How to Obtain Your Baby’s Birth Certificate from Manila City Hall

Every child born in the Philippines is required to have a birth certificate. Our Little Ahab is not exempted from this requirement so I went to Manila City Hall to request for his birth certificate from the Civil Registry Office.

Why do I have to go to Manila City Hall for my baby’s birth certificate instead of going directly to National Statistics Office? Well, the reason is that the hospital where Little Ahab was born is located in Manila. Another reason is that the birth certificate from the National Statistics Office (NSO) will only be available 6 months after Little Ahab’s birth.

Do you want to know how to obtain your birth certificate from NSO? Read my post "NSO Birth Certificate Delivery".

Requirements for Birth Certificate Request

The following are the requirements when requesting for birth certificate from the Civil Registry Office:

1. Certificate of Live Birth from the hospital or the midwife

2. Application Form for Birth Certificate, which is available at the Civil Registry Office

3. 50 pesos for local copy of birth certificate, 160 pesos for SECPA with NSO authentication, 190 pesos SECPA with NSO authentication and transmittal, and 240 pesos for SECPA with NSO authentication and transmittal with supplemental

Procedure in Requesting for Birth Certificate from Manila Civil Registrar

Step 1: Get application form from the “Step 1” window. Fill out the form then return it to “Step 1” window with the photocopy of Certificate of Live Birth. The clerk might require you to show the original Certificate of Live Birth.

Step 2: Wait for your baby’s name to be called by the clerk at “Birth Certificate Application” window to get the form that already has the registry number and fee.

Step 3: Pay fee at the “Payment” window.

Step 4: Go to the “Scheduling” window to get the schedule when you should pick up the birth certificate. Don’t forget to get the claim stub.

Step 5: On the day indicated on your claim stub, go to the “Releasing Section” and show your claim stub and receive your baby’s birth certificate.

Requesting your baby's birth certificate from Manila City Hall are easy with the above 5 steps. I spent about 1 hour from Step 1 to Step 4. Manila's Civil Registry Office requires birth certificate applicants to return the next day just to get the birth certificate.

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How to Go Around Intramuros

Intramuros is the most historical places in manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The walled city serves as the settlement of the Spaniards during their colonization of the country. The city boasts of a fort (Fort Santiago), churches, old Spanish houses, and antique guns that were mounted during the times when the Spaniards are the master of Manila. One can also find inside the museum that showcases the places where Jose Rizal was interred before he was executed.

Intramuros is one of the top tourist spots in Manila and many people go there to relieve the history the history of Manila and the whole Philippines. The walled city is quite big and is tiresome to travel by foot. Would be visitors of the walled city need not to worry since there are many ways to tour Intramuros.

Go On by Foot

This is the cheapest mode of travel inside Intramuros and the most tiresome. However, there many people who prefer to walk when they are traveling. If you are that kind of tourist, then that is not a problem since Intramuros are pedestrian friendly. When touring Intramuros by foot, it is advisable that you carry a map of the walled city so as to plan the best path that you could take for the tour. It is also advisable to bring an umbrella to avoid being scorched by the midday sun.

Ride a Pedicab
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Pedicab is a bicycle that has a covered sidecar. This is an ingenious way of moving inside Intramuros. Also, the pedicab drivers in Intramuros know the ins and outs of Intramuros like the palm of their hands. For tourists, these pedicab drivers already have their route that they follow to tour their clients. Most of them have pamphlets about the tourist spots inside the walled city.

Pedicabs are hired for 100 pesos hour. You can go to interesting places for two hours while riding the pedicab.

Hire a Kalesa
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Kalesa is the Tagalog word for a horse-drawn carriage. You can ride a kalesa to tour you around Intramuros. However, this is more expensive than hiring a pedicab. Riding a kalesa will give you a feeling that you are traveling Intramuros in the same way that the Spaniards had traveled in it during their days in the Philippines.

Go for a Tour Program

There are many tourist and travel agencies that offer touring services inside Intramuros. This is the most expensive of all mode of traveling inside the wall city. However, the benefits are that the tourist will get a professional tourist guides that know the history of every places in Intramuros. You will ride on horse drawn carriages that are better than the kalesas plying around the walled city.


When going for a trip inside Intramuros, consider the options I have just given out and choose what is the best with regards to your budget and your time. The main goal is to enjoy visiting the place and choosing the best mode of traveling inside the walled city will help in achieving that.


Visit my article about Intramuros in Before the Eastern Sunset. Also, in that blog, I have a new blog post which is about my visit to the Minor Basilica of the Santo Nino in Cebu City.

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Photo of pedicab came from Kat's World 3.