The City Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) issued 146 birth certificates as of Feb. 2019 to Badjaos in barangays 21-C, 22-C, and 23-C after conducting a series of mobile birth registration events in the area.
The first mobile birth registration event was held last Nov. 23, 2017 while the second was on Feb. 28, 2018.
The primary goal of the event is to process 300 birth certificates among Badjaos living in the disaster-prone areas of the city, especially in the coastal slums in Isla Verde.
The birth certificate is an important document to prove identity, especially during disasters and calamities for them to be included in the list of the beneficiaries for relief goods and other social services.
It would also be harder for them to go to school or get a job without this document.
The mobile birth registration was also a way to educate Badjaos on their individual rights and the importance of documents in accessing social services.
According to Hanna Sacalain, Pagtimukan Mabajau Kauman, Bajaus were initially hesitant to recognize the importance of the documents thinking that it cannot suppress their hunger.
The initiative is part of a project, “Strengthening Resiliency in Coastal Communities of Davao City” funded by the German Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with a local organization, Tambayan Center for Children’s Rights Inc.
