In a Civil Society Organization (CSO) – led conference on Civil Registration held this week at the Ritz Tower de Leyte in Tacloban City, DSWD Secretary Corzaon Juliano “Dinky” Soliman congratulated the group behind the Mobile Civil Registration Project in helping out Yolanda survivors recover and reconstruct their civil records and identity documents that were destroyed after the supertyphoon. The project, spearheaded by the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Legal Services (IDEALS), was earlier launched in April of 2014 in Palo, Leyte.

Secretary Dinky lauded the IDEALS and other CSOs like the Plan International, Save the Children and the Children International, as well as the Philippine Statistics Authority, “for the extra mile” that they have done. She told the team in said gathering that, “for us, this is very important. Without the birth certificate, you can’t have the death certificate and your right to anything from the government or from anyone.”

The DSWD top official was particularly concerned about the Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, saying they should take this opportunity, “para sa magandang pagbabangon after Yolanda “ (for their good recovery after Yolanda).

Further, she said, “this will open many doors for our Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries for them to cross to development or self-sufficiency.”

Out of the targeted 8,000 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, 6,000 have been assisted/provided with legal services. The total target for the region sums up to 80, 000 Yolanda survivors, with 43, 266 already reached.

There were 10, 343 who were released of the local civil records, and at present, the project partners are on the process of getting the lists of unregistered children.

IDEALS Executive Director, Edgardo Ligon, reported that it has covered 40 municipalities and two cities of the region, while it targets 11,000 far-flung areas where there is the most number of unregistered children.

Said Secretary Dinky, “ civil registration goes beyond identifying people. Civil documents facilitate their access to social and child protection programs and services. The civil registration of IDEALS and its partners have in fact facilitated no less than Php3M worth of benefits and social services for Typhoon Yolanda survivors. “

Timely, the activity coincided with the observance of the Civil Registration Month which falls on February of every year.#