The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) document is a document that records a birth or other major life event in the Philippines.

Common examples of these documents are:

• Certificate of Live Birth or Report of Birth if you were born abroad
• Certificate of Marriage or Report of Marriage if the marriage happened abroad and was reported to the embassy
• Certificate of Death or Report of Death if the death was abroad
• Certificate of No Marriage Record or CENOMAR
• Advisory on Marriages

These are primary documents that prove that an event happened and are often required documents for processes like settling an estate, transferring a property or for immigration and the like.

In general, getting a PSA document is simple as it can be ordered online through PSA serbilis services and can be delivered through courier to which ever location you request.

However, when that event doesn’t show up in the PSA database it can be a headache for the people involved.

In that case, the PSA will sent a Certificate of No Result.

A Certificate of No Result is proof that the event is not known to the PSA and often does not suffice for the legal process required.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the old National Statistics Office (NSO) both handle civil registry data but they are different organizations.

The NSO was the agency that used to manage civil registration.

The NSO or the National Statistics Office was effected on August 19, 1940 as a result of Common Act No. 591.

It had similar functions to the current PSA as it contained all statistical functions.

In 1999, the NSO was reorganized into 4 separate functions:

• the National Statistical Coordination Board,
• the National Statistics Office,
• the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, and
• the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics

However, there were a lot of redundancies and overlapping job functions and so the government consolidated this all back into the Philippine Statistics Authority, under the aegis of RA 10625 or the Philippine Statistical System (PSS).

This is now the PSA that we are all familiar with.

A Philippine Statistics Authority Negative Result or an Affidavit of Negative as it is sometimes called is a certificate released when the event is not found in the PSA database.

This does not necessarily mean that the event does not exist.

It simply means that the PSA has no document for the event you have requested.

If this happens to you, then there are some possible actions you can take, but what you do depends upon the exact situation.

There are a few reasons why you might get a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) negative certification or Affidavit of Negative and this can be because the event is too new, too old or simply not registered.

Common reasons for a PSA Negative Result:

• Event Not Registered at the PSA

• It is possible that the event was submitted to the Local Civil Registry Office (LCR) but that the LCR was not able to endorse the document to the PSA for registration and certification. This delay can happen due to many reasons, like backlogs, missing papers, or mistakes in the process.

• Event is too New

• It generally takes a few months for the PSA to enter an event into its database. If the event is very new – say only a month or so – then it is possible that the LCR may have endorsed it to the PSA but that the event has simply not been uploaded into the civil registry system of PSA.

• Event is too Old

• When an event is too old, then the PSA may not have it all in their database.
• The PSA holds records for events that:

• • Happened before 1946 in the province
  • Happened before 1951 in Metro Manila
  • Happened in the last 2 years

• The primary reason for that WWII.
• WWII destroyed many of the records of the older Civil Registry System in the Philippines that was previously established by the Spanish.
• This Civil Registry System in the Philippines was run by the priests and were kept in the parish and diocease.
• Furthermore, registration was optional until 1889 when it was required.
• But WWII caused quite a bit of destruction, such that getting things like the birth certificate of a person born before 1951 is rather difficult, which can cause a lot of problems when you a trying to prove the identity of a person in a process like settling an estate.

If you get a negative result from the Philippine Statistics Authority, what you do depends on why the Certificate of Negative result was issued.

• Event is Not Registered at the PSA

• If the event if not registered, then go to the LCR where the event was recorded and ask the LCR to endorse its copy to the PSA. This will then enter the event into the PSA system.

• Event is too New

• If the event is too new, then you can try to speed up the process by getting a certified true copy of the event from the LCR and then endorsing that personally to the PSA. It may help you reduce a little of the processing time although you will still have to wait for the PSA to process it and upload it into their system.

• Event is too Old

• If the event is too old, you will need to do some investigation although it is possible that you will not be able to get the document at all as it may have been completely destroyed.
• Still, there are some government offices that you can check.

• • Local Civil Registrar to confirm that they don’t have the document
  • National Archives as this is a repository of all the older documents and may contain what you are looking for
  • Local churches in the area where the event was located

• This can actually be a lot of work and can take several days and a lot of manpower to do.

PSA documents are incredibly important for many transactions.

These transactions can include settled an estate, transferring property or correcting a birth certificate.

For these transactions, a PSA Certificate of No Record or an Affidavit of Negative can be a huge roadblock.

In conclusion, knowing what PSA negative results mean is important for deciding what to do next.

If you get a Philippine Statistics Authority negative result, don’t panic.

Instead, look into why you received it.

Understanding the reason for the negative result lets you determine the correct path to addressing it.

It may be that all you need to do is to have the LCR re-endorse it to the PSA.

Or it may be that you need to investigate at other government agencies aside from the PSA to get the document that you need.

If you are not in the country, it is possible to appoint a duly authorized representative to do this on your behalf but remember that there is no certain result, especially if the event is very old.

1. What is a PSA document?

A PSA document is a certification provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority that records major life events in a person’s life such as birth, marriage or death certificates.

2. How does a PSA document differ from an NSO document?

Before the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) was set up, the National Statistics Office (NSO) took care of the civil registry system in the Philippines. Because of this, the terms “PSA document” and “NSO document” are often mixed up. However, officially, all documents are now PSA documents. The PSA is in charge of keeping, handling, and giving out these documents. So, whether your document is old and issued by the NSO, or new and from the PSA, they both have the same legal value. The only difference is the name of the agency that issued them.

3. What is a PSA Negative result?

When you ask for a document from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), like a birth certificate, marriage certificate, or death certificate, and they can’t find the record, they give you a negative certification. This negative result shows that the PSA has no record of the information you asked for.

4. What should I do with a PSA Negative result?

If you receive a PSA Negative Result, you an re-endorse the event from the LCR if the event is new. If the event is old, you may need to go to other government agencies such as the National Archives or the local churches where the event took place.