so you want to get a copy of your birth certificate

filipinos seeking employment, applying for national exams or getting a passport all require a birth certificate from the nso (national statistics office). the nso offices are located in quezon city and in pasay.

for those who have the time but not the budget*, one can personally go to the nso to get this document. i went to the nso at pasay. this can be found along macapagal avenue, across pnb. one needs to take the moa blue or orange jeeps coming from gil puyat corner taft or edsa corner taft to get there. fare is the minimum, P8. the nso is nearer gil puyat or a few meters across the world trade area.

i got there a little after 8am and was surprised to see that there were already quite a number of people. i was number 274.

STEP 1: fill up a form. one can request for the birth certificate, certificate of no marriage (i have no idea what this is for), a death certificate, or a birth card that certifies that one has records at the nso.

the form asks for the usual information - name, birthday, place of birth, father's full name (first, middle name, last), mother's maiden name (full name, middle name and her maiden last name). it also asks for the purpose. the last part is all in the check box, anyway.

after filling up the form, sit down and move as the people get to move. everyone sits and moves and this serves as the cue. movement is from right to right, then left to left - much like the letter s or in the "isaw" wave. one can actually sit down and fill up the form while in cue. that would cut the waiting for about 10 mins.

it takes about a minute or less to move from the next seat to the other. movement is usually done in 5's so if all the payment counters had been open that morning, the lines would be moving in 10's. there were only four open counters when i was there and it took me an hour to reach step 2.

STEP 2: there will be a lady who will be further inspecting the filled up form. then she will hand the number printout which is proof that one has cued and didn't merely cut into the payment line. the lady is the one who will approach the filee. just wait.

STEP 3: upon reaching the counter, hand in the filled up form, a valid ID and the payment of P140 for each copy of the birth certificate. the certificate of no marriage is P190.

STEP 4: go to the back office. from the entrance, go right at the ministop. sit in the room and wait for your name to be called. the documents will only be released if one has a valid id. this step took less than 30 mins. annd that's it.

i ended the process around ten minutes before 1100. not bad.

it is best to come early, perhaps by 7am so that one can be done early, too. moa opens at 9am, though.

NOW, if one has the budget, call NSO direct and pay via metrobank the P330 per copy of the birth certificate. it takes around a week for the door to door delivery of the copy. i spent P280 for two copies of my birth certificate and 1/2 day. if i called NSO direct, i would've spent P660 and the time to go to the bank and the waiting period.

and for those who want another person to get the documents. one needs to give a letter of authorization and an id of the document owner to get one.