Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Census Serbilis Center - Stood Up to Their Name



Got myself a copy of my birth certificate today and to my surprise it was not what I expected at all. It was a breeze. There are actually more than one way to get yourself a CTC of your Birth Certificate at the National Statistics Office (NSO). But for the purpose of this blog I went out of my way to actually see for myself the entire process. I researched it over the internet for a while and I actually didn't see a material that could give me a clear picture of the entire process. So I'll share to you my experience.

Outside the Releasing Section

I arrived there after lunch. This was at Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City. As expected, there were a couple of lines but it was orderly plus the fact that the venue was fully air conditioned. I really didn't mind the wait. So here are the steps.

First, you get yourself an application form upon entering. Completely fill it up, front and back. The look for the End of the line for the screening section. Have your valid ID ready and the application form. If you're a representative of somebody. You'll also need an authorization letter and at least a valid ID of the owner. Well, the line was actually long. It took me one hour for this process. After this you'll be directed to the payment window. There were actially 11 windows on the front part of the office. Three for the screening but only one was open and the rest are for the payments. There are four available windows open for business. With this, I can't help but wonder if all these windows are open will there still be a need for the NSO Delivery Service? I mean All the windows for the payment have machines in them. Opening these 8 windows will definitely cut the wait time if not in half, significantly.

Moving forward, If you're applying for the following: Issuance/Authentication of Birth/Marriage/Death Certificates the fee for these services as of May 1, 2008 are Php. 140.00. And if your applying for a Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR), the fee is 195.00. That's already inclusive of the Php 15.00 Doc. Stamp Tax. And by the way don't mind the Please give the Exact amount sign on the windows. At first I thought this was the express lane but it's not. They'll still give you your change. Wait for your receipt. Oh, and by the way if you have multiple documents to process the cashier can only accommodate five to be fair for those who only have one. So if you have more than 5, you have to fall in line again.

This is what their receipt looks like. The date and time of release is written on the upper right with red ink

On your receipt you'll find the date and time your document will be released. The releasing Section is at the back. Luckily since they call the themselves Census Serbilis now, I was able to get mine within the same day. I think the last batch for releasing is at 5PM.

The releasing process is also fast and easy. You just surrender your receipt to the guard and just wait for your name to be called. Again, you'll still need the documents you presented at the Screening Area. And Just like that It's all done. Took me less than 2 hours to complete mine. Hope yours will be quicker.

It is very seldom that there's more to praise than criticize in the services provided by the government. I applaud them for this one. Nice to see our tax money at work.

Here's another way to get your Birth Certificate 7371111

For this hassle free service, you'll have to wait 3 to 4 days at least and the fee is Php 330.00 which you'll need to deposit to any Metrobank Branch. No more falling in line though.

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Funny thoughts:

Habang nakapila ako sa screening area. Sabi ko ayan na malapit na. Isang oras ka ba namang mag antay sa nagssnake na pila. Kaso, the woman in front of me has a woman in front of her na nakipag debate pa dun sa nagsscreen. Di ko alam kung tinatanung ba nya kung bakit nagtaas na naman ang presyo ng gasolina at diesel o kung bakit the transformers ang tawag nila Gordon at Fernando sa kanilang mga sarili. Wow, so near yet so far. The same thing happened habang nakapila naman ako sa payment section. There were four lines kasi so pinili ko yung mas maiksing pila. The line was moving ok unlike the other three so I wondered. Then nakita ko sa window yung sign na please give the exact amount. Sabi ko patay. Eh meron na mga 6 people na nakapila sa likod ko. Dilemma kung aalis ba ako at pipila sa ibang line o should I stay. Naisip ko na lang may guard sa dulo ng mga pila and wala naman syang sinabi na may express lang pala. So I stayed hoping to see someone on the line to give more than what is due. And kung susuklian sya. The fourth person before me did. So I was relieved. The woman in front of me however paid for 5 documents. And every document tinatanung sya kung pano ang spelling. I was wondering how she wrote it kasi dun sa form ang sabi write it in print and may spaces talaga for every letter. on the third document umalis sa post nya yung cashier. Sabi ko san pupunta to? Coffee break ba? hahaha! May chineck pala sa likod. So medyo dun ako nagtagal. Nakakatawa lang kasi this always happen to me.

2 comments:

  1. hi! do you have an updated price of the birth certificate and cenomar for 2013? :) i could'nt find any on google. only prices for online delivery.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi, i found an answer to my own question. heres the rates according to NSO, just saw today... Fees: P140.00 (Birth, Marriage, Death) / P195.00 (Certificate of No Marriage Record).

    Source: www.census.gov.ph/civil-registration-services/walk-applications-serbilis-outlets

    ReplyDelete