Short answer. It has to be sworn, though not necessarily before a notary. Section 5 requires the petition to take the form of an affidavit subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by the law to administer oaths — a class that is wider than notaries public.
What the law says
The petition shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by the law to administer oaths.
RA 9048, Section 5 — Form Contents And Publication. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish the merits of the petition and shall show affirmatively that the petitioner is competent to testify to the matters stated.
RA 9048, Section 5 — Form Contents And Publication. Read the full provision →
Sworn, before whoever may lawfully take an oath
The petition shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by the law to administer oaths. A notary public is the usual choice and the easiest to find, but the section does not name one. It names a class, and other officers fall within it — which matters most to a Filipino filing abroad, where the oath is ordinarily taken at the consular post handling the petition rather than before a local foreign notary. If you are overseas, ask the post how it wants the affidavit executed before you have it signed anywhere else.
What the oath is attached to
The requirement is not a formality about signatures. The petition is the evidence: there is no hearing in this process, no testimony, and no cross-examination, so the affidavit is the only thing standing behind the facts asserted. That is why the section adds that The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish the merits of the petition and shall show affirmatively that the petitioner is competent to testify to the matters stated. You are swearing both to what happened and to your own position to know it.
Facts, not conclusions
An affidavit saying the entry is wrong and should be corrected states a conclusion and establishes nothing. What the section asks for is the material a decision can be built on: which field is wrong, what it currently reads, what it should read, how the error came about if you know, and how the documents you attach demonstrate it. The section separately requires you to state the particular erroneous entry or entries sought to be corrected and the change sought to be made, so vagueness on that point is a defect in the petition rather than a stylistic preference.
Swearing has consequences
This is worth saying plainly, because the process feels administrative rather than judicial and people treat the paperwork accordingly. Section 9 penalises a person who violates any of the provisions of the Act with imprisonment or a fine or both, at the court's discretion, and the general law on false statements made under oath is unaffected by this Act. Take the same care with the affidavit that you would with sworn testimony. Then note the housekeeping: the petition and supporting papers go in three copies, one of which is yours to keep.
One amendment to check before you file
Republic Act No. 10172 (2012) amended this Act after the text quoted above was enacted. It extended the same administrative route to the day and month of the date of birth and to the sex entry, neither of which the 2001 text allowed, and it set additional requirements for petitions of that kind. Nothing here sets out what those added requirements are. If what you want corrected is a birth date or the sex entry rather than a name or a misspelling, treat the procedure described above as the starting point only, and check the amended provisions before you prepare anything.
Related provisions
- RA 9048, Section 3 — Who May File And Where
- RA 9048, Section 5 — Form Contents And Publication
- RA 9048, Section 6 — Posting Decision And Transmittal
- RA 9048, Section 9 — Imprisonment Fine Or Both