Civil registry corrections made easier–PSA
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has made petitions for corrections of civil registry data—from names, gender to date of birth—easier with the launch on Tuesday of a new digital system.
The Administrative Petition for Correction Automated System (Apcas) is designed to streamline the processing of these petitions covered under Republic Act No. 9048 and RA 10172.
This will reduce processing time by at least 80 percent for up to 180,000 requests annually.
RA 9048 allows the civil registrar to correct clerical or typographical errors and change the first name or nickname of a person. This was later amended by RA 10172 to also include corrections in the day and month of birth, as well as the sex of a person.
Introduced in 2024
Apcas was first piloted in 2024 in selected regions. As of April 2026, the system has already processed nearly 6,000 petitions across 201 local civil registry offices (LCROs).
“Our vision for our country’s civil registration system is to establish a fully integrated, end-to-end digital ecosystem that streamlines processes, improves coordination across institutions, and ensures faster, more reliable service delivery,” PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa said.
Reduced processing time
“By transitioning from manual administrative procedures to a streamlined digital workflow, Apcas empowers our local civil registry offices and our partners in local government units, including municipal and city civil registrars, to process petitions more efficiently, accurately, and securely,” he added.
According to Mapa, Apcas was developed in response to the high volume of correction petitions, which reach around 150,000 to 180,000 annually. Prior to the system’s rollout, these requests were processed manually.
The new system significantly reduces processing steps from 12 to 6, covering LCRO processing, screening at the PSA provincial office, case assignment, initial review, final review, and annotation processing.
Apcas also strengthens data security through a secure virtual private network and multifactor authentication to protect sensitive personal information.
Meanwhile, a gender-inclusive feature allows users to attach medical certification for changes in sex classification where applicable.
In addition, the platform improves tracking and monitoring to reduce human error, while updated search functions allow faster record retrieval and better monitoring of petition status. An audit log feature also flags and tracks pending transactions.
