THE CIVIL Registrar’s Office aims to procure scanning units to fast-track the digitalization of documents.
Orlando Alvaira, head of the Court Decrees and Clerical Error Law division, said these units are necessary to digitize millions of printed documents in the registry.
“Once the bidding is awarded and the area’s repairs start, we can begin purchasing units for scanning,” Alvaira said Tuesday in an interview with city-run radio.
Alvaira added that the first target of the digitalization is to repair the area to store the scanning units.
Six months after the ordinance mandating the implementation of the Civil Registration Information System (CRIS) was approved in the 20th city council in December 2024, the program has yet to start due to funding concerns.
In an earlier interview in January 2025 with Councilor Bonz Andre A. Militar, the proponent councilor of the ordinance said the budget for the implementation is eyed to be included in the Supplemental Budget 1 of the city for 2025.
The 21st City Council just had its regular session on July 1.
The office reported that as of January, the civil registry records date back to 1945. From 1963 to 1989, there were more than 1.35 million certificates of live birth to be digitized.
From 1945-2022, there were more than 624,000 marriage certificates and 702,000 death certificates filed. As of 2024, 27.8 million Legal Instruments and Court Decrees attachments still needed to be scanned and digitized.
“With the digitalization, diretso diresto na ang proseso, mas paspas, mas accurate,” Alvaira said.
In the initial plan, the LCR will hire 10 personnel to scan the documents, but outsourcing the job is also a possibility. The digitalization plan allows online payments, and residents can request their documents and track the progress online without the need for a physical visit.
Photo from City Government of Davao
