Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

It is going to be “Babies’ Day Out” at the Philippine Consulate General in Al Qusais, Dubai (PCG-Dubai) on February 10, Friday, 7:30am to 3:30pm.

Part of its “special consular service accommodation,” to fellow Filipinos in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, it is meant for parents who have yet to have their newborns or older babies registered, for documentation at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). They may also have to have their first Philippine passports from the Department of Foreign Affairs-Manila (DFA-Manila).

An attached agency of the National Economic Development Authority - an independent body whose chairman is the President of the Philippines (President Ferdinand Marcos R. Jr.) and the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary as its vice chairman (Secretary Arsenio Balisacan), the PSA “collects, compiles, analyses, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs and general affairs of the people of the Philippines and enforces the civil registration functions in the country for policy coordination.”

Thus, the need for even overseas Filipinos to have themselves registered with the PSA through the over 80 diplomatic and consular missions of the DFA worldwide.

The registration of birth is not only about the newborns or older babies being documented as with it, the parents-applicants may also need to have the “Affidavit of Acknowledgement of Paternity (AAP)” or the “Affidavit to Use the Surname of the Father (AUSF), according to the press advisory from the PCG-Dubai released to the media on Monday afternoon. The processing of the first Philippine passports of the newborns and older babies will be at DFA-Manila.

Applicants are encouraged to register over https://tinyurl.com/DubaiPCGBabiesDayOut. The Report of Birth requirements are over https://tinyurl.com/ROBRequirements; AAP requirements over https://tinyurl.com/AAPRequirements; and AUSF requirements over https://tinyurl.com/AUSFRequirements.

Pre-Novel Coronavirus pandemic, daily footfall at the PCG-Dubai for consular services among other purposes, was at 700.