BACKGROUND/LITERATURE

City Civil Registry of Cagayan de Oro City

Can the City Civil Registrar finally solve its needs for more up-to-date technology?

The City Civil Registrar in the city Cagayan de Oro is the government office

which is responsible for recording vital events of a person such as birth, marriage, and

death. From time to time, the records in the registry increase, and it doubles every year.

The office is using Republic Act 9048, which is AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR

MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OR THE CONSUL GENERAL TO CORRECT A

CLERICAL OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN AN ENTRY AND/OR CHANGE OF

FIRST NAME OR NICKNAME IN THE CIVIL REGISTER WITHOUT NEED OF A

JUDICIAL ORDER, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLES 376 AND 412 OF

THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES. In this way, it would be possible for the

registry to correct the records, which have errors, without the need to go to the court.

Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events

of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database is called civil

registry or population registry. The primary purpose of civil registration is to create

legal documents that are used to establish and protect the civil rights of individuals. A

secondary purpose is to create a data source for the compilation of vital statistics. In

most countries, there is a legal requirement to notify the relevant authority of any life

event which affects the registry.

death, marriage, divorce and annulment of marriage, judicial separation of

marriage, adoption, legitimization and recognition. Additionally, in some

countries, immigration, emigration, and any change of residence may require

notification. Among the legal documents that are derived from civil registration are birth

certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates. All of these certificates have

specific forms to be filled out by individuals who wish to register.

During the 1990’s, computerization of the Civil Registry began with the adoption

CRIS (Civil Registry Information System, which came from the NSO (National Statistics

Office). According to Mrs. Norma Salva Diputado, City Civil Registrar, “before that time

there was no system, and the office is not well-equipped with computers. The National

Statistics Office told us to issue security paper the office cannot because of the

equipments.”

Moreover, she said that they were not contented with the technology. Records

dating back as early as 1940’s were still not inputted in their system. Also, only two

people, which are being issued with job orders, assist the City Civil Registry only for

encoding the records. In addition to that, up to now, they only have a few computer

units, which are already out-of-date and operate with the least performance. Thus, there

are many people who complain about their records because the records were still not

encoded. However, the office tried to request the Department of Budget and

Management (DBM) for financial assistance regarding the purchase of newer computer

units for the office, but unfortunately, the DBM are underestimating the computer needs
of the Civil Registry. In the end, the office is still using only 7 out-of-date computers, of

which only few are in good condition. That is why the registry are still using the

typewriter, which is already obsolete, to supplement the processing of the records,

which are then initially being stored the files before going to the system.

Furthermore, in the system side, according to Mr. Edgar E. Luqquillano,

Administration Assistant who uses the CRIS, “the system is used for saving birth,

marriage and death records. It is a secure system because you cannot enter if you are

not an authorized personnel.” He also added that most entries are being inputted in a

simpler way in which ‘codes’ are being used rather than specific names of entries.

Exception to that is the entering of the specific name of the person. The system could

also be used to edit, verify and search for data being inputted. However, he said that

there was one time when the power was down, and the records he was inputting at that

time were not stored in the system after the power resumed. It was a bit hard in that

situation. He wished that it would never happen again. But overall, Mr. Luqquillano said

that he is already contented with the system. The system is made out of the turbo-C

programming language. It has records dating back as early as 1970’s being stored.

They also have backup files if ever a system problem occurs.

According to Mrs. Diputado, “the system [CRIS] is not enough because

sometimes it crashes down and there is no auto-recovery for the current records being

inputted. Thus, a record needs to be inputted again.” Furthermore, the computers in the

office are already clogged with files, which results in crashes and hang-ups. Mrs.
Deputado wishes the registry to have a ‘high-tech’ system. But her wish could only be

realized if and only if they have efficient financial assistance to buy these technologies.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_registry

http://www.census.gov.ph/data/civilreg/ra9048.html

Mr. Edgar E. Luqquillano, Administration Assistant

Mrs. Norma Salva Diputado, City Civil Registrar

Based on the problems experienced by the Office of the Civil Registry, the proponents’ came up

to the following objectives:

• to be able to develop a newer system that would accommodate the needs of the Civil

Registry, especially that they are handling ample information from all the people

acquiring the former for any vital events of their lives

• to be proficient in finding ways in dealing with the financial aspects

• to be capable to cite suggestions for the institution’s welfare

• City Civil Registrar, Norma Salva Diputado.

