At least 315 of the 841 target population without birth registration in the municipality of San Joaquin in Iloilo province have benefited from the PhilSys Birth Registration Assistance Project (PBRAP) mobile registration.

San Joaquin Municipal Civil Registrar Leo Satana said the eldest so far were a 92-year-old woman from Barangay Tiglawa and 89-year-old, also a woman, from the mountainous Barangay Dacdacan.

Satana said they are also waiting for the results of the verification from the Philippine Statistics Authority for around 600 others to determine if they are already registered.

“Most of those who are not registered are senior citizens. Perhaps they did not recognize the importance of the registration plus the fact that their residence is far from the poblacion (downtown),” he said in dialect.

He added that upon verification from PSA, the Office of the Local Civil Registrar would make sure to bring the free birth registration services to the beneficiaries no matter how remote their locations are.

Out of the town’s 85 barangays, 45 are in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas.

Satana said the birth registration speaks of one’s nationality and assured the individual of protection by the Philippine government. (PNA)