Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada will launch next month the second leg of “Operation Birth Right” in Pandacan to provide every Manileño with proper government records.
Operation Birth Right, an outreach program in the barangays conceived by Estrada, provides free civil registry services to residents, especially children who have no birth certificates.
“I say it again: there will be no more ‘undocumented’ Manileños in my watch. I want all the children of Manila to have legitimate birth certificates because they will need it in the future,” he said.
Estrada pointed out that these undocumented children are considered “officially not existing” and could not fully avail of basic services from the government.
Officially launched on July 9 at Barangay 120 in Parola Compound in Tondo, where up to 3,000 children were provided with birth certificates, Operation Birth Right will move to Barangay 846 in Pandacan following the request of Chairman Allan Boado.
In his letter to Estrada, Boado said around 300 children in their community, most of whom are members of the local chapter of Iglesia Ni Cristo, have no birth certificates.
Many other residents have marriage contracts that need correction, Boado added.
Estrada ordered Joey Cabreza, officer-in-charge of the Civil Registry Office, to conduct Operation Birth Right in the community in soonest possible time. Cabreza said they have scheduled the activity in the first week of October.
“This is a simple way of expressing my deepest gratitude to our Iglesia voters. It’s about time that I attended to them,” Estrada said.
“Many children will soon be bona fide citizens of Manila,” he added.
Aside from giving free birth registration, the Civil Registry Office will also orient Pandacan residents on the proper processes and requirements of registering or securing copies of civil registry records at the city hall, Cabreza said.
“We’re taking the initiative to visit every barangay to assist the people, free of charge, so they will stop going to Recto and other unauthorized establishments to secure fake government records,” Cabreza said.