WHAT YOU NEED TO

KNOW ABOUT

REPUBLIC ACT
9048
Office of the Civil-Registrar General
National Statistics Office

Republic Act No.

9048
An act authorizing the City or Municipal Civil
Registrar or the Consul General to correct a
clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or
change of first name or nickname in the Civil
Register without need of a judicial order,
amending for this purpose articles 376 and 412
of the Civil Code of the Philippines.

Amendatory provision
of Republic Act 9048
Section 1. Authority to
correct clerical or
typographical error and
change of first name or
nickname.

C/MCR or consul
general

First name

Given to a person which consists of

one or more names in addition to
middle and last names.
The name that appears in the civil
register is the real name of a person
for all legal purposes.
Only the first name of the child
appearing in the birth certificate shall
be subject of a petition for change of
first name.
When there is a change of name, the
old name is not erased or corrected,
the new name is simply annotated in
the registry.

Childs middle
name is
corrected from
SALCEDO to
SAN LORENZO
and mothers
middle name is
corrected from
SULIBO to
SOLIBA.

What is clerical
error?
A mistake committed
in
performing clerical work in
writing, copying, transcribing
or typing an entry.
Harmless and innocuous.
Visible to the eyes or obvious
to understanding.
Can be corrected or changed
only by reference to other
existing record or records

Not clerical error

Those that involve change of

Nationality
Age
Status &
Sex

Examples of clerical
errors
Misspelling
Letters are interchanged
Juanito entered as
Jaunito
Unnecessary

letter is inserted
Florante entered as Floriante

Examples of clerical
errors
Words are not in the right
place or space

First, middle and last names

are interchanged
Ramon Cruz Domingo
entered as Ramon Domingo
Cruz

Grounds for change

of first name

The first name is ridiculous, tainted with

dishonor, or extremely difficult to write or
pronounce.

The new first name has been habitually and

continuously used by the petitioner and he
has been publicly known by that first name in
the community.

The change of first name will avoid confusion.

Examples for change o

first name
Use

of Maria and Ma. in

compound first name.
Maria Victoria Santos Samaniego to
Ma. Victoria Santos Samaniego

Abbreviated

first name.

Maria Lourdes Sanchez Bautista to

Marilou Sanchez Bautista

Who may file the

petition?

A person of legal age (18 yrs old & above), who has direct and
personal interest in the correction of the error or change of first
name.
Owner of the record, or owners
Spouse
Children
Parents
Brothers
Sisters
Grandparents
Guardian
Person authorized by the owner or by law

Form to be used and

content of the petition
petition should be in the form of an
AFFIDAVIT, subscribed and sworn to
before a person authorized to
administer oath.

It should contain the following facts or

information:
Merits of the petition
Competency of the petition
Erroneous entry to be corrected &
proposed correction; first name to be

Supporting papers for

correction of clerical error

Certified machine copy of the certificate

containing the alleged erroneous entry
Not less than 2 public or private documents
upon which the correction shall be based.

baptismal
certificate

GSIS/SSS record business

record
drivers
license

land titles

voters
affidavit

medical record

certificate
of land
transfer

NBI/Police
clearance

Civil Registry
records of
ascendants

Others as requested
by C/MCR or ConsulGeneral

employment
record

school record

Insuranc
e

bank
passbook

Supporting papers for

correction of clerical
error

Notice and Certificate of Posting

Certified machine copy of the

Official Receipt of the filing fee

Any other documents which the

C/MCR may require or the
petitioner may submit to ensure
approval of the petition

Supporting papers for

All the documents
required
for
the correction
change
of
first
name
of clerical error

Clearance from authorities such as clearance

from employer, if employed; NBI and Police
Clearances and other clearances as ma be
required by the C/MCR

Proof of Publication (affidavit of publication

from the publisher and copy of the
newspaper clippings should be attached)

Posting and
publication

Petition for correction of clerical

error to be posted for 10 consecutive
days

Petition for change of first name:

Posting for 10 consecutive days
Publication in a newspaper of
general circulation once a week for
2 consecutive weeks

Where to file
petition?
Local Civil Registry Office
Philippine

Consulate
Sharia Court

Migrant petitioner

Petitioner who is now residing in a

place
other than where his record is
registered.
Example:
Ms. X was born in Cotabato City. She migrated to
Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat. She wants to correct a
clerical error in her birth certificate. She may
submit his petition to the MCR of Esperanza, Sultan
Kudarat. The MCR of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat
shall make preliminary processing, and shall
forward the petition to the LCRO of Cotabato City.

C/MCRs decision

C/MCR shall render decision within 5

working days after the lapse of the posting
or publication period.

A decision approving the petition shall be

submitted to OCRG within 5 working days
after date of decision for review.

When decision is denied by the C/MCR, the

petitioner has 2 options:
To appeal the decision to the OCRG, or
To file the appropriate petition with the
regular court.

Availment of the
privilege
Change

of first name can be availed of

only once.

Decision

approving the change of first

name in the birth certificate may be used
to correct the name of the same
petitioner in other affected records.

Filing Fee at the LCRO &

Sharia Court
P1,000 for Correction of clerical
error
P3,000 for Change of first name

Filing Fee in the case of

migrant petitioner
Addtl P500 for Correction of clerical error
Addtl P1,000 for Change of first name

Points to consider:
Errors in the other parts of the COLB,
other than those previously discussed,
can be considered clerical or
typographical error depending heavily on
the justification of the petitioner and
papers supporting the petition.
These are the following:
religion

* occupation

title, or position * type of birth,

birth order

* number of children

Points to consider:
No error of any kind shall be
corrected at the back page of
COLB. Technically, all entries at
the back page are part of legal
instruments, hence, no
correction is allowed.
An Officer-In-Charge C/MCR,
with temporary status, is not
allowed to implement RA 9048.