• Administrator Assistant, Edgar E. Luquillano.

• Forms 1A (birth), 2A (death), 3A (marriage) used by the Civil Registry.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_registry

• http://www.census.gov.ph/data/civilreg/ra9048.html
 Expected Results

The Civil Registry Office will have a new system that is easier to use and that can

manage their data well. They are able to have a new operational personal computers

that can meet the needs of the employees in making their transactions faster. For the

office to be sufficient, the employees should have a better knowledge with the

technology and the systems they will be using. The proponents will conduct a training or

seminars in the employees so that the employees will know the new system they will be

using and it will be easy for them to use it. The new system and with the employees are

well trained already, the process of their transactions are faster and more accurate.

There many transactions made by the people wish to acquire their birth ,marriage,

death certificates in just one day. The office will also hire more employees who are

computer literate so that the system and technology they have will be maintained.
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

This study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. Is there sufficient financial assistance from the government?

- The proponents would like to know if the Civil Registry has sufficient funds from

the government intended for their technical needs.

2. Are the employees computer literate?

- The researchers would like to discern if the employees at the Civil Registry are

knowledgeable or not when it comes to the computers they use.

3. Are the computers capable of storing large types of data?

- Since the Civil Registry adds data every day, the researchers would like to know

if the computers are capable enough in handling these types of data.

4. Is the system’s performance satisfactory and up to date?

- To be able to determine if the Civil Registry’s present system is satisfactory when

it comes to its performance. In addition, the proponents would like to know if the

system used is advanced.

The proponents’ object of data collection is the Civil Registry Office. The data will

be collected through the Civil Registry’s system called CRIS (Civil Registry Information

System). It will be analyzed in a way where we will observe how CRIS is being

processed. Finally, the proponents’ expect possible results from this study such as an

up-to-date CRIS; more new computer units; more well-trained employees who operate

CRIS; and most of all, faster, easier and more reliable process of transaction in the Civil

Registry.
 VI. Research Design

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The scope of this study involves the Civil Registry of the city of Cagayan de Oro and the

processes underlying it. The limitations of the said study are the government’s

departments/offices involved and related to the city’s civil registry.

SYSTEMS REQUIREMENTS

The new system involves POSTGRESQL as the backend or the database and Visual

Fox Pro as the front-end or the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Due to this software, it is

highly recommended to use Windows XP or higher versions of Windows as the

operating system for their computer units. The central processing unit (CPU) is a big

factor for the systems performance so it would be better to use Intel core 2duo. The

random access memory (RAM) is also a factor to be considered during the

implementation of the said system. Having 1 to 3 gig memory would be a means of

necessity. The hard disk must be of higher capacity because the management is

dealing with large amount of data that should be stored. It is a means to have 80gig to

320gig.

SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY/PROCEDURE
The proponents first gather information from the management through interviewing the

City’s Registrar and administrative assistant including the data being stored in their

database and the transactions the management have. The administrative assistant had

shown to the proponents their implemented system called CRIS (Civil Registry

Information System) and had told them what seems to be the problem of the system as

well as its advantages. Second, the proponents started with the design of the new

system to be implemented on the said management. Third, they worked on with the

programs needed for the transactions involved in the system. After the programs were

debugged, the implementation of the said system was executed. Lastly, the researchers

proposed the new system to City’s Civil Registry.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

The Civil Registry is system of the government which records the vital events occurring

in the life of an individual such as birth, marriage, and death. As a government

department they are financially dependent to the Department of Budget and

Management (DBM) for any necessary budget for their management as well as their

needs for equipment and other resources.

Since the Civil Registry’s main problem is in the aspect of technology, they asked

financial assistance from DBM. After the request was processed, the DBM granted

financial assistance to the Civil Registry for the purchasing of new computer units.

However, the office was only given minimal amount of budget and they were advised to
buy cheaper computer units rather than expensive yet state-of-the-art computers

because of minimal budget being funded to it.

City Civil Registry

BUDGET FOR NEW SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT (ASSUMPTIONS)

Items Amount

HP Servers 1,000,000.00

Acer Computer Package 1,000,000.00

Software Licenses 100,000.00

Direct Labor (3 programmers) 15,000 x3 x 12(1yr) 540,000.00