Corrections in your Birth Certificate - Administrative and Judicial

There are two ways to correct any error or mistake in your birth certificate: Judicial and Administrative.

Generally, correction of any entry relating to informations contained in the birth certificate shall be filed in the Regional Trial Court where the corresponding civil registry is located, this is pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Court - which is a judicial proceeding.

Thankfully, there are corrections or errors in the birth certificate that may be corrected without going to court. Republic Act 9048 as amended by Republic Act 10172 made it possible to correct clerical or typographical error in your birth certificate without court proceedings.

R.A. 9048, as amended by R.A. 10172 authorizes the City or Municipal Civil Registrar, Consul General, including the Clerk of the Shari’a Court to correct clerical or typographical error in the Civil Register.

The following are considered as clerical or typographical errors, which do not need to undergo judicial proceedings:

1. Misspelled name;

2. Misspelled place of birth;

3. Mistake in the entry of day and month in the date of birth;

4. Sex of the person; and

5. Any mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records.

Remember, it is still the general rule that no entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order, except for clerical or typographical errors as allowed by R.A. 9048, as amended by R.A. 10172.