having gone through 4 passport renewals and having travelled to a number of countries including those that require visa for entry, i was pretty confident i can prove my Philippine identity. it did came as a shock when i learned i was not in the NSO (aka National Statistics Office) database. what gives?
i was born in a rural area, during the time of manual data processing ( giving away my age, aye? ). as expected, getting legal documents was a hassle and meant too much red tape.
however, after finally getting a passport for the first time using an NSO certified certificate of live birth, i thought all the hassle was over. and boy was i wrong. now, with an impending interview schedule requiring an NSO certified birth certificate, i have to go through the process of (re)registering with NSO.
i am sure there are thousands of people like me who have to go through all these hassle. not only does it take time, but precious money as well.
i just hope the government gets its act together and make their systems communicate with each other properly. it is not as if we have different sets of citizens, depending on which government agency you are talking to.
but for now, i just hope i get the document i need in time.
my take 