WHAT IS REPUBLIC ACT 9048?
Republic Act (RA) 9048 authorizes the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change the first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial order.
RA 9048 amends Articles 376 and 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, which prohibit the change of name or surname of a person, or any correction or change of entry in a civil register without a judicial order.
What is the most prominent characteristic of R.A. 9048?
The most prominent characteristic of this law is that it allows individuals to correct clerical and typographical errors in their name without judicial intervention.
What is considered as a Clerical and/or typographical error?
A clerical or typographical error refers to an obvious mistake committed in clerical work, either in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as a misspelled name or misspelled place of birth and the like, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records.
What are the examples of errors which are not administratively correctible under this law?
Corrections resulting in a change in the sex, age, nationality, and status of a person as reflected in the Birth Certificate are excluded from the coverage of this law.
What are the grounds for a person to change their first name or nickname under this law?
(1) The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce;
(2) The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and he has been publicly known by that first name or nickname in the community; or,
(3) The change will avoid confusion.
Who may file the petition?
Whether it is for correction of a clerical or typographical error, or for change of the first name, the petition may be filed by a person of legal age who must have a direct and personal interest in the correction of the error or in the change of the first name in the civil register.
Who are considered as persons having direct and personal interest referred to in the preceding question?
The following persons are generally considered to have a direct and personal interest in the correction of clerical error or change of the first name:
1. Owner of the record that contains the error to be corrected or first name to be changed
2. Owner’s spouse, children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, guardian, or any other person duly authorized by law or by the owner of the document sought to be corrected.
WHAT SHOULD BE THE FORM AND CONTENT OF THE PETITION?
The petition, whether it is for correction of clerical error or for a change of the first name, should be accomplished properly and in the prescribed form. Section 5 of RA 9048 and Rule 8 of Administrative Order No. 1, S. 2001 require that the petition should be in the form of an affidavit, hence, it should be subscribed and sworn to before a person authorized to administer an oath.
Basically, the petition must contain the following facts or information:
1. Merits of the petition
2. Competency of the petitioner
3. Erroneous entry to be corrected and proposed correction or the first name to be changed and the proposed new first name
It must be stressed that the petition must be accompanied by the supporting documents provided by law, contingent on whether it is a petition for a mere correction or a change of name.
Courtesy of the Philippine Statistics Authority
