The National Statistics Office shall start to implement new rates of fees for civil registration services on October 11, 1999, Monday, according to Administrator and Civil Registrar-General Tomas Africa. The increase in fees for copies of certifications of birth, marriage and death certificates and other related documents is in compliance with the provisions of Executive Order (EO) No. 159 issued by the then President Fidel Ramos on February 23, 1994. EO 159 directs the revision of fees and charges of national government agencies including government-owned and controlled corporations at reasonable rates to cover at least the full cost of services rendered.

Among others, ordinary request for copies of certification of civil registry documents made locally will be at P25. Certifications of no marriage (CERNOMAR) as well as those based on court decrees/legal instruments such as adoption, annulment and others will be charged P80.

Since 1985, the NSO-OCRG has been charging a measly P20 per copy of certification of civil registry documents from its archives. At that time, there were only around 400 to 500 people transacting with the Civil Registry Division (CRD). As years passed by, more and more people are coming to the CRD requesting for various kinds of certifications. And, with the issuance of the Philippine Passport Act in 1995, its clients tremendously increased to a thousand-fold.

Beginning January 1999, the average daily clients being served by the NSO frontline service counters is at 10,000. The increase in the volume of transactions has prompted the agency to hire additional 100 temporary workers, purchase more units of microfilm reader-printers as well as microcomputers.

In 1995, the NSO even felt the need to enhance the integrity of Philippine documentation. Thus, the use of security paper (SECPA) for certified copies of civil registry documents for passport and visa purposes was introduced to curb numerous attempts at duplicity. The SECPA is a special paper exclusively being printed by the Central Bank. While the NSO shoulders the cost of the printing of the SECPA from the savings it generates from its other activities, it charges no extra fee from the requesting party.

According to Administrator Africa, the NSO is contributing to the national coffers an average annual revenue from certifications of P44.7 M in the last five years. He added, however, that the NSO is not able to spend even a single centavo from the revenue it generates for the government to be able to improve on its services. The Department of Budget and Management was reported to have repeatedly denied NSO's request to use a portion of its revenue to be able to further improve on its facilities and services because of still unmet targetted amount. He is hopeful though that with the implementation of the new rates and additional revenue, the agency and the public can look forward to better customer service in the next millennium.