Quezon City residents will soon register their newly-born babies online as the local government is set to launch this year its first online birth registration portal.
The local government made the announcement Monday, saying the project is part of its digitalization program of its public services.
"The project offers a more convenient and efficient birth registration process, where the requirements can be sent through the website and be verified by the City Civil Registry Department (CCRD)," it said.
According to Mayor Joy Belmonte, registering birth certificates—even for those who are not newly-born—will now be as convenient as applying for business and occupational permits, which can be done online.
"We will open our online portal for birth registration to also address our problems with late and unregistered birth registration in the city," Belmonte said in a statement.
The local government said the automation of its services will save residents "from the hassle of physically going to city hall to transact and from the possible risk of being exposed to COVID-19."
"Hopefully, we can have the portal up and running before the year ends,” Belmonte added.
City Civil Registrar Salvador Cariňo Jr. said they are currently in talks with the City Administrator’s Office and Information Technology Development Department to include the initiative in the city’s QC E-Services portal, which streamlines all city government programs.
Aside from birth registration, other Civil Registry Department programs such as marriage registration, and death registration, will soon be available online as well, the local government said.
It added it will also ensure that the portal will have a real-time tracking and email notification system for the applicants. High-end equipment will also be utilized to support the system’s needs.
Once launched, the online portal will be accepting applications from residents 24/7.