Republic of the
Philippines
Philippine Statistics Authority
Session II
Death Registration:
Legal Mandates, Rules, and Procedures
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Specific Objectives
At the end of the session, the participants will be able to:
1. Understand the importance of a Certificate of Death
2. Discuss the most important legal mandates on
Certification of Death
3. Explain the processes/steps involved in Death Certification
4. Discuss the uses of the Certificate of Death
5. Discuss the uses of mortality statistics
6. Appreciate the importance of Philippine Civil Registration
Information System (PhilCRIS) for their respective
agencies
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Legal Mandates
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Act No. 3753
Civil Registry Law
● Approved on November 26, 1930 and took effect on
Feb. 27, 1931
● Made compulsory the registration of all facts and
acts concerning the civil status of persons from birth
to death including the changes in civil status taking
place therein in appropriate civil registry books
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PD 856
Code of Sanitation of the Philippines
approved on December 23, 1975
The burial of remains is subject to the following requirements:
• No remains shall be buried without a death certificate. This
certificate shall be issued by the attending physicians.
• If there has been no physician in attendance, it shall be
issued by the mayor, the secretary of the municipality
where the death occurred.
• The death certificate shall be forwarded to the Local Health
Officer within 48 hours after death. (Sec. 91)
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RA 10625
The Philippine Statistical Act
Article 6 (e) of RA 10625
mandates the PSA to carry out, enforce and-
administer civil registration functions in the
country as provided for in Act No. 3753, the Law
.onRegistry of Civil Status
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Organizational Structure of PSA
National
Statistician
Deputy National Deputy National Deputy National
Statistician for Statistician for Statistician for
Sectoral Census and Civil Civil
Statistics Technical Registration and Registration
Coordination Central Support Service (CRS)
Regional
Statistical
Services Office
(RSSO)
Provincial
Statistics Office
(PSO)
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RA 10625
Rule 9 Art. 13 c(vii) of the IRR
Civil Registration Service
✓ civil registry document management and archiving
✓ policy advocacy and research on civil registration
matters, court decrees and legal instruments
affecting civil registry documents
✓ administrative correction of civil registry
documents
✓ outlet and customer services; and
✓ other civil registration concerns
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Republic Act 7160
Local Government Code
Civil registration is a function of the local
government through the city/municipal registrar
but is under the technical supervision of the Civil
Registrar General
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Rules and
Procedures
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Registrable Acts & Vital Events
Death
● Refers to the permanent disappearance of all
evidence of life at any time after live birth has
taken place; or
● The postnatal cessation of vital functions without
capability of resuscitation
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Registrable Acts & Vital Events
Fetal Death
● Refers to the death prior to the complete
expulsion or extraction from its mother of a
product of conception, irrespective of the duration
of pregnancy
● The death is indicated by the fact that after such
separation the fetus does not breathe nor show any
other evidence of life, such beating of the heart,
pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite
movement of voluntary muscles
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Registrable Acts & Vital Events
● If the fetus has an intra-uterine life of less than
seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within
twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from
the maternal womb.
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Forms to Accomplish
With Fetus lived Fetus lived
Intrauterine less than 24 more than 24 Remarks
Life hours hours
Accomplish COLB and COD,
two (2) copies each with
̸ remarks “For statistical
purposes”.
Less than One copy each for LCR and
seven (7) CRG
Accomplish four (4) copies and
months
register
̸̸
(one copy each for the
registrant, CRG, C/MCR,
attendant at death)
Accomplish four (4) copies and
More than register
seven (7) ̸̸ ̸̸
(one copy each for the
months
registrant, CRG, C/MCR,
attendant at death)
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Civil Registration Process
DEATH
Person Responsible
Attendant at Death/ Local Health
Officer/ Informant
Local Civil Registrar
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Flow of Submission of Document
in 15 / 30 days
Person Registration
Responsible Officer
PSA Provincial
Office 10th day after
6th week after reference month
reference month
PSA Central
Office
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Place of Registration
As a general rule, the
place of registration is
the city or municipality
where the event
occurred.
