Short answer. Generally yes. Section 8 of RA 9048 authorises the civil registrar or consul general to collect reasonable fees as a condition for accepting the petition to correct a clerical error or change a first name. An indigent petitioner, however, is exempt from paying that fee.
What the law says
The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall be authorized to collect reasonable fees as a condition for accepting the petition.
RA 9048, Section 8 — Fees And Indigent Exemption. Read the full provision →
The registrar may charge a fee
Section 8 provides that The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall be authorized to collect reasonable fees as a condition for accepting the petition. So filing an administrative correction under RA 9048 ordinarily carries a fee, and paying it is a condition for the office to accept your petition. The law describes the fee as reasonable, which frames the charge but leaves the exact amount to the implementing rules and the office concerned rather than fixing a figure in the statute.
The exemption for indigent petitioners
The same section immediately adds that An indigent petitioner shall be exempt from the payment of the said fee. A petitioner who genuinely cannot afford to pay is therefore relieved of the fee, provided indigency is established as the office requires. This is a right written into the law, so a qualifying petitioner should not be turned away for inability to pay the acceptance fee. The exemption is personal and depends on proof of indigency.
What the fee rule does not cover
The provision speaks to the fee for accepting the petition. It does not, by its terms, promise that every related cost — certified copies of records, or the publication that a change of first name may require under other parts of the law — will be free for an ordinary petitioner. Read it for what it says: correcting a birth certificate under this Act normally involves a reasonable fee, waived for the indigent. Before filing, ask the registrar what fees and supporting documents apply to your specific correction, so there is no surprise at the counter.
Which corrections this route covers
One boundary is worth flagging before you rely on this fee rule. This administrative route covers a clerical or typographical error and a change of first name. Corrections to the recorded day and month of birth, or to the entry on sex, were later brought within the same administrative process by RA 10172, which amended RA 9048, and they carry their own documentary requirements. A more substantial change — one that touches nationality, age, status or filiation — generally falls outside this route altogether and must be pursued as a court proceeding. Confirm which category your correction belongs to before you file, because that determines both the procedure and the fees that apply.