5 March 2014 - National Statistics Office (NSO) Administrator and Civil Registrar General Carmelita N. Ericta headed the second NSO overseas Seminar on Civil Registration for the Filipino community in Qatar on February 22, at the Philippine School Doha gymnasium. The seminar was organized by the Philippine Embassy to inform the Filipino community of the importance of civil registration of vital events such as births, marriages and deaths especially for Filipinos working or residing overseas.

Administrator Ericta also shared the creation of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) by virtue of Republic Act No. 10625  otherwise known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, which combined together the statistical agencies: National Statistics Office (NSO), the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), and the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS).

Accompanying Administrator Ericta were Director Lourdes Hufana and Mr. Joseph Cajita from the NSO Civil Registration Department. They gave a very extensive presentation on the history and importance of civil registration and laws affecting civil registration such as petition for correction of clerical error under RA 9048 and R.A. 10172. They also shared real-life cases to demonstrate the effects of civil registration laws in the life of Filipinos.

During the interactive session of the seminar, the questions raised by the participants were mostly pertaining to correction of error in civil registry documents and legal implications of remarrying after conversion to Islam. The seminar proved very helpful in helping address the need for information of OFWs in Qatar especially in light Qatar's stringent rules governing submission of civil registry documents for all legal transactions in the country. END