25 August 2015 - Dr. Lisa Grace S. Bersales, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and Mrs. Lourdes J. Hufana, PSA Interim Assistant National Statistician for Civil Registration Services visited Hong Kong from August 15 to 18 to provide information and updates on Philippine civil registration.

The Philippine Consulate General organized a forum on civil registration at the Consulate General’s Conference Room on August 16 with Dr. Bersales and Mrs. Hufana as resource speakers. Titled “Rehistrado Ka Na Ba?”, the forum was attended by more than 50 Filipino Community members and media practitioners. The PSA officials discussed the importance of reporting vital events of Filipinos occurring abroad and underscored the key role of Philippine Foreign Service Posts in performing its civil registration functions. 

Dr. Bersales informed the Filipino community that 2015 to 2024 has been declared by the Asia Pacific countries as the “Decade of Registration on Vital Statistics” with the objective of attaining 100% birth registration in the region.  She also noted that the PSA has committed to upgrade the I.T. system of securing the civil registration documents in order that these documents can be done in the most convenient manner, such as securing it online or through telephone service. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hufana gave a background on Philippine civil registration, as well as its legal bases, procedures and updates.  Attendees also raised their issues and concerns through a lively question and answer segment.

Dr. Bersales and Ms. Hufana, accompanied by Consulate General officials, paid a courtesy call on Mr. David Chiu, Assistant Director for Personal Documentation of the Hong Kong Immigration Department (HKID) and to Mr. Chung Wai San, Chief Immigration Officer of the Births and Deaths General Registry Office (under HKID) on August 17. The meetings focused on the procedures of the Hong Kong General Register Office on registration of births, marriages and death; procedures on correction of statistics and entries in the civil registration documents; sharing of registration policies and best practices; and exchange of samples of civil registration documents.

On the same day, the PSA officials also conducted a training session in civil registration procedures for Consulate General personnel. Dr. Bersales and Mrs. Hufana provided information on identifying the security features of the PSA civil registration documents in Security Paper (SECPA), as well as the best practices on civil registration at Philippine Foreign Service Posts. END