Court’s strange, slow action on simple case

I was born on Oct. 15, 1975 in Caibiran, Biliran. I was baptized on May 8, 1976. My father did not register my birth with the civil registrar in our province until April 1997. However, instead of writing down the correct date of my birth, the civil registrar wrote down the date of my baptism.

I was informed that to correct this error, I have to go to court. On Nov. 15, 2010, I filed a petition in court for the correction of the entry of my birth date in the Certificate of Live Birth at the Regional Trial Court of Naval, Biliran, under Case No. CB-11-232. I received an acknowledgement, dated Jan. 26, 2011, from the RTC-Naval, stating that my petition was sufficient in form and substance. Since then, hearings were scheduled and corresponding notices served, but as most hearings go, many were not held as scheduled for one reason or another. I have hired and paid for the services of lawyer Redentor Villordon to attend to this, since I am busy with my studies. However, I feel that I am being given the runaround and that my case is going nowhere because even my own lawyer can’t give me satisfactory reasons for the frequent postponements of hearings.

I sought assistance from the Ombudsman regarding my case and on Feb. 27, 2012, the Ombudsman sent a letter to the RTC-Naval requesting them to expedite the resolution of my petition. As of this writing, I have not heard from any of the parties concerned.

What should have been a simple civil case that involved correcting an error has ballooned to a huge problem that nobody seems to want to touch.  Through this respected newspaper, may I forward this appeal to Judge-designate Bienvenido M. Montalla, prosecutor Edna Honor and lawyer Villordon for their immediate action on my case.

Through no fault of my own, I am being deprived of my rights as a citizen to hold a valid birth certificate, on which would depend all my other personal records and without which I cannot hope to apply for a valid passport. I need these very badly if I hope to finish my theological studies at the St. Augustine Seminary in Toronto, Canada, this year.

—NELSON P. BOREN,

St. Vincent Seminary,

221 Tandang Sora Avenue,

Quezon City