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Place of Registration
Reporting of Vital Events of Filipinos
Occurring Abroad (living permanently or
temporarily)
• shall be reported to the Philippine Foreign Service
Establishment of the country of residence; or
• where the vital event took place; or
• where none is located thereat, in the Philippine Foreign
Service Establishments of the country nearest the place
of residence of the party concerned; or
• where the vital event occurred
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Delayed Registration
Registration of death beyond the 30–day period
shall be considered for delayed registration, and
shall be accepted only if the procedures and
requirements are observed and complied with.
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Delayed Registration
Requirements:
• Four copies of Certificate of Death accomplished
correctly and completely
• Affidavit for delayed registration which shall be
executed by the hospital/clinic administrator, if
the person died in the hospital, clinic or similar
institution, or if the person died elsewhere, by the
attendant at death.
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Delayed Registration
Requirements:
• Otherwise, the affidavit shall be executed by any
of the nearest relative of the deceased, or by any
person having legal charge of the deceased when
he was still alive.
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Delayed Registration
The affidavit referred to above shall state among
other things the following:
● name of the deceased
● facts of his death
● date and place of burial or cremation
● circumstances why the death was not reported for
registration
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Delayed Registration
Requirements:
• Authenticated copy of the certificate of burial,
cremation or other means of corpse disposal
• Approval for registration by the health officer in
the box provided in the Certificate of Death
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Persons Responsible to
Report, Prepare & Certify
Death
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Person/s Responsible to Prepare and
Certify the Certificate of Death/Fetal
Death
Hospital Death
• The physician who last attended the deceased or the
administrator of the hospital or clinic where the
person died is responsible to prepare the Certificate
of Death and certify as to the cause of death.
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Person/s Responsible to Prepare and
Certify the Certificate of Death/Fetal
Death
Death in Hospital Emergency Room (ER)
– refer to deaths occurring in the ER, including
patients who were revived by initial measures at
the ER but eventually died there, regardless of
the time of stay in the ER.
*NSO Admin. Order no.1 s.1993
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Person/s Responsible to Prepare and
Certify the Certificate of Death/Fetal
Death
Death in Hospital Emergency Room (ER)
• In such cases, the Certificate of Death shall be
accomplished by the ER Officer if he can come up
with a definite diagnosis.
• Otherwise, the death should be referred to the
medico-legal officer of the hospital, or the local
health officer who shall cause the issuance of the
Certificate of Death.
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Person/s Responsible to Review the
Certificate of Death/Fetal Death
● The certificate is forwarded within 48 hours after
death to the Local Health Officer who will review
the certificate and affix his signature in the
“Reviewed By” portion and direct its registration
at the Office of the LCR within 30 days.
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Death Registration Process
hours 48
Death in a Hospital days 30
Local Health Officer
Local Civil Registrar
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Deaths that Occurred
Outside the Hospital
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Person/s Responsible to Prepare and
Certify the Certificate of Death/Fetal
Death
For Death that Occurred Outside the Hospital
When a death occurs in the ambulance while a
patient is being transferred to another healthcare
facility, the attending physician during the transport
of the patient shall accomplish the death certificate.
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Person/s Responsible to Report Death
For Death that Occurred Outside the Hospital
If the deceased died without medical attendance,
the nearest relative or any person who has
knowledge of the death is responsible for reporting
the event to the Local Health Officer within 48
hours.
NSO Admin. Order no.1 s.1993
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Person/s Pesponsible to Prepare and
Certify the Certificate of Death/Fetal
Death
For Death that Occurred Outside the Hospital
● The Local Health Officer is the one who will
prepare the Certificate of Death, certify the cause
of death and direct its registration at the officer of
the LCR within 30 days.
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Person/s Reponsible to Prepare the
Certificate of Death/Fetal Death
For Death that Occurred Outside the Hospital
● In the absence of the Local Health Officer, the death
should be reported to the Mayor, or to any member
of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) or to the municipal
secretary who shall issue the Certificate of Death for
burial purposes.
