Correction of erroneous entry in birth certificate

Correction of erroneous entry in birth certificate "I will be applying for my passport and it will be my first time applying for a government-related document. It is only now that I learned that there is an error in my birth certificate. It indicates that my year of birth is 1986 when my true and correct year of birth is 1990. I was told that a petition must be filed, but my problem is that I will not be able to go to our hometown where I was born because of quarantine restrictions. Can my brother file the petition instead? He was the one born in 1986. So, the years of our birth are overlapping. We’re thinking that maybe our grandmother, who was the one who registered our births, may have gotten confused at the time. Or, is it possible for me to file before the local civil registry? Please advise.Darcy Dear Darcy,While Republic Act 10172 permits the correction of erroneous entries without a judicial order, this may only be done if it involves purely clerical or typographical errors, change of first name or nickname, or correction as to the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person where it is patently clear that there was a clerical or typographical error or mistake in the entry. (Section 1, Id.) Considering, however, that your live birth contains an erroneous entry as to your year of birth, then, a petition for correction of such erroneous entry must be filed before the Regional Trial Court, which has jurisdiction over the Office of the Civil Registrar where said entry was recorded. It is worthy to note that you, your brother or anyone else who may have interest concerning such record may file said petition. As stated under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court:“Section 1. Who may file petition. — Any person interested in any act, event, order or decree concerning the civil status of persons which has been recorded in the civil register, may file a verified petition for the cancellation or correction of any entry relating thereto, with the Court of First Instance of the province where the corresponding civil registry is located. “Section 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction. — Upon good and valid grounds, the following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected: (a) births x x x”After the petition has been heard and the court is convinced by the evidence presented that such entry in your year of birth is indeed erroneous, then it may grant the correction prayed for. However, if it was not substantiated by evidence that an error was made, then the court may dismiss the petition. Either way, a certified copy of the judgment shall be served upon the civil registrar concerned who will annotate the same in his record. (Section 7, Rule 108, Id.) We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net" - https://www.affordablecebu.com/