Birth, death, and marriage certificates now valid for life after Republic Act No. 11909 lapses into law

The days of standing in long queues at the PSA office in order to get the “latest” copy of somebody’s birth, death, or marriage certificate are now a thing of the past. Republic Act No. 11909 or “Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Birth, Death, and Marriage Act,” which seeks to make permanent the validity of birth, death, and marriage certificates, lapsed into law on July 28, 2022.

Under R.A. No. 11909, birth, death, and marriage certificates from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), National Statistics Office (NSO), as well as those issued by local civil registries and Philippine foreign service posts. now have permanent validity.

Principal author and sponsor of the bill, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., welcomed the news, adding that Filipinos will no longer need to apply and pay for the “latest” copies of the said documents, a practice that many schools, companies, and government agencies themselves were guilty of perpetuating for the longest time.

A person can only be born or die once in their life, so it had always perplexed many as to why pertinent authorities would ask for the latest copy of a person’s birth or death certificates as proof of bona fide, as if the person is reborn or dies again and that it needs documentation. As for marriage certificates, well, technically a person can only get married once in the Philippines, on account of divorce being illegal in the predominantly Catholic country. A lengthy and costly annulment is an option for erstwhile couples, so I wonder why marriage certificates are now permanently valid. Perhaps the lawmakers had intended them to be valid for life until otherwise specified?