* Code on Sanitation of the Philippines (P.D. 856)
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Person/s Responsible to Prepare the
Certificate of Death/Fetal Death
For Death Under Medico-Legal
When faced with the duty of completing the Medical
Certificate portion of the Certificate of Death, the
physician has to determine whether another
physician is more qualified to complete the
certificate especially if the deceased was attended
by another physician prior to his death.
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Person/s Responsible to Prepare the
Certificate of Death/Fetal Death
For Death Under Medico-Legal
● If the physician has reasons to believe or suspect
that the cause of death was due to violence or
crime, then he is duty-bound to immediately
report to the authorities of the Philippine National
Police or the National Bureau of Investigation
concerned.
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Death Registration Process
hours 48
Local Health Officer
days 30
Death Outside Hospital
Local Civil Registrar
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Person Responsible to Report the Event
and Prepare the Certificate of
Death/Fetal Death
Deaths in vehicle/vessel/airplane
The driver/ship captain/pilot, as the case maybe,
shall report such death to the concerned local
health officer or his authorized representative, who
shall examine the deceased, prepare the COD, certify
as to the cause of death, and directs its registration
.to LCRO
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Person responsible to report the event
and prepare the Certificate of
Death/Fetal Death
Deaths in vehicle/vessel/airplane
In accidents where there are no survivors, it is the
responsibility of the owner of the vehicle/vessel/
airplane to make the report of death to the
concerned local health officer or his authorized
representative, who shall examine the deceased,
prepare the Certificate of Death, certify as to the
.cause of death, and directs its registration to LCRO
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Person responsible to report the event
and prepare the Certificate of
Death/Fetal Death
Mass Death
● In case of mass death and the deceased cannot be
identified, the local health officer upon submission
of an affidavit by two disinterested persons, in
the exercise of his wise discretion, may issue
Certificates of Death and cause the registration of
these deaths at the Office of the LCR.
*NSO Admin. Order no.1 s.1993
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Person/s Responsible to Certify
Death
● If there is a medical attendant at death, the
certifying officer is the attendant at death
● If there is no medical attendant at death the
certifying officer is the Local Health Officer
● In medico-legal cases, the certifying officer is the
medico-legal officer
● In ALL cases, the cause of death shall be reviewed
and signed by the Local Health Officer
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Registration of Death for Filipino
Muslim and Indigenous Cultural
Communities/ Indigenous People
● For Muslim Filipinos, the dead body may be
buried even without a Certificate of Death
provided that the death shall be reported to the
local health officer within 48 hours after the date
of burial.
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Registration of Death for Filipino
Muslim and Indigenous Cultural
Communities /
Indigenous People
● The local health officer shall prepare the
Certificate of Death, certify the cause of death and
submit the Certificate of Death to the LCR for
registration. This is also true for the Indigenous
Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples
(ICCs/IPs).
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Registration of Death for Filipino
Muslim and Indigenous Cultural
/Communities
Indigenous People
● NOTE: Aside from the Certificate of Death/Fetal
Death, it is required to have an attachment which
shall constitute the facts of occurrence of the
event.
●Mun. Form 103 - Attachment for Muslim Death IP
●Form 2 – Attachment for death of ICCs/IPs
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Reminder
●Entries in the Medical Certificate must be
accomplished by the attending physician/local
health officer correctly and completely before
registration since there is prohibition against
change or correction of entries without judicial
order.
* Art. 412, Civil Code of the Philippines
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Certifying Dismembered Body Parts
• In cases when a dismembered body part which is
non-viable for attachment is brought to the
Emergency Room, such body part shall be
forwarded to the surgical pathology section of
the laboratory for gross and microscopic
examination and documentation.
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Certifying Dismembered Body Parts
• The surgical pathology report signed and issued
by the pathologist shall serve as the Certificate
of Dismembered Body Part which may be used
for burial purposes or proper disposal.
