted with signatures and stamps (my LCR birth certificate contains a handwritten first name), plus a note that I have to return after two weeks for the transmittal slip. I hesitated to follow the advice to me last week as the document might stay pending if I did not claim it today. But it seems the advice was a bit credible. My bad.

Sorry but I have to say this: THE PROCESS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!!!! I went half-day off from work for this, traveled to Manila for one to one and a half hours, only to be able to CLAIM the document and be told to just go back after a week or two to do another process. Mind you, the processing of my no-name issue has not reached the NSO/PSA process yet; I am still in the City Hall processing stage! My travel time to and from work is even longer than my five-minute transaction in the Civil Registry Office today. Isn’t it possible to finish all these paperwork in one to two days (knock knock Mayor Erap)? The timeframe I spent in the last three weeks going to and from the Manila City Hall hints that it is possible. 

I started this transaction on May 2, returned on May 3, and once a week onwards (two weeks as of the last count),  I have to go to the city hall to do another process. In those three days, I spent 1 hour (May 2), 40 minutes (May 3), 5 minutes (May 9) in all daily transactions,  I have to give up and make up for the 12 hours of my office hours to just go to Manila and do this errand. 

I posted my side note commentary about this government transaction experience in one of the previous blog posts, and I think it is really time to make this processes more efficient and more computer-optimized just so people would not waste too much time walking, traveling and lining up in queues to get an important piece of document. 

#Pissed

May 18, 2017

I returned for the nth time to Manila City Hall. As per the advice a week before, we have to get the transmittal slip. and here it is:

I traveled two hours to Manila to get this in 5 minutes and traveled again to submit this piece of paper to the Philippine Statistics Authority that is now headquartered in Sta. Mesa. 

In case you didn’t know, the Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA (formerly National Statistics Office or NSO) is originally headquartered at East Avenue, Quezon City. Their building is near the East Ave Medical Center. However, the building in East Ave has been demolished and a new one is being constructed, so most likely, they’ll move back once the construction is done.  

Anyway, here’s what happened after I got my transmittal slip from Manila City Hall.

1. I went to the PSA office in Sta. Mesa (UPDATE: They moved back to East Avenue, Quezon City near the SSS Main Office). In my case, which is the submission of transmittal slip, I have to go to Solicarel Building #2. There are two entries with information assistants by the door, just ask them what your purpose is. 

2. I was referred to the third floor of the building. There are two offices there. Go to the office to your right first to get an application form.

Fill this out PROPERLY and no erasures please as much as possible.

3. Upon completion of the application form, move to the office to the left. You will be asked to sit on either the first or second column for screening (they’d just check your filled out form and put remarks of application and release date on the paper). 

4. Move to the third row for payment. Since I applied for a PSA birth certificate, I have to pay Php140 for one copy. A receipt will be given appended with a note when to get the birth certificate copy. I have to wait two weeks for this, until June 6.

Time spent: 1 hour and 15 minutes (depending on the volume of people applying for their documents. I was lucky the offices were not too filled when I came in.)

Expenses: Php140 for one copy of my PSA birth certificate. (And Php 400 for all the pamasahe I have to spend going to and from the city hall, and then the PSA. Hee!)

UPDATE: JUNE 6, 2017

I finally got my new PSA birth certificate. The correction (missing the first name) was appended at the right side of the document.