THAT is a question made famous by the great William Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet. In the stage play’s celebrated balcony scene, Juliet worries over Romeo being a Montague, the sworn enemy of her family, the Capulets. Hence, in her monologue, she says: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
The eavesdropping swain hiding in the courtyard beneath the balcony comes out and readily declares his willingness to give up his name if that was what it would take to win her love, saying: “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized; Henceforth, I never will be Romeo.”
Alas, if it were only that simple in the real world, where changing one’s name requires a bunch of supporting documents. However, thanks to Republic Act 9048 (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 the First Name or Nickname in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order), it is now possible to change or correct one’s name without having to go to court to do so.
Among the common problems of Social Security System (SSS) members are concerns about their names. Oftentimes, members who are about to file their retirement or other pension claims find out that their names in their birth certificates are not the same as those registered with the SSS, or that their first names, middle names or last names have been misspelled. When these mistakes happen, it is important to correct the name on record with the SSS and make it consistent with that in the birth certificate or vice versa.
If the error is in the birth certificate, it is crucial to make the correction with the civil registrar before presenting the document to the SSS as a supporting document for a pension claim. Based on RA 9048, the following corrections may be made:
- Correction of clerical or typographical errors in any entry in civil registry documents, except corrections involving the change in sex, age, nationality and status of a person. A clerical or typographical error refers to an obvious mistake committed in clerical work, either in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry in the civil register, that is harmless and innocuous, such as a misspelled name or misspelled place of birth and the like, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records.
- Change of a person’s first name in his or her civil-registry document under certain grounds specified under the law through administrative process.
As soon as the birth-certificate entry is corrected, the member can then initiate the correction of his or her record with the SSS, if needed, by accomplishing form E-4 (Member’s Data Change Request) and
attaching the corrected birth certificate as authenticated by the National Statistics Office.
Changing one’s name in an instant for the sake of love may sound romantic, but may not be legal and could lead a person into trouble later on. A name is important not only to the person bearing it but also to agencies, like the SSS, whose job is to ensure that social-security benefits are given to the rightful persons. It is a vital means of identifying people. Thus, members should make sure that their records carry their correct names to avoid delays in claiming their benefits in the future.
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For more information about the SSS and its programs, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or send an e-mail to member_relations@sss.gov.ph.
Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the Social Security System. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.