QUEZON City, Philippines (December 25) – Every individual has given their own name when they were born. But sometimes some people are not content and still want to have a new one. At times, they just want to change their identity to start a new life and disregard their past or they want to change because of their religion and culture and a lot more. Changing names is not an easy thing to do, everyone who’s planning to get their first name changed have to go through judicial procedures and have to follow certain official rules and regulations.
According to Republic Act No. 9048, the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general is authorized to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change the first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial order. However, a court order would still be needed for substantial changes such as surname of a person along with, gender, nationality, and status.
Yes! Everybody has the right and can legally change their name but you have to be at least eighteen years old and above meaning minors cannot by themselves petition for a change of their name. . And in order to avoid some people misusing it, the Republic act 9048 gave some guidelines.
The petitioner must show that his/her first name or nickname is ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce; The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used him/her and he/she has been publicity known by that first name or nickname in the community; or that the change will avoid confusion.
Other exception includes: You can’t change your name just to escape debt liability or to hide from criminal liability and you can’t change your name in order to commit a crime
Also, you can’t change your name with the intention to mislead, this usually involves taking the name of a famous person. Courts typically do not allow this, unless you have a convincing reason that is not related to the famous person or the use of his or her name.
You also can’t choose a confusing name one that includes numerals or punctuation. However, some courts have permitted people to spell out the numbers, for example “Seven” instead of “7”.
Of course, you can’t choose a name that would intimidate, offend, or be considered obscene and; you can’t choose a racial slur.
You have to prepare your documents in order to apply for a change of name. A petition should be in the form of affidavit subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by the law to administer oaths. The petition shall be supported with the following documents: A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed, at least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which the correction or change shall be based, and other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition.
Prepare your payment fees, if you are filing a petition for the change of first name with the city or municipal civil registrar or the district or circuit civil registrar, expect to shell out around three thousand pesos. On the other hand if you are filing the petition for change of name with the consul general at any of the Philippine consulates, the fee is one hundred and fifty US dollars. A migrant petitioner shall have to pay an additional service fee to the civil registrar receiving the petition and for a change of the first name. This will be one thousand pesos.
Once your documents are ready, you can now file your petition for change of name with the Local Civil Registry Office or LCRO in Philippines which houses your personal records including your original birth name. However, in case the petitioner is a migrant within or outside the Philippines, meaning that your present residence or domicile is different from where your civil registry records are registered, you may file the petition in the nearest LCRO in your area, in which case your petition will be treated as a migrant petition
Reference:
National Statistics Office: Philippines Official Web Site: Civil Registration – Primer for RA 9048
(written by Mia Lydia Caragay, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Lovely Ann Cruz)
