COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Free birth registration sessions have been scheduled starting today up to May 31 across the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in pursuit of the Aquino administration’s drive to update the social profile of Filipino citizens registered as beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program – a poverty-alleviating cash transfer program of the national government.

ARMM acting Gov. Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong alongside Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo, and National Statistics Office (NSO) Administrator Carmelita Ericta will launch the campaign at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex here May 4, event organizers said yesterday.

DSWD-ARMM acting Secretary Pombaen Karon-Kader said dozens of young and old residents in nearby Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur towns are expected to troop to the venue to avail of the free late birth registration, which she described as an opportunity for registrants to do away with fees charged in regular list-up.

After the launching ceremonies here, field personnel of the DSWD, NSO, and DILG will conduct similar activities in the municipalities of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur, and in the cities of Marawi and

Lamitan to attain the expected maximum number of late registrants.

Kader said her agency has profiled some 257,000 family-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program, which provides P1,400 cash assistance to each family of three children with aged from zero to 14 years old.

Each of the three children is allocated P300 for a total of P900 per month for their school needs, and the remaining P500 is set aside for their health needs, she said.

She said that during the launching rites, the national guest-dignitaries would probably spell out ways and means of enabling beneficiary-families to raise their complaints on alleged malpractices of some village officials under the cash transfer program.

The free birth registration sessions have been designed for the government to acquire updated data on the program beneficiaries and “delist” non-deserving individuals, and at the same time reinforce efforts towards encouraging Moro families to register their births under the enhanced statistical data gathering of the NSO, Kader said.