THE measure that seeks the permanent validity of birth, death and marriage certificates has lapsed into law.Senator Bong Revilla Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation, said Senate Bill (SBN) 2450 lapsed into a law on July 28.It was tagged as Republic Act 11909, or an “Act providing for the permanent validity of the certificates of live birth, death and marriage issued, signed, certified or authenticated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and its predecessor, the National Statistics office and the Local Civil Registries and the Reports of Birth, Death, and Marriage registered and issued by the Philippine Foreign Service Posts.”These certificates should be recognized and accepted in all government and private transactions or services requiring the submission of the same as proof of identity and legal status of a person as long as the document remains intact, readable, and still visibly contains the authenticity and security features, stated the law.Revilla said the measure aims to address concerns of unnecessarily spending time and money in securing new copies of these documents. (SunStar Philippines)