DAGUPAN CITY -- A total of 60 unregistered children from underprivileged families have been legitimized through the city government’s program, “Lehitimo Ako, Batang Dagupeno”, since it was launched in February this year.
Marrien Mejia, head of the City Civil Registry Office (CRO), in an interview on Thursday said the program aims to legitimize children from indigent families who were not yet registered to the Local Civil Registry Office upon birth to enable them to enjoy the rights of a legitimate child as provided by the law.
“Some cases of illegitimate children, like their parents were not married and were just live-in partners, but were qualified of by the subsequent marriage of their biological parents,” she noted.
Mejia said the program was supported by City Ordinance 0-638 authored by Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo exempting indigent residents of the city from the payment of fees for late registration of births as well as qualified beneficiaries of the “Lehitimo Ako, Batang Dagupeño”. It was passed December last year.
“With this program, the parents will have no reason not to register their children,” she said.
Mejia further said the parents who wanted to legitimize their children need not pay the registration fee, but they have to bring pertinent documents such as authenticated birth certificate of their child, marriage contract or certificate of no marriage, joint affidavit of legitimization, and affidavit of admission of paternity.
Mejia said her office targets to legitimize at least 1,000 children in the city this year.
She added for the month of April, CRO officers will be deployed in barangays Lucao (April 12), Pugaro (April 18), Carael (April 19) from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. (PNA)
