Philippines, Civil Registration (Spanish Period), 1706-1911

What is in This Collection?

This collections contains index & images of marriages and deaths that were recorded in register books in cities or municipalities for the years 1706-1911. Only death records are available for the years before 1815.

Civil registration was introduced in the Philippines by the colonists in 1889 and was based on the Civil Code of Spain. A central statistical office was created at about the same time, requiring pastors to submit to the Central Statistics Office in Manila a detailed account of the events of marriages and deaths that had occurred in their parishes during the previous year.

In 1889, the Spanish government created the Central Office of Statistics. This office required each parish priest to periodically give the government a list of the births, marriages, and deaths in his area. The Catholic clergy had previously maintained records about births, marriages and deaths, and sent copies to the government. After 1889, clergy were required to regularly submit detailed reports. This system continued until the end of the Spanish administration in 1898. After the Philippine Revolution of 1898, the church and state became separate. Within the first few years, officials responsible for civil registration were appointed in each municipality. In 1930, civil registration became mandatory. In 1932 the Bureau of Census and Statistics was created to oversee civil registration. Many civil records were destroyed during World War II.

Divorce is not legal in the Philippines, but some records of annulment and legal separation are kept in the National Census and Statistics Office and in the local Domestic Relations Court of First Instance.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are written in Spanish. For help reading them see:

• Spanish Genealogical Word List
• Brigham Young University: Spanish Script Tutorial

FamilySearch Learning Center:

• Reading Spanish Handwriting
• Paleogra-what?! Deciphering Spanish Handwriting - Introduction
• Registros Civiles y Parroquiales (In Spanish)

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Philippines Civil Registration (Spanish Period), 1706-1911.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Marriage Date and place of marriage Names of bride and groom Places of birth of bride and groom Residences of bride and groom Ages of bride and groom Occupation of groom Bride’s marital status Names of parents Places of birth of parents Name of witnesses

Death Name of deceased Date and place of death Cause of death Age at death Residence or place of birth Duration of illness Name of spouse Name of parents

Collection Content

Sample Images

• 

  Marriage Record

• 

  1894 Death Record

Coverage Table

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.