Children without a birth certificate
By scheng1
@scheng1 (24649)
Singapore
July 30, 2016 8:22pm CST
There are many reports about children in remote areas without a birth certificate.
Some newspapers estimated that a few million children in Philippines do not have a birth certificate.
I wonder how the children will get out of poverty if they do not have something to prove their existence.
Their parents probably never think about the long term career prospect of their children.
5 people like this
6 responses
@youless (114117)
• Guangzhou, China
31 Jul 16
Here children will have the birth certificate after they were born. They are issued by the hospital. However, in some poor places, there may not be such a facility issue the birth certificate. But the children will still have the ID certificate and "Hukou". In China it seems they are much more important than the birth certificate. The birth certificate seems to be important when we have to apply for a visa for our children to developed countries.
4 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 Aug 16
That is very surprising.
I never thought that the Hukou is more important than birth certificate.
Over here, parents will have to apply for birth certificate after the birth of the baby, though hospitals help them to do so.
Once they reach a certain age, they will get IC and that is used for everything, including applying for passport, jobs and schools.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (77209)
• Philippines
31 Jul 16
They do get them the moment they enter school. It's a requirement when they enter elementary school. Not unless their parents don't send them.
3 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 Aug 16
True. I read that it is a requirement for graduating high school.
If they do not have a birth certificate, they will not get the school leaving certificate.
The problem is that parents in remote places may not even send the children to schools. I think that is a poverty trap.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
31 Jul 16
The problem in the Philippines is that that there are many remote and far flung areas that are hardly reached, illiterate parents don't understand and they think they would be with their children forever just like them
It's easier to get now when need arises, the NSO or National Statistics office would just coordinate with the municipality where the person was born.
It's easier to get now when need arises, the NSO or National Statistics office would just coordinate with the municipality where the person was born.2 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 Aug 16
Hopefully those without birth certificate will realize how important it is.
I wonder how they go for election if their names are not recorded in the government records.
They probably just wake up everyday and just work on their farms.
I cannot imagine a life like this, when a person has no birth certificate, insurance, bank account, education and access to good medical care.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
2 Aug 16
@louievill They will never get out of poverty cycle.
Since their children need birth certificates to graduate from high schools, and they still grow up without a birth certificate, this shows that the children never go to school or graduate from any school.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
1 Aug 16
@scheng1 you are right, they just do what they do and do not do what they do not know, to them some of the things you mentioned are even burdensome since they do not know how to read nor write and they don't have that money for it anyway, oh well ignorance and innocence is such a blissful life
2 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 Aug 16
These children may not even have a chance to go to school.
They never think about leaving the country or even their village.
That is the problem in many remote villages in Asia and Africa.
Since the children are not in any government records, and their parents are very poor and uneducated, the human traffickers target such children.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 Aug 16
Yes, there are many infrastructure problems too.
The country has to deal with corruption in all levels, else nothing will improve.
I think the government has to invest on infrastructure and to reach out to those in the remote region.
Even in the cities, the government has to keep the children in schools.
The street children in Philippines are counted in millions.
2 people like this
@ValueAdder (409)
• Philippines
1 Aug 16
I don't need to prove my existence because people can see me. The birth certificate is an important document for many of the government offices require one. I am one of those who didn't have a birth certificate when I was born due to the ignorance of my parents. When I was about to graduate in high school, they need my birth certificate. That's the time that I went to the municipal hall and asked that I'll be given a certificate by the municipal registrar which they happily obliged to give. Now, I have one but it's unique because of the circumstances.
2 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 Aug 16
I think you are not the unique one. There are definitely a lot of people who get the birth certificates in this way.
That is why the municipal registrar did not even question too deeply.
If yours is a one-off case, they will not know what to do.
I think there are many parents as ignorant as your parents.
1 person likes this
