This Pinoy lola got her PSA birth certificate 99 years later

After 99 years, a Pinoy lola finally got her birth certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

According to a March 10 report by the Philippine News Agency, Estepania N. Descalzo or “Lola Panyang” received her Certificate of Live Birth just recently after getting officially registered in December 2022. It was made possible by an initiative of the PSA’s Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Birth Registration Assistance Project (PBRAP) as well as the Local Civil Registry Office of Aguilar, Pangasinan.

According to her daughter Carmelita Bravo, the Filipino grandmother was not able to get registered after her birth as her parents got busy with their farm at the time, which was their main source of income.

When Lola Panyang got married to the late Domingo Sendin in 1941, the government was not strict with marriage requirements so she did not need to submit her birth certificate then. “Kinasal sila noong 1941 sa edad na 18 years old. However, hindi pa raw po strikto noon sa government requirements gaya ng birth certificate, hanggang sa hindi na po niya namalayan ‘yung panahon,” explained Carmelita.

Lola Panyang is the oldest beneficiary in the Philippines that availed of the PBRAP program.

Rosemarie Ortaleza of PSA Pangasinan said the initiative is looking to have at least 99.5% of all Filipinos registered with the local authorities by 2024.

About the author

Brooke Villanueva

Deputy Editor

Brooke Villanueva is the deputy editor of PhilSTAR L!fe, covering everything lifestyle—with a focus on food and travel. Apart from her responsibilities as a lifestyle journalist, she is also taking her MBA at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. She has completed a certificate program on the fundamentals of business developed by top faculty at Harvard Business School. Follow her on Instagram at @itsbrookevillanueva.