• The practice of issuing a Certificate of Death by
the attending physician for the dismembered
body part is not necessary.
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Certificate of Dismembered Body Part
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Reminder
Sec.6 of the Civil Registry Law
Death Certificate and Register - No human body
shall be buried unless the proper death certificate
has been presented and recorded in the office of the
.local civil registrar
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Reminder
Sec.6 of the Civil Registry Law
Body parts surgically removed, e.g. amputated foot
due to diabetes mellitus or accidental chopping off the
hand of a machinist because of a technical machine
problem, are NOT considered as death of a person.
Hence, document containing such body parts should
NOT be registered since these are for burial purposes
only.
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When can registration of death be
?denied
The local civil registrar CANNOT deny registration
except for insufficiency of information.
The entries are essential to identify the deceased and
his/her cause of death. It is important that these
should be mandatorily entered in the death certificate,
otherwise the document shall be considered valueless.
Application for registration of death shall not be
allowed if the entries in the full name of the deceased
and the cause of death are not given.
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Uses of Certificate of
Death
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Uses of Certificate of Death
● Prima facie evidence of death
● Claim of benefits, pensions, insurance, or tax
exemption
● Evidence for settlement of estate
● Remarriage purpose of surviving spouse
● To designate a guardian or foster parent for minor
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Uses of Certificate of Death
● The information recorded in the death certificate
is used to determine health priorities for
prevention of deaths due to similar causes in the
future.
● The information is also important for family
members so that they know what caused the death
and are aware of conditions that may occur or could
be prevented in other family members.
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Uses of Certificate of Death
●Provide the indicators of existing infectious
diseases and epidemics that need immediate
control measures
● Serve as basis for designing programs that
promote public safety and strategies that help the
prevention and eradication of certain types of
diseases
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Uses of Certificate of Death
● Serve administrative purposes, specifically, in the
clearing of files like disease-case registers, social
security, military services files, electoral rolls and tax
registers
● For the control of infectious diseases
● Programs in public safety, accident prevention and
crime eradication
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Uses of Certificate of Death
● Mortality surveillance, health and epidemiologic
research, health planning
● Study of mortality differentials
● Health decision makers and planners all around the
world make extensive use of mortality statistics
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PhilCRIS
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What is PhilCRIS?
● an information system that would address the
needs of the Local Civil Registrars, Hospitals,
Churches, attendants at births and deaths,
solemnizing officers, and those who are involved in
the preparation and recording of vital events
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What is PhilCRIS?
●The PhilCRIS software is the Windows version of
the Civil Registry Information System (CRIS DOS
version), which is available for use by the Offices
of the Civil Registrars and other end-users.
●It has been completely redesigned to deliver civil
registry information management in a new, more
user friendly and efficient way.
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Features of PhilCRIS
● Enables encoding of relevant information from civil
registry documents
● Storage of vital data
● Query and retrieval of encoded records
● Printing and issuance of certified copies of encoded
civil registry documents
● Generation of transmittal files
● Data management and maintenance of the local civil
registry database
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Benefits of Using PhilCRIS
●Uses a more stable and secure database
management ensuring the integrity and security
of civil registry information
●Has easier data entry and coding of items
●Allows print preview and printing directly to the
new civil registry forms
●Has better support for new printers
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How to Avail in Using PhilCRIS
• The LCRO/hospital/clinic or similar institution shall
coordinate with the PSA Provincial Office regarding the
conduct of PhilCRIS training.
• Once they have attended the PhilCRIS training, they have
to sign a MOA between them and PSA.
• The MOA will be submitted to the PSA-Central Office for
proper control and once received they will sent the
PhilCRIS installer.
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PhilCRIS
● PhilCRIS is given for free
● Training Fee: P1,200 (handbook, food, venue and T-
shirt
● Installer - Free
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Thank you!
Republic of the Philippines
Republic of the Philippines
65 | Medical Certification of Death
Philippine StatisticsPhilippine
Authority Statistics Authority
