At the age of seventy-two (72), Mr. Ajid T. Omar never imagined that he will be receiving his new and first free birth certificate after being one of the successful Zamboangueño registrants under the Philsys Birth Registration Assistance Project (PBRAP).

As a resident of Barangay Buenavista, a barangay situated fifty (50) kilometers away from the city, it was a bit of challenge for him to go to the Local Civil Registrar to register his birth due to his age and financial incapability. The absence of this essential document has denied him a lot of opportunities for decades. The arrival of the PBRAP team last April 2022 in Barangay Buenavista gave him hope that he may be one of the fortunate applicants for late registration. True enough, he was one of the fifty-two (52) recipients of Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) in Zamboanga City. For him, no amount of words could express how grateful he is for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Statistical Services Office IX, in the presence of Regional Director Mewchun WS. Pamaran, OIC-CRASD Chief Roxan Kastine M. Lumapas, OIC-SOCD Chief Flerida E. Tan, Registration Officer I Muslima A. Mahari and PBRAP Birth Registration Agents, together with Buenavista Barangay Chairman Hon. Eugene C. Jumawan, led the Ceremonial Turn Over of COLBs in Security Paper at Buenavista Barangay Hall last March 15, 2023. Mr. Ajid T. Omar and fifty-one (51) others were the first batch of registrants to receive their free birth certificates.
During the turn over ceremony, RD Pamaran highlighted the importance of birth certificate as a basic document for identification and serves as one of the prerequisites in gaining access to education, health and social services.

The Philsys Birth Registration Assistance Project (PBRAP) of the PSA, which started on the first quarter of 2022, aims to register 99.5% of births of all Filipinos. It also aims to strengthen the documentation of Step 2 Registration of Republic Act No. 11055 otherwise known as the “Philippine Identification System Act” by increasing the use of the birth certificate as a basic document to be presented by citizens seeking to register with Philsys.