CHANGE OF GENDER

These are the list of requirements given to me.

1. NSO Copy of Birth Certificate – I visited the NSO near our place and have my
copy after almost three hours and it cost Php140.00. You may request the
authenticated copy of your birth certificate online and they offer door-to-door
delivery at additional cost. Just check http://nso.citizenservices.com.ph.
2. LCRO Certified – The Municipal Chief Registrar just marked it (X), so I didn’t
bother to ask anyway.
3. Earliest School Record Form 137 – This is the permanent student record, a list of
student grades and student history. My school just ask me to pay for the
photocopy. Take note that it is from your elementary, not from high school, but I
got mine from both.
4. Medical Records – I’ve got a certified true copy of my laboratory results from my
previous Cesarean Operation with my baby. I also include my ultrasound results
and to my surprise the Municipal Chief Registrar asked me to passed two of them
because I have three tests (the 6th week ultrasound to confirm my pregnancy, the
5th month ultrasound for the confirmation of the baby’s gender, and the 3D
ultrasound scans for my baby’s still pictures inside my tummy), just an excited
first time parents here! I just thanked my husband was so fond of taking
pictures, scanning and saving them I got my backup copy for my baby to see when
he grows up.
5. NBI Clearance – I already had one but was already lapsed so I renewed mine for
Php115.00. You should fill out an Online NBI Clearance Application before
going to the NBI Office, you can print it out if you like or you can just write down
the registration code because if not they will ask you to pay Php20.00 for just one
sheet of the photocopied application form so better to have it beforehand. You can
check http://nbi.njis-ph.com. Make sure to come as early as possible so you can
finished early but lucky me I got mine in just two hours, thanks to my parents who
gave me a unique name I got my NBI Clearance with no hit. The clearance is valid
for a year.
6. Police Clearance – You will need an updated police clearance, I applied for it and
they ask me to submit requirements such as the barangay clearance, one copy of
2×2 photo (white background), recent Cedula (Community or Residence Tax
Certificate) and Php50.00.
7. Baptismal Certificate – I requested a copy from our church for Php100.00. They
will process it while you are waiting, it took less than thirty minutes. .
8. Employer Certificate or Affidavit of Non Employment – If you are employed,
you need to request a Certificate of Employment from your company, while if
 you’re like me a stay-at-home mum you need to submit the latter. This is the first
time I heard of this kind of affidavit, I just thought my statement would be enough,
but for legal matter like this, an affidavit stating your employment history is
required and it cost Php200.00 for two copies.
9. Medical Certification issued by Government Doctor – In my case, just handed
the doctor in Municipal Health Center my medical records since I already gave
birth and have with me the laboratory results of my Cesarean operation, no check-
up needed, the doctor’s assistant just prepare the certification right away after
confirming my case from the Municipal Chief Registrar.
10. Certification of Authenticity issued by LCR – This is a letter issued by LCR
which will prove that your petition is ready to publish in local publication.
11. Affidavit of Publication – The Publication Office will give this to you after two
weeks together with a dozen of copies of the published newspapers including
clippings, where your petition was written. You’re instant famous for two
weeks!
Additional requirements which are not listed are government issued ID’s such as
Digitized SSS, GSIS, Driver’s License, PRC, and/or school id for students, and also
Marriage Certificate for married woman, and have them photocopied in three copies.

After completing and submitting the above mentioned documents, I’ve paid
Php3,000.00 for the processing fee. The usual process will take 3-4 months as per the
Municipal Chief Registrar but since I’m on the rush of getting it done, I asked if
there’s a way to shorten the processing time and she said I can expedite it, that will
took a month. I just needed to pay Php1,000.00 for the fare of the one who will
personally process it, and additional Php850.00+++ for other fees that she said. Unlike
the first two payments I’ve made, the MCR said it has no receipts so knowing some
of the government officials here in the Philippines, I know where the extra money
would go.

Additional payment amounting to Php1,200.00, which I personally bring to the

publication together with the certification coming from the LCR, as payment for my
petition to be published for two consecutive weeks. After two weeks they will hand
you copies of the newspapers where your petition was published along with a
notarized letter called the Affidavit of Publication to be submitted back to the LCR.
The LCR then passed your petition to NSO Manila and that’s when I started counting
the one month process.
After a month, I called the MCR’s office and said my papers were delivered already, i
am so thankful and excited but my excitement became dismay. As there is another
process wherein the LCR will prepare the final documents of your petition which will
be needed to pass directly to the NSO in Quezon City. Actually I was asked by the
MCR to go there personally to bring the filled out form and request my new copies of
birth certificate with correction but it will took some time and effort on my part. I
asked again if it should be done personally and yes it wasn’t! Again, I just needed to
pay Php1,000.00 for the fare of the liason officer and Php140.00 per copy of the birth
certificate. I requested two copies. It took a month again for that process.
After a month long of waiting, at last I got my copies. Upon checking it, I thought the
marked (X) box for male will be deleted and will be transfer to female but it was not. I
didn’t noticed easily the annotation at the right side of the birth certificate going
downwards stating ‘PURSUANT TO THE DECISION RENDERED BY MCR
(Name) DATED (MMDDYYYY) AND AFFIRMED BY OCRG NO. XXXX, THE
CHILD’S SEX IS HEREBY CORRECTED FROM “MALE” TO “FEMALE”.

To sum it all, I spent around Php8,000.00 and the procedures took two months and
two weeks because I did expedite it.

It was a tedious process, but compare to the procedures before I can say it is much
easier now because there’s no court intervention. I am just thankful I don’t have time
to process it before this law was signed. Thanks to President Aquino for signing RA
10172. (http://web0.psa.gov.ph/civilregistration/civil-registration-laws/republic-act-
no-10172).
P.S. Thank you to all who appreciate my blog. It’s sad to hear that many are
experiencing these kind of situation. I’ve been very busy being a full time mom of
two, and time is lacking to answer all the queries. It’s overwhelming to see that this
blog already has thousand views and some express their gratitude. I personally want
to help everyone having this kind of dilemma but I have limited knowledge, all
information provided was based on my own personal experience. We have different
cases, so to those asking if the same process will be done for blank gender, or both
gender were marked,etc. it’s best to consult your designated Local Civil Registry
Office (LCRO) for concerns and inquiries to avoid misleading information and time
wasted. All the requirements listed above are final, so if any of those were not
available just ask your MCR if it can substitute with other docs. Thank you for taking
time to visit and read my blog. God bless everyone!